What a Friend We Have in Jesus :: Ephesians 1:16-23
In Proverbs 17, wisdom says: A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity (v 17). That proverb identifies loyalty as the most important aspect of friendship. Love flows out of loyalty. Neither adversity nor the passage of time can destroy true friendship. You can always count on a true friend. To have a true friend is to have something exceedingly precious. True friends are always there for you.
This is one of the great truths established by the Ascension of Our Lord. In his ascension, Jesus proves to be our truest friend.
WHAT A FRIEND WE HAVE IN JESUS
I. God provides the friends we need.
The Creator of Heaven and Earth knows all of our needs. As we heard Sunday, he cares about body and soul. He does not desire the death of a sinner. This is why he loved us in this way: Sending his only Son to die for you. Jesus was born without sin, so that he could live without sin, wash away all of your sin in baptism, and then ensure that your sin was crucified with him. As Jesus told us in the upper room on the night he was betrayed, Greater love has no one than this, that one lays down his life for his friends (Jn 15:13).
By dying and thus destroying death ... and by rising, and thus creating new life, Christ has proven he is the consummate friend. What a friend we have in Jesus.
But friends don’t abandon you, right? So why did he leave us?
We can certainly ask this question today. Our readings from Luke 24 and Acts 1 recount for us the day Jesus gathered friends around himself near Bethany, just a few miles from Jerusalem. Luke writes: Then it came to pass that while blessing them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven (24:51). ... And as they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men who had been standing by in white clothes said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you saw him go into heaven (Acts 1:10-11). Luke concludes that the disciples then returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were in the temple all the time blessing God (vv 52-53).
Brothers and sisters in Christ, recognize this truth. They did this all the time. They went to the temple day and night, rejoicing. After Jesus was born, they rejoiced in the temple. After he ascended into heaven, they rejoiced in the temple. The Gospel of Luke ends where it began, and it ends how it began ... with jubilation for our greatest friend.
It might seem strange to rejoice at a time like this if it were not for the mysterious and wonderful things that took place in the process. Jesus had spoken to them of his life and his death and resurrection, and what it all meant ... why it was so important. As Luke said, Jesus had opened their minds to understand the scriptures, that he did and continues to do this for repentance into the forgiveness of sins. Through it all, he promised them that they would be clothed with power from on high (Lk 24:45-49).
In other words, they understood for the first time that this wasn’t a separation. They understood that this was the beginning of a new friendship. Jesus had blessed them. Jesus had given them grace ... that is, the forgiveness of sins. Jesus was a friend in whom they could always trust. Jesus was a friend they could always have faith in. Jesus would not abandon them. Jesus would always be with them. Yes, what a friend they had in Jesus!
II. He is a powerful friend.
Today’s epistle from Ephesians speaks of this power. In his ascension, Paul reminds us that Jesus sat down the right hand of the Father. When scripture speaks of the right hand, it is expressing the place of power. The right hand of the Father is a place of honor and status that signifies Jesus has the same status as the Father. God has placed all things under the feet of Jesus and has appointed him as the authority over everything in the church (v 22). Now when we say what a friend we have in Jesus ... wow, just wow!
There is now nothing in all creation that runs wild and unharnessed. While there is much discord in our world ... while there are many wars and rumors of war ... while our family and friends and even ourselves suffer in sickness and weakness ... limits have been set on them all. On account of his ascension, our Lord and Savior has everything under control. As he said in the upper room on the night he was betrayed, You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you in order that you will go and bear much fruit (Jn 15:16). Yes, what a friend we have in Jesus.
He is also a forgiving friend. The message he gave to those disciples is a message of repentance into the forgiveness of sins (Lk 24:47). That was certainly weighty among the reasons for their joy on the day he ascended. The forgiveness of sins comes on account of the cross of Christ, and the blood he shed there. Apart from the shedding of his blood, apart from our friend laying down his life for the world, there would be no forgiveness of sins. Sin has a price ... death ... even death on a cross. God had promised that he would destroy sin and death once for all. So he gave us Jesus. And he raised Jesus. Hallelujah! He is risen! ...
God is faithful and just. Now all who confess with their mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in their heart that God raised him from the dead will be saved, for with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth on confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame (Rm 10:9-11).
That leads us into repentance. From now on, everything rests on God’s grace, which is the forgiveness of sins. Everything rests on knowing Christ crucified, dead, buried, and risen.
In Baptism, he has united you with Jesus and washed you clean. He has sanctified you ... set you apart to be holy, just as he is holy. He has clothed you in his righteousness. He calls you and invites you to receive the forgiveness of sins through the feast of forgiveness that has no end. What a friend we have in Jesus.
III. [Jesus has promised always to be with you]
But a problem seems to remain. It does not otherwise appear Jesus is here.
How may we know his blessed presence?
Through faith. It is in faith that Paul’s prayer that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know this. It is through faith that we experience his blessing for we now know through the scriptures that he is with us in the Word and the breaking of the bread. This is why he has given us the Sacrament.
Faith in Jesus apprehends his Word and we see in bread and wine ... the very body and blood of Christ, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus has come to serve us in his temple. These words, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins, show us that in the sacrament the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation are given us through these words. For where there is the forgiveness of sins, there is life and salvation.
Through his means of grace ... that come through his Word and Sacraments ... Christ is truly present with us. He uses these to open our eyes ... like the Emmaus disciples ... to know Jesus for the first time that he is actually with us (Lk 24:31-32).
What greater joy can a friend bring than this? You can always count on a true friend.
He is always with you.
So now, brothers and sisters in Christ, be a friend too and, Love each other (Jn 15:17). Proclaim the name of Jesus ... And be witnesses to the world ... in Jesus’ name.