Friendship

Friendships are most often seasonal. We are close to people we attend school with, work with, or live nearby. Once the circumstances of life change, the friendship can fade.
For the Christian, the one friendship that never ends is our friendship with Jesus. This is the kind of friendship that a man named John had with Jesus while He walked the earth. In fact, Jesus’ best friend, John, is called “the one whom Jesus loved” no less than five times in the Bible (John 13:23, 19:26, 20:2, 21:7, 21:20).
John lived a long time. He was the only apostle to avoid martyrdom, although he narrowly escaped death on numerous occasions. John’s brother, James, was the first of the 12 disciples to be put to death for following Jesus, but John was the last disciple to die. He lived to be around 100 years of age and was the most authoritative Christian leader on earth at the end of his life.
At one point, according to historians, John was boiled alive, but he didn’t deny Jesus or die, so he was exiled to a penal colony on the island of Patmos. I’ve actually been there, and I can tell you it’s a lonely, rugged, and barren place in the middle of the sea, covered in jagged rocks and beset by high winds.
It was on the island of Patmos where Jesus came down from heaven to encourage his best friend, John, and reveal to him the book of Revelation. Many tourists, including my family, have ventured to visit the cave where it’s believed John lived and Jesus visited him.
John was eventually released from exile on the island of Patmos and returned to pastoral ministry. Church history reports that much of his time was then spent in Ephesus, where he is still buried in a tomb. John is a man who really lived and really walked with Jesus.
John is mentioned roughly 50 times in the New Testament, which is second only to Peter among the disciples. He and Peter are often mentioned together as partners in ministry throughout Acts (3:1–10, 4:1–22, 8:14–25). Galatians 2:9 speaks of the two men as spiritual “pillars” that held up the early Christian church. John also wrote five books of the Bible (John, 1–3 John, and Revelation), which is more than any of the other 11 disciples. In Acts 4:13, the critics mocked John and Peter as “unlearned men”; but as is often the case, you can’t put too much stock in the mockery of critics.
Regardless of what was said about or done to John, nobody could get him to stop talking about Jesus’ love. According to historical accounts outside the Bible, it’s possible John was a very elderly man when the church gathered to hear him speak about what it was like to hang out with Jesus. The young new Christians who never got to see Jesus with their own eyes and hear Jesus with their own ears would gather around to hear John tell about his best friend and Lord, Jesus Christ.
Today, John is with Jesus in the Kingdom of Heaven. The old friends are enjoying one another’s company as John worships his best friend as King of kings and Lord of lords. Thankfully, the relationship with Jesus Christ never ends. How is your relationship with Jesus Christ? Are you walking with Him faithfully as John did, or are you in a season of wandering from Him? What specific things can you do to improve your relationship with Jesus as your friend and Lord this year starting right now?

Many years ago, there was a group of Christians who had a saying about relationships. They said that some folks were swallow friends who left when winter comes.

Swallow friends are seasonal friends. They stick around when life is going well, but they fly away when things start going rough.

If we have even one faithful friend, we are blessed. If we can be a faithful friend to someone else, we are a blessing.

When the Lord Jesus walked the earth, He had one friend who was most faithful. His name was John.

John left everything to walk with Jesus, and in the years that followed, he witnessed firsthand the miraculous life, death, and resurrection of the Lord. When Jesus preached, taught, healed, cast out demons, and raised the dead, John saw it all. Jesus trusted John, and John remained fully faithful to his friend and Lord.

After Jesus returned to heaven, Father John spent decades caring for the young church, leading them according to the Way and the Truth, and reminding them to “love one another, for love is from God” (1 John 4:7).

John learned about friendship from Jesus. Jesus was a loyal friend to John, and in their years together, Jesus never abandoned John, even though he was at times admittedly difficult to deal with. Jesus never betrayed, used, or abused John.

Because John had Jesus as his best friend, John grew emotionally and relationally healthy. The same is true with us. We are often not emotionally or relationally healthy. We seek out friendships with other people only to be disappointed that they are not the great friend we were hoping for. Instead, if we, like John, make our friendship with Jesus our top priority, then we have our relational needs met and can take the love He gives us to share it with others. In this way, a healthy relationship with Jesus is the beginning of becoming a healthy person with other healthy relationships.

How about you? How is your relationship with Jesus Christ? Are you getting enough time talking to Him in prayer? Are you getting enough time listening to Him in Scripture? What things are hindering your friendship with Jesus? What changes can you make today to start improving your relationship with Jesus this year?

