Grace Notes 2024-11-20

What a friend we have in Jesus. Indeed, we do! Jesus spoke to His disciples, “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” (Jn 15:15).

Interestingly, none of Jesus disciples in the New Testament address Jesus as their friend. I don’t think that is because they did not believe His word. Rather, they believed it more important to address their Lord with reverence.

We normally think of our friends as peers. A group of friends may not be equal to each other in terms of health, strength, intelligence, and skill, but none of them are infinitely superior in these terms to the others. One friend may have some command or say over the rest, but it isn’t much of a friendship if any one person has complete command over the rest. Hopefully you see where I am going!

Jesus calls us His friends, and yet He is infinitely superior to us. In fact, He is our Maker. He gives us Commandments and we are obligated to obey. Our opinion as to what might be best for Him or how He should conduct His business is of no interest or benefit to Him. So whatever kind of friendship we enjoy with our Lord, it is much different than how we typically think of friendships.

Little wonder that His disciples at first called Him Master and Teacher. They would go on to address Him as Savior, Redeemer, Lord, the Messiah (Christ), and the King. They identified themselves as His bondservants, laborers, followers, messengers, ambassadors, and spokesmen.

As we come to the end of the Church Year, we close it out with Christ the King Sunday. There we are reminded that our dear Savior is the King and Judge. How thankful we can be that He identifies those justified by faith as His friends!

Since You Asked…

What is the significance of Christ the King Sunday?

The Festival of Christ the King marks the end of the long season after Pentecost, and it anticipates the day when Christ will return and be revealed to everyone as the rightful ruler of the world. The appointed lessons for the day make it clear that at the end of the age Christ will come in power and great glory. Previous to this we have known his gentle rule. We have known King Jesus as the one who shed his blood to free us from the grips of sin and death. But when he comes again in glory he will come to judge the living and the dead. There will then be no doubt as to who the sovereign of the cosmos is!