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The DEEP

Buddies?

More like beloved servants.

John 15:14–17

“You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. These things I command you, that you love one another.”

This passage is often misinterpreted, or at least over-applied. It doesn’t say they aren’t servants. If there’s any doubt about that, verse seventeen clears it up. It’s a command. You don’t give commands to friends.

Here, Jesus shocks His servants by telling them that they can also be His friends. It’s a radical departure from the norms at that time.

Master-servant relationships are common in the Bible, as they were in society back then. Any kingdom is a land of servanthood; everyone is subservient to the king. Jesus is the ultimate king—Lord of all creation. The disciples’ relationship with Jesus is, and will always be, one of servanthood.

But their master-servant relationship has a unique twist—knowledge. A servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. Jesus has imparted knowledge to them directly by teaching them all things that I heard from My Father.

But, in the context of previous verses, we see another element of this—the Holy Spirit. Jesus taught them directly, but He augments that with the Holy Spirit.

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” — John 14:26

That’s how He promotes His servants to servant-friends.


The problem is that we forget the servant bit. It’s all way too buddy-buddy in our eyes.

This is nuts. He’s God, for crying out loud. What kind of relationship would you expect?

Maybe it’s better to just focus on the special nature of the knowledge He imparts and not on the label “friend.” Actually, the primary definition of the Greek word translated here as friends (philous – φιλους) is “beloved.” It’s a nice term, but the buddy-buddy feeling isn’t really there. “Beloved servants” might be closer than “servant-friends.”

The point is that we’re worth giving knowledge to. We’re not mindless servants that just need to be told what to do. We have the ability to use knowledge to creatively solve problems as they arise. It’s thrilling to know that we’re much more than a simple go-fer.

But thinking of ourselves as being on the same plane as the Lord is ridiculous.


These Monday—Friday DEEPs are written by Mike Slay. The Saturday DEEPs are written by Matt Richardson. To subscribe to all the DEEPs click here:

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The weekly study guides, which include the Monday–Friday devotionals plus related questions for discussion or meditation, are available for download here:

https://www.ailbe.org/resources/itemlist/category/91-deep-studies

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV stands for the English Standard Version. © Copyright 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved. NIV stands for The Holy Bible, New International Version®. © Copyright 1973 by International Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved. KJV stands for the King James Version.

Mike Slay

As a mathematician, inventor, and ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church in America, Mike Slay brings an analytical, conversational, and even whimsical approach to the daily study of God's Word.

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