Title: Friend, Lord and Master
Author: Gary Witcher

Jesus: Friend, Lord and Master

     "What a friend we have in Jesus," we sing in the familiar old song.
     "No longer do I call you slaves," Jesus tells His apostles in John 15:15; "for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you."
     We all know that there are friends and then there are friends.  We also know that God and Jesus are the best friends possible.
     They are there with us when things are going well.
     "Rejoice in the Lord always," Paul admonishes in Philippians 4:4.
     "Is anyone cheerful?" James 5:13 inquires.  "Let him sing praises," the passage suggests.
     "Rejoice with those who rejoice," Romans 12:15 advises.
     But, unlike some who call themselves our friends, God is also with us when things are not going well.
     "Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God," 1 Peter 5:6-7 encourages, "that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you."
     Jesus promises to be our friend when others try to force us to give in to temptation.
     "And I say to you my friends," He states in Luke 12:4, "do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do."
     Jesus remains our friend even when we sin.  In Matthew 11:19 the Master is falsely accused of being a glutton and a drunkard.  But He is also attacked for being a friend of sinners.  In Matthew 9:11 the Pharisees question the disciples about Jesus' association with sinners.  The Lord explains that it is those who are ill who need a doctor.  What the Pharisees don't recognize is that the only difference between them and other sinners is that they refuse to acknowledge their condition.  Passages such as Romans 3:23 and 1 John 1:10 make it clear that all have sinned.  Jesus proudly admits in Luke 19:10 that His purpose is to seek and save the lost.
     "In this is love," 1 John 4:10 explains, "not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins."
     "But God demonstrates His own love for us," Paul notes in Romans 5:8, "in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
     Jesus and God are our friends even when we sin.
     Fortunately for us, Jesus is also our friend at our death.  John chapter 11 records the death of Lazarus.
     "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep," Jesus says in verse 11; "but I go, that I may awaken him out of sleep."  The fact that Jesus weeps in verse 35 shows how close He is to his friend at the time of death, even though the Lord knows that He is about to raise Lazarus from the dead.
     Jesus is such a good friend at our death because He was such a good friend at His own death.  We know from 1 Corinthians 15:12-19 that, without the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, there is no hope for us at the time of our death.
     "Greater love has no man than this," Jesus points out in John 15:13, "that one lay down his life for his friends."
     Jesus and God are our friends when we are "up," when we are "down," when we face temptation, when we sin and when we encounter death.  But, as we all know, friendship is a two-way street.  We must understand that friendship with Christ is not friendship with the world.
     In Luke chapter 16 Jesus tells a story about an unfaithful steward or overseer.  Beginning in verse nine He contrasts friendship with the Master and friendship obtained through the unfaithful use of unrighteous riches.
     "You adulteresses," James 4:4-5 cries out, "do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God?  Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.  Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: 'He jealously desires the spirit which He has made to dwell in us?'"
     Friendship with God and Jesus is not compatible with friendship with the world.  In addition, friendship with God and Jesus is not anything like friendship with the world.  They are two entirely different things.
     While Jesus and God will never desert us, this is not true of earthly friends, even relatives.
     "But you will be betrayed even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends," Christ warns in Luke 21:16, "and they will put some of you to death."
     On the one hand we have so-called friends who would betray us and even put us to death.  On the other hand we have a friend who has given His own life for us.  Which do we choose?
     There is one more thing that we must understand, though.  Jesus is willing to be a friend to anyone.  He died for even the worst sinner who has ever lived.  But friendship with Jesus is conditional.
     "You are My friends," Jesus promises in John 15:14, "if you do what I command you."
     Let's not cheapen the friendship of Jesus by pretending to be His friend and at the same time refusing to follow what He has commanded.

     Our association with Jesus is unique.  In no other relationship are we able to claim as such a close friend One who is so great a Lord and Master.
     One Greek word that is translated "master" is "despotes."  It is not difficult to see the English equivalent in our word, "despot."  Although this word has for us the connotation of one who abuses a position to the point of tyranny, the term actually means simply one who has absolute ownership and uncontrolled power.
     Jude uses this word in verse four of his epistle when he mentions those who, "deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ."
     Another Greek word that is translated “master” carries the idea of chief, commander and overseer.  This is the word used by Peter to address Jesus in Luke 5:5.  It is also used by the apostles and disciples in other passages.
     Along with the term "master" we often find the title "lord."  The Greek word "kurios" refers to one having power or authority.  Sometimes this implies ownership.
     "For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath," Jesus notes in Matthew 12:8.
     Other times this title represents one to whom service is due.
     "No one can serve two lords," Jesus explains in Matthew 6:24.
     There can be no doubt that Jesus is both Lord and Master.  The question is, do we really understand what this means for us?  If Jesus is Lord and Master, then we are stewards.  And He has entrusted to us certain things for which He will hold us responsible.  This is the point of the parable of the wicked tenants in Matthew 21:33-43.
     Jesus has entrusted to us great wealth.  In Matthew 13:44-46 the Lord discusses the value of spiritual wealth.  Scriptures such as Matthew 6:28-34 and Acts 4:32-37 discuss our relationship with physical wealth.
     Jesus has entrusted to us our health.  Matthew 6:27 makes reference to our physical health.  But, more importantly, Matthew 9:12 points to our spiritual health.
     Jesus has entrusted to us our freedom.
     "And you shall know the truth," we quote from John 8:32 each week on this program, "and the truth shall make you free."  In Romans 6:14-22 and 8:15 the apostle Paul examines the spiritual freedom we enjoy.
     Passages such as Romans 13:1-7 mention the physical freedom we enjoy as law-abiding citizens.  No one has been more greatly blessed with physical freedom than those of us who live in America.
     Jesus has also entrusted to us the Gospel.
     "Now all these things are from God," we read in 2 Corinthians 5:18-20, "who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
     "Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us, we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God."
     In 1 Timothy 1:12-18 Paul explains how he has been entrusted with the Gospel.  In the first two verses of chapter two of his second letter to the young evangelist, Paul instructs him to entrust the gospel to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.
     Our Lord and Master has entrusted to us spiritual and physical wealth, health and freedom.  He has also entrusted to us the Gospel.  This means that there will be a day of accounting.  This is the message of the parable of the talents recorded in Matthew 25:14-30.  This is the message of the picture of the judgment given to us by Jesus in Matthew 25:31-45.
     What a responsibility we should feel when we read the words of Jesus in Luke 18:8.
     "When the Son of Man comes," He asks, "will He find faith on the earth?"
     Jesus is Lord and Master.  He has entrusted us with important responsibilities.  There will be a day of accounting.  Perhaps we would do well to make sure about our relationship with Jesus.
     "Why do you call Me, 'Lord, Lord,'" Jesus wonders in Luke 6:46, "and do not do what I say?"
     We can acknowledge Jesus as Lord and Master only if we do what He says.  The religious world is full of man-made doctrines and practices.  But we are servants of Jesus only if we do what He says.  After all, it is only the truth that will set us free.

Unless otherwise noted, "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(R), (C) Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977. Used by permission."