The Ultimate Friendship

At the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan, the Father spoke from heaven ("This is My Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased") and the Spirit hovered over Him.  Obviously, these Three are One -- they were One at the baptism--the beginning of Jesus' public ministry---and they were One at the end.  Jesus did nothing that the Father did not do; He spoke the words given to Him by the Father, and He was anointed by the Spirit, Who worked with Him and Who confirmed all that He said and did. The Love of the Trinity for One Another is the ultimate Friendship and the model Community.

We cannot separate Jesus from the Father and the Spirit, for He is Who He is only in the Father and the Spirit.  St. Basil the Great puts it this way:

 I testify to every man who confesses Christ but denies God the Father, that Christ will profit him nothing.  I testify to anyone who refuses the Spirit that his faith in the Father and the Son, which he cannot have without the simultaneous presence of the Spirit, will become fruitless for him.  For he who does not believe the Spirit does not believe the Son, and he who does not believe the Son, does not believe the Father.  "For he cannot say 'Jesus is Lord' except in the Holy Spirit" (I Cor. 12:3),  and "No one has ever seen God, but the Only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has told us about him" (Jn. 1:18). Such a person is bereft of true worship, for he cannot worship the Son except in the Holy Spirit, and he cannot call upon the Father, except in the Spirit of adopted sonship (from On the Holy Spirit).

Jesus told His disciples to go into the whole world, teaching all that He had commanded and "baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit."  We cannot baptize in the name of the Father only, of the Son only, of the Spirit only -- for the Three are indissolubly One.  They cannot be separated. 

Jesus' discourse at the Last Supper (John 14-16) drew His friends into the same relationship with the Father and the Spirit as He had.  He prayed that they would be "One" as "...the Father and I are One," and He promised to send them the same Spirit with which He had been anointed.  He said, "I no longer call you servants but friends." 

Friends know one another's thoughts, and they share the same spirit with one another, even while remaining individuals.  Imagine being "friends" with  God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit!  And yet, that is exactly the relationship Jesus came to bring us.  The image of a human being standing in the waters of baptism, being anointed with the Holy Spirit, and hearing the Voice of God say, "This is My beloved child, in whom I am well pleased" is almost too much to believe!  And yet, Jesus draws us into this very position by His life and death among us.  He draws us to Himself, and in His own Spirit, draws us into His very position and relationship in the Holy Trinity. 

This is our destiny for all eternity -- Friendship with God!  Friends share one another's thoughts; they counsel one another and support one another through all the difficulties of life.  As we read Scripture, we discover the thoughts of God toward us, and we grow more and more confident:

If God be for us, who can be against.....?

Cast your cares upon the Lord, for He cares for you.

He will give His angels charge over thee, lest you dash your foot against a stone.

There is one who stays closer than a brother.

I will put My words in your mouth, and write them on your heart.

 

I challenge you to open the Bible and begin reading at any point, looking for the thoughts and promises of God to those who love Him.  His friendship cannot disappoint us ever.  If we will but take the invitation and the hand of Jesus Christ, He will walk us home, to a Friendship without end.