A Friendship with Jesus

 I’ve heard it all my life… “You are who you hang out with.” Not to the neglect of our non-Christian friends (with whom we should spend time), we naturally pick up traits and habits of those whom are closest to us. Just like a son picks up mannerisms from his father or a daughter from her mother, we become like whom we are around. This is not always a negative thing. If your dad is an upstanding man, odds are you will be, too. If your mom is a great Christian lady, your life will be molded into the image of your mother. Is it the same with Jesus? If we spend time with Him in prayer, thought, and devotional life, will we automatically become like Jesus? Well, no, there are no guarantees, but certainly your “life-map” will be charted in the right direction. 

I could run the gamut of examples from Scripture, but for the sake of time, I will mention just one. In the first part of the book of Acts, persecution of the Christian faith is rising. “Rising” may be an understatement.  By now, it has hit a fever-pitch. Still, Peter and John are out in the city streets and, in this case, testifying before the Jewish ruling body (the Sanhedrin) of their Savior. What a hostile environment, but they are not deterred.  Peter, not one to mince words, has just charged the Jews with unspeakable crimes. He has carefully laid the blame (and rightfully so) of Jesus’ death squarely at the feet of the Jewish leadership. Acts 4:10 reads, “Let it be know to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole.” I can imagine you could hear a pin drop. Here’s Peter, voicing truth, telling the Jews that they had killed their Messiah. 

Peter had just dropped the mic. It was them who had done it - not the criminal, the liar, or the murderer, but the Jewish ruling body. Peter then calls them out, relaying a certain disgust, but with a redemptive motif as well. He alerts them of their sin and gives them hope in the name of Jesus. It is easy for us to call out another’s sin. “Hey! There’s sin!” It is altogether different to call out our own sin. That, however, is just what the Bible says is the first step of salvation - admitting we are sinners. Peter not only called for personal recognition, but also for change. He calls for a decision to accept as truth that they were sinners, and could only find help in Jesus. The Jewish leadership could try to place their faith in money, power, and fame, but these sources would always come up short. The phrase Peter uses echoes in my mind (and I hope it does in yours, too). There is “no other name….no other name…no other name” which gives salvation than Jesus! 

Peter and John, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, stood before the assembly with boldness and power. It was not their words, but the words of the Holy Spirit. Let’s stop and think about what has just transpired. Peter and John had just said that 4,000 years of Jewish sacrileges, laws, and rules were invalid. They had just “spit in the face” of all the Jewish leaders who, since day one of their careers, had been careful to keep the Torah and the other laws in Jewish life holy. Flat out, Peter and John had just said, “You are wrong, and we are right.  You must repent of your sin, and choose and trust Jesus for your salvation.” 

But when the Jewish leadership looked out upon Peter and John, they were speechless. “How dare these peasants talk to us like this? Do they know to whom they are speaking? They couldn’t wrap their minds around their boldness:  boldness to preach Jesus even though they could be (and would be) killed for this message of hope and salvation. The scratched their heads, moaned, and groaned. Some were speechless. 

Also, these men who were preaching with boldness had no formal education. They had not studied where the Jewish leadership had studied, learned what they had learned, or heard what they had heard. No wonder they thought this message was strange! These men who spoke before them were “uneducated” and “untrained,” meaning they were not trained or taught like the Jewish leadership.  Their thoughts were, “They had not studied under the greatest teachers the Jewish world had to offer like us;” “They were not holy like us.” They could only stand speechless. 

Then, they realized they had been with Jesus.