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                                                    What a Friend Is Jesus! (March 14, 2023)

“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” (Proverbs 17:17)

Judas Iscariot certainly deserves ominous recognition as one of the evilest villains in the Bible. One of the Twelve Apostles, Judas, of course, became notorious for his betrayal of Jesus leading to the arrest and crucifixion of our LORD. Having been possessed by Satan, he infamously disclosed the whereabouts of the Jewish Messiah to the chief priests and elders and was paid 30 pieces of silver for his dastardly deed. Judas then led an armed multitude into the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus went to pray following the Last Supper. There Judas -- whose surname may be derived from a Latin word meaning “murderer” or “assassin” -- identified Jesus with a sinister kiss, calling him “Rabbi.” Amazingly, before the mob laid hands on the incarnate Son of God and took Him as a prisoner, Jesus graciously said to His depraved disciple, “Friend, why have you come.” (Matthew 26:50)

Practicing what he preached during the Sermon on the Mount -- “love your enemies...and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44) -- Jesus addressed Judas as “friend” despite his vile transgressions against the Son of Man. Like Judas Iscariot and every other human being in history, we have all sinned against Jesus and fallen short of God’s glory. But while we were yet lost in our sins, Christ died so “that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) We were the estranged enemies of a righteous God when Jesus reached out to all of those who will receive Him as their personal Savior, offering reconciliation and saying “I have called you friends.” (John 15:15) Only God knows whether Judas repented before hanging himself, but those of us who have accepted Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins by faith, can give thanks every day for our salvation because of Christ’s expression to His “friends” through His suffering on the cross of the greatest love imaginable!

“Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.” (John 15:14)



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