No longer servants

“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.” (John 15:15)

One of the differences between being a servant and being a friend, is that as a servant we sometimes assume a posture of unattached obedience. The master calls us to a task, and we respond. The master says “jump” and we say “how high?” We receive orders instead of invitations. There can be a noncommittal comfort in the role of the servant, but the relationship is lacking.

What Jesus is telling his disciples, and us, is that we are now no longer simply servants. All that the Father shared with Jesus has been shared with us. We understand the plan and purpose behind the task, and we understand the master in a new way. We no longer simply owe an oath of obedience to Jesus as a servant would, although we do still owe that, we are now invited to relate to Jesus as a friend would as well.

Do you know your friends well enough to anticipate their preferences? Do you know when something will match their humor just right, what music they’d like, or their favorite foods? Through Jesus we have full access to the Father, and we can come to know God as a friend. To be a servant in God’s house would be better than a lifetime elsewhere, but Jesus has also called us friends.

Today reflect on the reality that Jesus has called you friend. What does it mean for you to be a servant of God and a friend of God?


John 15:15