Have you ever had a friend with a really big personality? You know the type: they are fearless, tell everyone what they think, and refuse to be ignored?
While Jesus walked the earth, His best friend, John, was just like that. The Bible reveals John was a force of nature. Jesus gave John and his brother, James, the name “Sons of Thunder” (Mark 3:17)—which sounds like a pair of tag team wrestlers. These brothers were anything but timid wallflowers!
Jesus rebuked James and John in Luke 9:52–55 after they asked for permission to call down fire from heaven to consume and destroy an entire village of godless Samaritans. The brothers had the audacity in Mark 10:35–37 to ask Jesus, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.” On another occasion, in Luke 9:49–50, John described how he tried to stop someone from casting out a demon because they were not a part of his group.
As a young man, John was—at least on occasion—prone to anger, pride, rudeness, and being unloving. But it was his strength and courage that made John a great disciple who needed to be directed—much like a wild colt needs to be broken so its amazing strength can be harnessed and focused.
Walking with Jesus changed John. In fact, five times John is referred to as Jesus’ best friend and “the one whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23, 19:26, 20:2, 21:7, 21:20).
What is particularly encouraging about the friendship between Jesus and John is the fact that John needed a lot of work when their friendship started. The same is true for you and everyone else who is a Christian. When Jesus chose to be friends with you, it was not because you had it all together and would provide a low maintenance relationship. Jesus loves you (and me) as He did John. He sees how our personality defects can be redeemed, and by spending time with Jesus, who we are starts to become a lot more like He is.
If you are not a Christian, stop and spend even a moment in your mind asking God to help you learn about a friendship with Jesus. If you know any Christians, ask them what a friendship with Jesus is like. If you are a Christian, reflect back on how your friendship with Jesus has changed you and continues to change you, and thank God for those things His friendship has done in your life together.

When God walked the earth, He did not have a spouse, but He did have a best friend named John.
John was there when Jesus preached His sermons, performed His miracles, and publicly endured slander and scorn. Unlike Judas, John never betrayed Jesus. Unlike Thomas, John never doubted Jesus. Unlike Peter, John never denied Jesus.
John was the kind of friend we all wish we had. John is also the kind of friend we all should wish we could be.
After witnessing Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection, and ascension to heaven, John wrote five books of the Bible (the Gospel of John, 1–3 John, and Revelation). If you have ever doubted whether the biblical picture of Jesus as God, King, and Lord is accurate, consider for a moment the credibility of John.
John establishes his credibility as second to none in the opening lines of one of his letters, saying in 1 John 1:1–4:
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.
Unlike anyone else, John’s report about Jesus is firsthand. What he teaches us are things he heard from Jesus with his own ears, saw with his own eyes, and touched with his own hands.
There was no one else alive at the time to speak to the entire Christian church with the authority that John exercises throughout the letter.
John begins his letter by establishing his credibility as a teacher: He was a friend and apostle of Jesus who was present for His entire ministry, to hear Jesus’ teaching, to see Jesus’ life and miracles, and to touch Jesus’ resurrected body. John’s argument is very compelling because eyewitness testimony would have been the most credible kind of evidence in an age that was devoid of technology.
There is simply no one more credible about Christ and Christianity than Father John, because he was Jesus’ best friend. Of anyone on the earth, he had the most intimate access to Jesus during His ministry years. He was the last living of the 12 disciples. And he was the father of early Christianity who trained the first generations of Christian pastors.
What is amazing about John’s writings about Jesus is that John has what is called by theologians “high Christology.” What this fancy word means in plain terms is that John has the highest possible view of Jesus Christ as Creator, King, and Sovereign Lord worthy of all glory!
This is the same Jesus who John went for walks with, ate meals with, and hung out with as buddies for three years. Despite the warm friendship, John also rightly saw Jesus as his Lord!
How about you? Are you more comfortable considering Jesus as close friend or distant Lord? In your weaker area, spend some time today praying to the Lord asking Him to help you have a relationship with Jesus like John did, as BOTH your friend and Lord.

Who is your best friend? Who is the person who has stuck with you through the rough times and celebrated with you in the good times—the one person you trust more than anyone else?

Jesus and His disciple John had a loving relationship that was basically a best friendship. In fact, John is referred to on five occasions as “the one whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23, 19:26, 20:2, 21:7, 21:20).

Arguably, no one knew Jesus as well as John did. Not only were they close friends, but John was also only one of three disciples whom Jesus chose to be a part of His inner circle. Peter, James, and John had unique access to Jesus when the others did not. Subsequently, they were present for the raising of Jairus’s daughter (Mark 5, Luke 8), Jesus’ transfiguration (Matthew 17, Mark 9, Luke 9), and they saw Jesus sweating drops of blood in the garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:44). These were moments in Jesus’ life and ministry when no one else was present as an eyewitness.

At the Last Supper, John sat at Jesus’ side and asked who the betrayer of our Lord would be (John 13:23–25). While hanging on the cross to atone for the sin of the world, Jesus looked down at His devastated mother, Mary, and asked John to care for her upon His death (John 19:26–27). That scene pretty much tells us everything we need to know about Jesus. The person who you assign to lovingly care for your mother as you are dying is the person you trust the most. 

John was the first man to arrive at the empty tomb (John 20:1–10) and to recognize Jesus had risen from death (John 21:4–7). John was even gazing into heaven as his best friend, Jesus, ascended to His eternal throne (Acts 1:1–11).

What we learn from John is how to be a good friend to Jesus. The life of John should cause us to ask ourselves what kind of friend are we to Jesus? Can He depend on you to follow through with things He asks you to do? This year, what specific things can you do to improve your friendship with Jesus Christ (e.g., Bible reading, prayer, worship, church participation, following through on your commitments, etc.)?