Why Did Jesus Call Judas Friend?
“Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: ‘The one I kiss is the man; arrest him.’ Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, ‘Greetings, Rabbi!’ and kissed him. Jesus replied, ‘Do what you came for, friend’ Mathew 26: 48-50a.”
The Judas Gift
This passage alludes to the betrayal of Jesus by His disciple and close friend, Judas. But the question is, why does Jesus call His betrayer his “friend”? Was this just a figure of speech, or was there a deeper reason Jesus used this label to refer to Judas? To read the whole passage, click here.
I don’t think Jesus ever spoke empty words. I believe everything He spoke had significance and meaning. With this in mind, I believe one reason He called him “friend” is that He had already forgiven him and loved His enemy.
Another more profound reason could be that He understood the truth of Romans 8:28: “. . . in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose”.
If we can understand and grasp that truth, we will come a long way in comprehending why Jesus considered His betrayer His friend. Jesus knew that God was using Judas to accomplish His will for His life.
Why Did Jesus Call Judas Friend? It’s All Good
In a very real sense, then, those who love God and are called according to His purpose really don’t have anything bad happen to them. And they don’t really have any enemies.
Now, of course, we have circumstances that seem threatening and people who may persecute and hate us at times.
But, because God intervenes on our behalf and causes it all to work together to achieve His purposes for us, it’s “all good”. As they used to say.
God turns our trials into gifts and our enemies into bosom buddies if we love Him and are called according to HIs purpose. Jesus considered Judas his friend because he unwittingly helped Him accomplish God’s purpose for His life. Judas enabled Jesus to fulfill His call and accomplish His life’s work.
This is true for us as well. Every difficult circumstance and hateful person in our lives is a blessing and a friend because God is using them to accomplish His purpose in our lives.
That’s why it works for the good. And this is why we are exhorted to “give thanks in everything” (I Thessalonians 5:18) and “rejoice in the Lord always” (Philippians 4:4).
Respond in Faith
That is, if we allow Him to do so.
Our trials will never produce anything good nor will our enemies accomplish anything valuable in our lives if we become bitter and hate them back and get revenge. We must respond in faith. In other words, we must actually believe Romans 8:28.
We have to trust that God is using this situation, this person, this evil in our life to do something good.
If we don’t believe that, it’s only natural to become angry and bitter and hateful. But if we respond in the natural way, we will only get a natural result. And the devil will have accomplished his goal.
So, why did Jesus call Judas friend?
God turns every trial into a blessing and every enemy into a friend by using them to accomplish His purpose in our lives.
This is why James exhorts us to “consider it pure joy my brethren, my you encounter various trials. . . James 1:2. Jesus understood that we really have good reason to love our enemies because God uses them to enable us to fulfill our call and reach our full potential for Christ.
Why Did Jesus Call Judas Friend? He believed His Father’s Word
How about you? We actually have been given so much power. We get to choose whether our trials and Judas’s are a bane or blessing, an enemy or friend. Whether that difficult circumstance or impossible person helps or hinders you depends on your response.
Will you choose to believe that God is using your Judas to accomplish His purposes in your life? To read another post similar to Why Did Jesus Call Judas Friend? click here.
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