He calls me Friend.

How do you picture Jesus?

Most of the illustrations of our Savior on earth are those of him surrounded by crowds-hugging children, enlightening swarms of people in truth, feeding and healing thousands. . .

And while these are actual occasions in which God himself touched His people, this did not mark Jesus' connection to the world.

Picture this.

The full entity of holiness-the only perfect man to walk the earth. . . Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Yet, not a soul understood his thoughts-his heart. Oswald Chambers stated, " [Jesus] did not physically cut Himself off from society, but He was inwardly disconnected all the time. He was not aloof, but He lived in another world."

Isolated. Alone. Jesus lived thirty-three years detached. . . physically absent from his Father, from perfection. He never once sensed genuine identity with the people in this world because he is altogether holy.

Everyone experiences loneliness at some point or another in life. I felt my fair share just this first semester of college, lacking anything familiar or comfortable. People all around reject you, ignore you, because of the individuals they have already established as their companions. But imagine laying down your life-facing death-for those who drove you to loneliness. . . who pass by and don't show a hint of love, maybe even hatred! Jesus, God's incarnate, came to the world as a stranger. Gentiles and Jews already served their "God(s)"-some looking for a Messiah, and missed it! They expected a conqueror, and instead recieved a perfect, humble man. So, His children made a mockery of his Name. He was beaten and killed for those he felt so distant from. Jesus Christ went to the hideous cross for a people unworthy to even understand him.

He died.

Let that sink in for a moment. . .

Jesus was made a mockery of. . . he was ridiculed for things he had not done. Yet, he endured. He endured the cross, one of the most painful deaths a human can encounter, with absolute power in his grip. His name, as he walked to road to Calvary, was scorned. People laughed, spit, and even gambled for His clothes!

He bore the entire weight of the world-every sin committed, or to be committed-as he hung to the point of demise. As if the cross was not brutal enough, he suffered the pressure of each sin.

When I struggle with a single sin, it consumes me and convict me. Yet, he took on ALL transgressions! Separated from the Father, the only one who led him and truly understood him, Christ sustained a sinful world.

Alone, with every disgrace laid on his bleeding, broken body, he finished the task set before him. Jesus died.

However, fulfilling all prophecies, on the third day, he breathed life . . .

Jesus Christ rose from the grave to proclaim ALL GLORY to God! He died to save an unworthy people-His Father's unfaithful people-as the perfect sacrifice. Through the resurrection of Christ, we may be with the Father once again!

This is love.

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends." John 15:13-15a

We should never feel alone again. For the one and only Lord carried out the will of his Father so we may have a relationship with him. We are no longer blind servants to the Lord. We may call him, Friend. . .  and to be a true Friend of God completely sustains us! We are created for intimacy with our Father. Therefore, when we are mocked, tempted, or alone we may find hope in our new name-the name we now bare. . . Christians. For we are free!

When the Hebrew writers says, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.” He means in one sense. . . Because of the tragedy of the cross-that the Father had to send his Son to save an undeserving people- we receive power. We receive strength. 

This is His good and perfect gift from above-the Holy Spirit! And when those who bear Christ's name stop to ponder the cross and it's glory, our remembrance fortifies our confidence in Christ alone. Simple remembrance-meditating on the cross-vulnerably places our security in the pierced hands of Jesus.

Seek His face daily! Live harmony under this gift of grace. 

"Oh precious is the flow 
That makes me white as snow
No other fount I know
Nothing but the blood of Jesus."