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About Jesus - Steve (Stephen) Sweetman Servants
Or Friends 1
Peter 1:18 and 19 read: "For you know that
it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were
redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your
ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish
or defect." Peter reminded his readers, and us as well, that
Jesus has redeemed us with His blood, with His very earthly life, as the
words "His blood" implies. The
apostle Paul said it this way, when in 1 Corinthians 6:20, he said that
Jesus bought us. This purchase
has set us free and has provided the ability for us to serve Jesus instead
of serving our sinful selves. In
fact, we become servants of Christ. In
other words, Jesus owns us. Now
read John 15:15. "I
no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his
master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything
that I learned from my Father I have made known to you." It's
clear that the New Testament portrays Christians as servants of Jesus, but
John 15:15 says that Jesus calls us friends instead of servants.
What's going on here? Are
we servants or are we friends? We
are both. Our
servant Master relationship is premised on the word "friends" in
John 15:15, which has little resemblance to the servant master
relationship seen in the first-century, Greco-Roman world.
I say this because of the Greek word "philos" that is
translated as friends in John 15:15. Philos
is one of six Greek words, each having their precise meaning, that are translated into English as love. Philos
suggests a reciprocal, free-flowing exchange of love between two or more
people. In regard to being
servants of Jesus, then, our servitude is based on a mutual, reciprocal,
free-flowing exchange of love between Jesus and us.
We choose to be His servants because we love Him.
Jesus chooses to be our Master because He loves us.
It's philos friendship. Now
read Mark 16:20. "Then the disciples
went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and
confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it."
Note
the collaborative relationship we are to have with Jesus, as seen in Mark
16:20. We, the disciple
servants, perform the manual work while Jesus, the Master, performs the
spiritual work as we labour with Him in implementing God's will.
We have our sphere of responsibility to facilitate while Jesus has
His. Yes, He is still our
Master, but a Master who lovingly shares His life and ministry with us as
we share our lives and ministry with Him.
This confirms our philos friendship we read about in John 15:15.
It's the free-flowing exchange of lives that in turn forms the
foundation of our servant Master relationship that accomplishes God's
will. We are both servants and
friends of Jesus. When you
take the time to consider who Jesus is, that's kind of cool, don't you
think?
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