Friends Of Jesus in John 《若望福音》裡耶穌的朋友

Sixth Easter Sunday, Year B
Theme: Friends Of Jesus in John 《若望福音》裡耶穌的朋友

Different Evangelists use the term “friend” in different manners. Mark does not use it at all in his gospel. “Friend” appears in 22 verses among the other three canonical gospels. Matthew 4 verses, Luke 12 and John 6. Today, we’ll explore more thoroughly how John uses the term “friend” in the gospel that bears his name.

Firstly, we discover that the six verses in which “friend” appears, namely John 3:29, 11:11, 15:13, 15:14, 15:15, 19:12, form a chiastic structure in the gospel of John. That is, they form an A, B, C, C’, B’, A’ pattern. Putting them together, they look like this:

A	3:29	He that has the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which stands and listens to him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.
	B	11:11	He said this, and then told them, “Our friend Lazarus is asleep, but I am going to awake him.”
		C	15:13	No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
		C’	15:14	You are my friends if you do what I command you.
	B’	15:15	I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.
A’	19:12	Consequently, Pilate tried to release him; but the Jews cried out, “If you release him, you are not a friend of Caesar. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.”

Secondly, among the six verses, four refer to friends of Jesus. One is neutral and only the last verse refers to the opposite of Jesus. Therefore, the title of this article is not wrong. Lastly, half of the verses appear in the gospel reading today. Therefore, it is worth spending the whole article to meditate upon the topic.

Let’s start with the outermost shell, the John 3:29 and 19:12 pair. We see a contrast between “friend of the bridegroom” and “friend of Caesar”! It is the fundamental option of life and death for all peoples. A choice is open to all humanity and regrettably, most people choose to be friends of Caesar, including “the Jews” in John’s gospel. They submitted to Caesar’s influence and perhaps eagerly and wittily carried out Caesar’s commands. In the context of verse 19:12, the Jews actively pressurized Pontius Pilate to execute Jesus even when poor Pontius Pilate wanted to uphold Roman justice because Jesus threatened the status and advantages of the Jewish religious authority! Why did I say earlier that “it is the fundamental option of life and death”? It is because during the Last Supper, Jesus explained that He had to leave the apostles for a while so that the Advocate, namely the Holy Spirit would come. When He came, He would condemn the ruler of this world (16:11), in other words Caesar. Therefore, when a person chooses to be a friend of Caesar, he chooses to be condemned as well! Should we not be prudent in choosing side?

On the other hand, before Herod Antipas arrested the Baptist, when people expected him to be the Messiah, the Baptist made it clear that he was not the Messiah because only the Messiah “has the bride” (3:29). We should also pay attention to the context because John 3 contains the main theme of the gospel. After telling the story of Nicodemus, John writes, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life” (3:16). This is the essence of the gospel, namely that God wants everyone who believes in and acknowledges the Son to have eternal life. That is why when the Messiah appears, the Baptist rejoices greatly. He was only the Messiah’s forerunner, the best man, the friend of the bridegroom who stands and listens to the Messiah. The Baptist positioned himself well. His final words are, “He must increase; I must decrease” (3:30). The Messiah should be the focus and increase, not the friend of the bridegroom. Do we desire to be the focus when we bear witness to the love of the merciful Lord?

Let’s proceed to the middle shell, namely the John 11:11 and 15:15 pair. John 11 is the famous story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. This is a concrete demonstration of the meaning of resurrection, though not a theologically adequate one. People saw Lazarus come out of his tomb, still bounded by the burial shroud (11:44). Someday in the future, Lazarus would die again. It was not yet time for eternal life. At least, the resurrection of Lazarus gives us a glimpse of what true resurrection and thus eternal life would be. Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die” (11:25-26a). Jesus’ words are not empty ones. They will accomplish their mission as prophesized in Isaiah, “So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but shall do what pleases me, achieving the end for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11). Not only did this miracle reveal the divinity of Jesus, but it also confirmed that Jesus revealed everything He heard from the Father to His friends (15:15), friends of the bridegroom. The bridegroom came so that His friends might have life and have it more abundantly (10:10). Shouldn’t we rejoice like the Baptist?

Now, let’s turn to the innermost core, namely John 15:13-14. It is the key message. Love is an essential human relationship. The greatest love is to lay down one’s life for one’s friends (15:13). One dies so that many people would live. Not only is this action heroic. This action is also very meaningful and even utilitarianism and Kantian categorical imperative would advocate such an altruistic action. Here, Jesus made it a requirement of being His friends, or did He? “You are my friends if you do what I command you” (15:14) and continues, “This I command you: love one another” (15:17). Well, so far, Jesus has not told us to lay down our lives for our friends yet. No! He had said earlier in the Last Supper, “I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another” (13:34). Jesus died on the cross for our good. Therefore, it is not wrong to say that Jesus expects His friends to lay down their lives to love one another. Those who hesitate or have reservation about laying down their lives for one another should not be surprised when they are rejected at the end of the world.

Modern people may find the condition repulsive because they advocate autonomy. It is good to do good out of free will. Doing some good things under duress is always bad no matter how big the utility is! Honouring one’s parents is virtuous. But it is hard to imagine how a government can set up and enforce laws to force a citizen to honour his parents! However, let us keep in mind the Jewish roots of Jesus and His disciples. For a Jew, the Torah which includes the Ten Commandments and the 613 laws, is the guideline of their daily life. They were proud to do what Torah or the king commanded. Therefore, Jesus’ requirement is offensive at all. In fact, Jesus is recruiting more friends into His camp to conquer the world, meaning to restore the proper order of human relationships in the world.

Beloved brethren! Which side are you on, Jesus’ friends or Caesar’s?
God bless!

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2021 Reflection
Picture Credit: catholicstand.com, stowens.medium.com