jesus, friend of sinners

its been a while and i am glad to be blogging again.

for several weeks i have been really thinking and pondering the life of jesus and who he was to people especially when he walked on this earth...i read this scripture the other day "matthew 26:50 jesus replied, "friend, do what you came for." and after reading and hearing it, it blew my mind. matthew 26 is the chapter that has jesus at the last supper and getting betrayed by judas. and here jesus, knowing what is about to happen, calls judas a friend.

think about it...the words "friend do what you came for" were directed at judas when he came to betray jesus. and like i said jesus knew judas was going to betray him yet, in the midst of betrayal, jesus still had enough love in him to call judas "friend". for GOD'S sake!!! judas basically gave him up to die for money...how crazy it is for judas to betray jesus in this manner and jesus have the nerve to still call him friend...i mean was jesus being sarcastic...? the word "friend" in matthew 26:50 literally means in its original language 1. a comrade, mate, partner 2. a kindly address 3. friend, (my good friend)...wow, so in context of this scripture jesus was literally addressing judas as a "good friend" or "comrade"...

when i sit and think about jesus and who he was i am humbled by his love for us. it's as if jesus was telling us that even if we betray him, turn our back, deny him, he will still call us friend! this seems sorta unfair...it's unfair because it almost sounds as if i can be a prick and you can be a good christian, pay your tithes and yet we both are still called friends of God...i can almost find it hard to believe but then i found more scripture...luke 7:34 the son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a "friend" of publicans and sinners! Matthew 11:19 the son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners." ' But wisdom is proved right by her actions." so jesus is a friend of sinners hmm, i looked up the word "friend" again in these passages and for the greek scholars out there the word "friend" means:
1) friend, to be friendly to one, wish him well
a) a friend b) an associate c) he who associates familiarly with one, a companion
d) one of the bridegroom's friends who on his behalf asked the hand of the bride and rendered him various services in closing the marriage and celebrating the nuptials
after looking this up you can safely say that jesus is calling drunks and tax collectors companions. and here you have judas betraying jesus, and jesus being accused of being a gluttonous person because he is hanging with sinners, it starts to become clear on who jesus was trying to reach...who he was trying extend himself too. i wonder if we could learn something here...and yes i know he came for everyone but that's not my point...i am in my on heart searching to see who he had his focus on...

so in conclusion i found a specific pattern in the life of jesus that is found in the gospels...jesus the son of our holy living God was a friend to people who betrayed him and to people who sinned alot...why was jesus accused of being a glutton and a drunkard...it's because that was who he hung around, that is who he associated with. don't believe me, read the gospels and you tell me who he hung around most other than his disciples...on the flip side who was jesus most frustrated with? you might be suprised, and well, that's another post at a later time...jesus was a real friend and he didn't put a condition on whether or not he was befriended back.

a clue, jesus hung out with sinners and yet was sinless while the church is to afraid to engage sinners because of sin. it really is time to quit being afraid of the world and it's sin and start reaching out without sinning, uh, it can be done...jesus did and if he did so can we...not only can we but i believe jesus called us to it. the bible says that God isn't willing that any should perish and it's time the church take it's rightful place and love people even when there's betrayal...what would jesus do? HELLO WE KNOW WHAT HE WOULD DO so let's start DOING WHAT JESUS DOES and that's love people and let God love them through us with no conditions!!!! wow, loving with no conditions hmm we can do it...

peace my peeps...