A friend indeed

In this week’s Gospel reading from John 15, Jesus is spending one last night—just prior to his arrest, torture, and crucifixion—with a few of his closest friends. He’s encouraging and equipping them for the next chapter of their lives and mission without him physically present.

 In this farewell discourse, Jesus uses a word to describe a radical change in his relationship with them that, largely with the “help” of social media, has become familiar to us to the point of losing its punch, but is utterly profound in its usage here: he calls them—and by extension, us—friends.

This ought to stop us in our tracks because here is the eternal, omnipotent, God of the universe calling us his friends with all the weight that word carries.

 What is it about the core of his mission—his death on the cross—that is so strong it can turn servants, strangers, and even enemies into friends? Because that’s what he says here.

 And why is this so important?