1. Do you know someone who has a special ability to make you feel like you are their BFF when you are with them?
a. Their goal in dealing with people is to be an encourager to them – a Barnabas or" BAT-nabas" (Daughter of Encoragement)
b. As a result they have a network of friends who feel close to them.
c. "There is a great man who makes every man feel small. But the real great man is the man who makes every man feel great." — G. K. Chesterton
2. There’s a story of a graduate student who spent several months on a Navajo reservation to get firsthand information for his thesis project. He lived with a Navajo family during those months. He and the matriarch grandmother of the family became close friends. The day came for him to leave. The family had a party to wish him well and the old grandmother whom he learned to love came out with tears streaming down her cheeks. In broken English she said to him, “I will miss you. I like myself better when I am with you.”
3. That sentiment is especially true of our BFF, Jesus. John 21.20-23
20 Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?” 21 When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” 22 Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” 23 So the saying spread abroad among the brothers that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?”
I. The Disciple(s) Whom Jesus Loved
A. We say, “It was John.” (John 13.23; 21.7, 20)
1. John wrote that
2. I Wonder if each of the disciples felt like he was the BFF of Jesus
3. Thousands were drawn to Him because they felt BETTER about themselves when they were with Him
4. Yes, there were some exceptions
B. “It is Us.” –
1. God creates us with much in common but He also creates us uniquely special. [Fingerprints; DNA, etc.
2. In our relationship with Jesus we SHOULD feel special just as the disciples must have felt
3. In Christ we experience the Love of God – personally, specially
New TV Show, “God Friended Me”
• John 3.16-17
• Romans 8.1
o Judgment for unbelievers – condemnation
o Judgment for believers – reward
o Matthew 25.31-46
• Galatians 2.20
• We too.
II. Quarreling Over Power as Disciples Whom Jesus Loved
A. Could It Be That the Disciples Quarreled over Greatness/Power Because Each Thought He was the Disciple Jesus Loved Best?
1. Disciples asked Jesus, “Who’s Greatest?” Matthew 18.1
2. Disciples Arguing without Jesus – Mark 9.333-4; Luke 9.46; 22.24
3. James’ and John’s Mother – Matthew 20.20-28
B. We Can Fall into the Same Trap – Who’s in Charge?
1. Diotrephes(3 John 9 I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority.)
2. Jesus is in charge through scripture and the Spirit
3. We sometimes make the church into things foreign to scripture – treat like a business; a military structure;
C. We Can Turn on One Another – Galatians 5.13-15
13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.
He goes on to talk about walking in the Spirit towards one another and bear His fruit.
1. So, who is considered greatest in the kingdom? Let Jesus tell us:
• Matthew 18.4 Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
• Luke 22.26 But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves.
• John 13.14-17 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. 16 Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
2. What do we do as a result? We serve; we don’t seek “power.”
3. Today’s Takeaways:
• Realize What We Have a Friend in Jesus
o Abraham was God’s Friend
o We can be, too – John 15.15
15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.
• Enjoy Our Relationship with Jesus – No condemnation (Romans 8.1)
• Go to Our Friend and Feel Better About Our Self and Be a Better Self
o He is “meek and lowly” Shepherd – Our best interests in mind
o He walks with us in our trials – even when we can’t feel His presence – Hebrews 13.5
• Imitate Our Friend
o Love as He loves
o Be patient as He is patient
o Be kind as He is kind
o Serve as He served
