Friends of God

Gospel: John 15: 12-17

Today's Gospel portion provides a shocking statement from Jesus to his disciples: I call you friends.  Such a declaration would be unheard of from a master to his disciples.  The master teacher was always regarded as greater than his students.  No one would use a relationship of equality between the teacher and disciple.  Yet, Jesus invites us to this relationship of equality with him.  Friendship with our teacher and Lord is an utterly unique one for ancient times as well as our own.  

From another perspective, this statement of friendship is even more shocking.  In both ancient and modern understandings, the divinity is never on a friend relationship with human beings.  The deity is in every respect greater than a mere mortal.  At best, the relationship is a patron-client one, but not a relationship of closeness and intimacy.  Yet, Jesus places us in this very place of intimacy and closeness with him and with God.

If Jesus has created this groundbreaking relationship between him and us, this means our relationship with one another must also take on this intimacy and equality.  So often we create hierarchies of status and imaginary ontologies to place distance and inequality between people that have no place in this community of beloved disciples and friends that Jesus has created.  Today is a day for us to reflect on our relationship with God and with one another in new ways of intimacy and friendship.