Good Friday: We Have a Friend in Jesus

A few years ago a volunteer at a hospital told of meeting a little girl who was suffering from a life-threatening disease. Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her 5-year old brother, who had somehow survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness.

The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the little boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister. He hesitated for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, “Yes, I’ll do it if it will save her.”

As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled seeing the color returning to her cheeks. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded. He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, “Will I start to die right away?”

Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his sister all of his blood in order to save her.

When it comes to family most of us would do what it took to save a life. There is no barrier that we would not cross to ensure the safety of those we love. There is no mountain we would not climb for those we care about. What is true of family can also be the case for friends.

Jesus understood this. He says, “Greater love has no one than this; that someone lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13). True friendship is life-giving. It is life-sacrificing. True friendship is willing to be wounded for the sake of the other.

Jesus was a friend of sinners. Jesus loves even when he is not loved back. He is a savior that chases after us even as we run away. A friend who ask nothing in return and yet, is willing to give all for our love. He was accused of being a glutton and a drunkard because of whom he chose to call friend (Matt. 11:19). When Judas, the betrayer, shows up with a legion of Roman soldiers to arrest Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, he responds, “My friend, go ahead and do what you have come for” (Matt. 26:50). The one who betrays, Jesus calls friend.

Jesus lays down his life for his friends. He bears the sins of his friends. Toward the end of his life, he says to his disciples, “I no longer call you servants . . . Instead, I have called you friends” (John 15:15). The cross is his claim that he has not given up on his friends. It is on the cross that Jesus befriends humanity. On the cross, we have been shown the heart of God, so that our hearts can be won. On the cross, Jesus dies a friend of sinners, so that we may become a friend of God. On the cross, God battles for those he longs to call friend.

If you are lonely and dejected, you have a friend in Jesus. If you are battered and beaten, you have a friend in Jesus. If you are rejected and ashamed, you have a friend in Jesus. If you are suffering and in pain, you have a friend in Jesus. On this day, the day we call good, we discover we have a friend in Jesus.

(Liberty Hill Church will be having a Good Friday Service on Friday, April 3rd at 7:00 P.M.. Nursery available. For more info go to www.libertyhillumc.org)