Carved In His Word

𝐌𝐀𝐘 𝟖, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔: 𝐅𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐎𝐅 𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟏: 𝐀𝐜 𝟏𝟓:𝟐𝟐-𝟑𝟏

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟓𝟕: 𝟖-𝟏𝟎, 𝟏𝟐 “𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞, 𝐎 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐉𝐍 𝟏𝟓:𝟏𝟐-𝟏𝟕

𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞: “𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝, 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫.” (𝐯.𝟏𝟕) 

            “It’s written all over your face.” This is an often-used idiom that reflects a person’s character. It simply means that whatever or whomever a person is can be seen in his nature. This includes the totality of a person’s character – his manners, speech, demeanor, actions and even in the way a person relates to other persons.

            And in today’s Gospel reading, let me guide you to at least three things that Jesus pointed out to his disciples and which he is also telling us now. 𝟏) 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬; 𝟐) 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐠𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝟑) 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫.       

Even if being slaves or servants of and for God was nothing to be ashamed of as Moses once was (Deut 34:5) and so was Joshua (Jos 24:29) and David (Psa 89:20). In the New Testament, St. Paul regarded it as an honor to be called a servant (Tit 1:1) and so did James (Jam 1:1).

            But when Jesus called his disciples as friends, he was offering them an intimacy with God which no other men regardless of how great they may have been has ever known. Remember that before Jesus was borne into humanity no one has ever seen God.

            And now his disciples are no longer followers or learners but have become his friends and we too should consider it an honor to be regarded as his friends and the friends of God. It is in fact a tremendous honor that because of this intimacy Jesus who is the Son of God has allowed us to use his Name whenever there is something we want to ask from God.

            The deeper reality of this passage is that as friends of Jesus we have been given the privilege to enter the presence of God unlike a slave who could only look from a distance with longing for God. As friends, Jesus brought down the barriers that separated us from God as this intimacy brought us right at the center court of worship.

            What we should realize, however, is that this intimacy goes beyond friendship for friendship’s sake. What Jesus is saying is that we have not only become his friends but his partners for the tasks that are yet to come. This was the reason why he told his disciples this: “𝐍𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐨 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠; 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐦𝐲 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮.” (𝐯.𝟏𝟓)        

As slaves simply do what their master tells them, Jesus restructured this kind of relationship between the Master and his followers and now as his friends Jesus gives us the honor of being his partners as he shares with us not only his own thoughts but everything that he heard from God the Father through the Sacred Scriptures.

            Another realization here is that slaves do not have a choice of their own whereas as friends we have before us a choice of whether to accept or refuse this partnership with Jesus Christ in the work of going to all the nations to baptize them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matt 28:19).

            If we shall choose to be his friends, we might as well know that this intimacy goes beyond sharing a meal with Jesus and sharing his thoughts and wisdom that he passes on to us through the Scriptures. We are being appointed as his ambassadors to represent him in the world.

            Jesus chose us and appointed us so that we may go and bear fruit (v.16) so that others may know who Christ is by the fruit that is in us (Gal 5:22-23). What Jesus is saying is that the only way to spread Christianity is to be a Christian whose life can be defined by the fruit of the Spirit that is in them.

            In other words, our Christian nature that we derived from the time we were created in the image and likeness of God should be written all over our faces.

This means that we are to clothe ourselves with what the bible speaks about. We are to become an advertisement for Christ. Let us not forget that the primary purpose of advertisements is to draw the attention of the people to the product being advertised and so patronize them.

In like manner, the only way we can bring others to the Christian faith is to show them the fruit of the Christian life that will stand the test of time.

            Thus, as representatives of Jesus Christ who are given the privilege to speak in his behalf, we are given the assurance that the Father in Heaven will give us whatever we ask in His Name.

However, we are not to assume that we will receive whatever we ask in prayer but only those that will merit approval by Jesus Christ.

            This means that whatever we ask God even if these were made in the Name of Jesus, we must not preempt God because at the end of the day everything begins and ends with the Will of God.

Prayer to be effective must be premised not on the things we wish for but out of the Grace of God that would make us accept the things that He Wills.

            As we have been chosen to become friends and privileged members of God’s family we have been authorized by Jesus to bring everything to God in prayer, but we must accept what God will give us in response based on His perfect wisdom and love.

            And Jesus commands us to love one other (v.17) not that we have to die for someone although it would be the highest form of expressing what true love is but there are other ways by which sacrificial love can be expressed and that is through listening to those who need counsel, by encouraging those who may have lost hope and, by helping and giving to  those who are in need.

            Jesus wants us to love one another just as he loved us because it is only by opening our hearts to his love and obeying his command to love each other that we will bear much fruit in our lives. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 - 𝘔𝘢𝘺 8, 2026)