Inspirational, Uplifting and Encouraging Bible Verses: Jesus Is Our Friend, We have a Friend in Jesus
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6
Have not done a devotional in quite some time, really wanted to draft one this weekend. So, I jumped onto Bible Gateway and grabbed the verse of the day. I’ve surely seen and pondered this one before, Christ Himself claiming to be the one way conduit to God.
Some would characterize John 14:6 as restrictive; or perhaps, intolerant. Certainly, no person could originate the claim unless he or she had direct access to God. If then, that being the hypothetical case, why would God choose a human messenger in conveying such a statement; one which seemingly requires authority only ascribable to Him?
I do not have the answer. None of the answers could ever be mine. That because, if you had ever seen me at my worst, you would quickly realize there is no justification for me to answer anything on God’s behalf. I might be qualified to share what is correct, based on access to information coming via He who is in authority. This only under two conditions:
1. Christ is who He claimed to be.
2. Scripture is, as it says He claims it to be, God’s inspired word.
These conditions comprise two pretty darn “big if’s”, the debate of their validity far exceeding the scope of this hub. The purpose here would be to only share accurately and intuitively what the Gospel says. Just share. After all, that’s what Jesus tells me to do: love people and share His message. Leave any original statements implying authority to Him.
So, how does He get assigned that authority, which we have already suggested must come from God Himself to avoid hypocrisy? An answer to that question might be found in John 1:1:
“1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.”
“Word” being Christ: eternal, un-created, co-Creator, one in the same yet separate from God; separate in that we can know Him personally, that He took on flesh and went to the cross our behalf, and will come back a second time with full authority. So, Jesus makes the statement above rating authority only He could have.
Next logical question, who does the statement disqualify? I would submit no one. How can that be, given a myriad of obvious cases? Perhaps the most obvious, someone who pre-dated Jesus by 1000 years and never heard of nor had anything to do with scripture. Heck, they could have even pre-dated completion of Genesis. “God’s word” inspired or not, had not even been written.
Let’s return to that concept of authority, and that it could only be assigned to God. If He is infinitely loving and capable, then He is certainly able to read the heart and assign appropriate levels of accountability to each and every person who has ever been. Whose case can I look at in the most detail? Answer would be my own, and I have been provided with the whole ball of wax in the revelation department.
There is quite a bit to think about and question, even when we look at just one short verse like the one above. It can be kind of scary. What should we do? I think tonight, just knock on the door and ask God to show Himself to us. Maybe finish off with another verse, which suggests just that:
“20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” Rev 3:20
Tonight I will knock and humbly ask gain. The way things are these days, I feel like I need a friend. Until I become aware of a better one, I’ll call Jesus my friend like Marvin Gaye did:
“Don't go and talk about my father, He's good to us,
God is my friend
Jesus is my friend
For when we call in Him for mercy, Mercy Father
He'll be merciful, my friend
Oh, yes He will
All he asks of us, I know, is we give each other love,
Oh yeah……………..”
