The Best of Friends

1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

I like to think that I would readily lay down my life to save my child or grandchild if necessary. I’m sure others would do the same. But am I willing to die for a friend?

I can think of some very good friends who are a treat to be with. But I can’t think of one that I would readily die for. That would take a level of love beyond what I have attained.

It would be rare, as Romans 5 says, for a person to give up their life for someone who is good—not to mention one who is not.

And yet “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” And “while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son.” Jesus’ self-sacrifice was the ultimate demonstration of love for others. He called his disciples friends, and he has shown all of us that he is the best of friends.

Given the difficulty of Jesus’ sacrifice, I can understand why Reinhold Niebuhr called such love “the impossible possibility.” Only in Christ, the Son of God, who emptied himself to come and die in our place, is such love possible. And only through Christ can we even come close to living out the possibility of such love.

Lord Jesus, I often feel confused or hurt because of friends—and even worse because of enemies. But you are the best of friends. Give me your love at the center of my being. Help me to be like you. Amen.