Jesus Is The Living Word

𝐌𝐀𝐘 𝟐𝟑, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐅𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐎𝐅 𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑

𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 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)

        There are 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 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 into 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 so 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, we are to clothe ourselves with what the bible speaks about. We are to become a walking 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 for 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 each 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 23, 2025)