Faithful Friends of Jesus

Post # 52

Jesus’ Friends Are Faithful in Using Their Gifts to Benefit Others.

Last time we discussed how and why Jesus leads his followers in the paths of righteousness.
The reason is to bring glory to his name through their good example.
In this post we will consider two parables that touch on how Jesus invites and chooses people to follow him.

The parable of the sower and the seed describes how God broadcasts ‘seeds’ that may represent his word and the gospel message, and his ‘field’ that may represent people and the world. The different kinds of ground on which the seed fell may represent four different levels of the spiritual ability of people to accept and sustain the seed in their lives.

Bible Gateway says  “This parable of Jesus uses the metaphor of a sower spreading seeds as a way of illustrating that people respond in different ways to the message of the Gospel. Some hear and take it to heart; while others reject it; but the ‘sower’ continues to make the message available to all.”

Matthew 13:18-23 says “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20 The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 22 The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. 23 But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” NIV

Why do some people fit the model of the good soil better than others?
I think preparation of a person’s heart may take place prior to hearing the gospel, that makes them more open to let the seed settle in and take firm root. They may already believe in God and have been praying  to Him for help to deal with some difficult problems in their lives, and have developed a measure of faith. The presence of God is what makes ‘soil’, a heart or anything, good.

Let’s compare it with the parable of the ten minas (or talents) of Luke 19:11-22.
Jesus gave this parable to show what his followers should be doing in the time between his first and second comings.
The minas and the seed may be considered as gifts for us to put to use in promoting our new life in Christ and the kingdom of God.
He called ten of his servants together and gave them each a mina to use in trading while he was called away and being crowned king.
When he returned he called them together and questioned them as to what the mina he gave them had produced.

The first servant produced 10 minas, the second produced 5 minas and the 10th servant did nothing with his mina and gave it back to the king.
I assume that the other 7 servants produced between 5 and 1 minas each. The faithful servants were rewarded with rulership in the kingdom of God according to the fruit of their labours.

It appears that God broadcasts his call to everyone in the power of the Holy Spirit, but not all may be open to it or respond positively;  but they may later on in life as God continues to be with them.
The hardness of their hearts may become softened with empathy as they experience the disappointments and futility of materialism and begin to place more importance on respect for people and relationships.
These parables seem to focus on the quality of the personal growth of individual Christians rather than their influence on the church or the world around them.

You Are My Friends.

John 15:13-15 – “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends, if you do whatsoever I command you.
Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knows not what his lord does: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.” – KJV

What did Jesus command us to do as his friends and followers?

The commands that Jesus gave his disciples regarding the New Covenant are in the Sermon on the Mount. (Matthew chapters 5-7)

Jesus said he has made known to us all things that he has heard of his Father. We don’t know exactly when his Father began to speak to him about what he was to pass on to us, but at age 12 he was about his Father’s business when his parents found him speaking with the religious teachers in the temple as recorded in Luke 2:41-50.
I was of the opinion that Jesus, being the Word made flesh, would have had free access to the memory bank that he had developed prior to his incarnation. However it seems more plausible from the above that his Father had to teach him everything that he needed to know in order to become our Messiah. It seems that his brain (mind and memory) was in the same state of emptiness as any newborn. Well it was said that he emptied himself of everything to become a human being. It is possible that a human brain does not have the capacity to contain the vast knowledge that the Word had prior to his incarnation.

Jesus chose to hearken to his heavenly Father and also to his earthly parents. In turn we need to hearken to the teachings of Jesus as the Holy Spirit leads us.

Jesus put top priority on the two great commandments as recorded in Luke 10:25-28 – “On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. ‘ Teacher,’ he asked, ‘ what must I do to inherit eternal life?’

‘ What is written in the Law?’ he replied. ‘How do you read it?’

He answered, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

‘You have answered correctly’, Jesus replied. ‘ Do this and you will live.’ ”

Jesus elaborated on the lawyer’s next question “Who is my neighbour?” by telling the story of the good Samaritan.

Israelite parents had been instructed to teach the commandments to their children, so this lawyer knew how to love his neighbor as himself. However, he disagreed that non Israelites were his neighbors, even though Jesus had just finished teaching that the Samaritan considered a Jew to be his neighbor.

Jesus expanded the concept of brotherly love even further in John 15:9-14 – “I’ve loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep my commands, you’ll remain intimately at home in my love. That’s what I’ve done – I’ve kept my Father’s commands and made myself at home in his love.
I’ve told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends. You are my friends when you do the things I command you. I’m no longer calling you servants because servants don’t understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I’ve called you friends because I’ve let you in on everything I’ve heard from the Father.” – (The Message)

I think loving others as Jesus loves us involves a conscious effort to separate the person from their behavior. We also have to accept and respect ourselves separately from our behavior so we can love others in the same way.

This seems to go contrary to the general way in society which tends to value a person by their outward appearance and material success, rather than because they are human beings just like ourselves.

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