Transitions IV: Friends

I’m writing under a tree taking in the beauty of the morning that God created for me.  Yes, God created this blue sky, cool breeze, and warm sunlight for me to enjoy.  You see, since I’m reveling in His creation, enjoying His blessing, marveling at the work of His hand, He created it for me personally, just like He created the vision I had of hugging Him this morning.  As I began to wake, I saw myself climbing onto His lap and pounding His chest, not in a mean way, rather like a child who is so excited to see his father that he cannot contain his emotion of love.  I put my arms around Him, God my Savior,¹ God my Provider² and Protector,³ Rock⁴ and Redeemer,⁵ Counselor⁶ and Judge,⁷ Warrior⁸ and King,⁹ and God my Friend.¹⁰  

When Jesus spent His last day with His friends—His disciples—before His betrayal in the garden, He spent several hours teaching them—giving them the spiritual “food” they would need to make the transition to walk in this world and preach His gospel without His physical presence.¹¹  He taught them about the Vine and the Branches—why it was paramount for them to abide in Him and He in them, for without Him spiritually within them, they could do nothing by themselves.¹²  He taught them this principle and many others so that His joy would remain in them and that their joy would be complete.¹³  Jesus knew they would come under various trials of many kinds, and to persevere they would need His Spirit, His Words, and His Joy to do His Father’s Work.¹⁴

Jesus was providing for His disciples, for they were His friends, so they could make it through the transition destined in their lives.  You can also be a friend of Jesus for He says, “You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.  No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.”¹⁵  Jesus prepared them for their mission, the work they could do for His Father, Our Father in heaven.

So, why did the disciples need a set of transitional experiences before they launched into their mission after Jesus ascended into heaven?  They needed to grow in character.  They needed to embody His teachings as the source of their foundation in Christ.  Hearing His words of teaching was not enough,—they needed to do them—and Christ put them to the test immediately following their last meal together before His betrayal in the garden.

    Then Jesus brought them to an olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, “Sit here while I go on ahead to pray.”  He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he began to be filled with anguish and deep distress.  He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death.  Stay here and watch with me.”

He went on a little farther and fell face down on the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me.  Yet I want your will, not mine.”  Then he returned to the disciples and found them asleep.  He said to Peter, “Couldn’t you stay awake and watch with me even one hour?  Keep alert and pray.  Otherwise temptation will overpower you.  For though the spirit is willing enough, the body is weak!”

Again he left them and prayed, My Father!  If this cup cannot be taken away until I drink it, your will be done.”  He returned to them again and found them sleeping, for they just couldn’t keep their eyes open.

So he went back to pray a third time, saying the same things again.  Then he came to the disciples and said, “Still sleeping?  Still resting?  Look, the time has come.  I, the Son of Man, am betrayed into the hands of sinners.  “Up, let’s be going.  See my betrayer is here!”¹⁶

1. Psalm 18:46, 25:5, 27:9; Micah 7:7; Habakkuk 3:18; Luke 1:47; John 4:42; Acts 5:31; Ephesians 5:23; Philippians 3:20; 1 Timothy 1:1; 2Peter 1:11; 1John 4:14; Jude 1:22 NIV
2. Genesis 22:14; Job 10:12; Psalm 111:5; Acts 14:17; 1Timothy 6:17; 1Peter 4:11 NIV
3. Psalm 116:6, 5:11, 37:28; Proverbs 2:8; John 17:12 NIV
4. Psalm 89:26, 78:35 NIV
5. Job 19:25; Psalm 19:14, 78:35; Isaiah 44:6,24; 47:4; 49:26; 60:16 NIV
6. Psalm 32:8,73:24; Isaiah 9:6; John 14:16,26; 15:26; 16:7 NIV
7. John 5:27, 30; 12:48; Acts 10:42; 17:31; Romans 2:16; 3:4; 2Timothy 4:1,8; Hebrews 10:30; 12:23; James 4:12; 5:9; 1Peter 4:5; Jude 1:15; Revelations 6:10 NIV
8. Exodus 15:3, Jeremiah 20:11 NIV
9. Matthew 5:35; 25:34, 40; 27:37, 42; 1Timothy 1:17; 6:15; Revelation 15:3; 17:14; 19:16 NIV
10. John 15:14,15; James 2:23 NIV
11. John 14,15,16
12. John 15:1-17
13. John 15:11
14. John 15:18 -- 16:15
15. John 15:14-15
16. Matthew 26:36-46

Excerpt from A Spiritual Diary, “Transitions,” part 4 of a 6 part series. Copyright © August 14, 2004 by Jeff Cambridge