FRIENDS VERSUS SERVANTS Jesus had previously referred to His followers as "servants." "Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord when He cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that He shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. And if He shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants" (Luke 12:37-38). He spoke of servanthood in unmistakable terms, declaring that only one master could be served. "No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon" (Luke 16:13). He called the individual following Him His "servant" (John 12:26). In all of these cases, the "servant" lived with the interest of the Master dominant. The servant does not do his own bidding, but that of His Master! Jesus is now taking His disciples into His confidence. He is not only going to tell them what THEY will do, He will divulge to them what HE will do. " . . . I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you" (John 15:15). He shares God's objective with them because they will be part of it. He will go with them as they fulfill His will. Marvelous contemplation! They will become "laborers together with God" (1 Cor 3:9). No longer will they do His bidding with a shroud of ignorance draped over their minds. They will know Him Whom they have believed, and will serve Him as illuminated followers.
"Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you" (John 15:14-15).
Devotion 5 of 13
"Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of My Father I have made known unto you" (John 15:14-15).
Not a cessation of servanthood
Long after Jesus uttered these sayings, Paul referred to Himself as "a servant of Jesus Christ" (Rom 1:1). He refused to conduct his life in any other posture than that of Christ's "servant" (Gal 1:10). He referred to fellow believers as Christ's servants, not to be judged by their fellow believers (Rom 14:4).
The issue here is not whether we are servants or not, but whether we are MERELY servants.
That Christ's disciples would continue to serve Him is clear from a word He gave them at the same time the word on being "friends" was given. "Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept My saying, they will keep yours also" (John 15:20). What, then, can Jesus mean by these words; "Henceforth I call you not servants."
Note, Jesus will hide nothing from them. He will tell them "all things" He heard from His "Father." That includes the entirety of the redemptive purpose. They would know the "why" as well as the "what." In this respect, they will be more privileged than angels, who desire to look into the very Gospel that has been preached to men with the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven (1 Pet 1:12). What a provocative thought: "You are my friends . . . I have called you friends."
-- Tomorrow: RATHER, TO BE KNOWN BY GOD --