Jesus Loved and Prayed for Friends

What Did Jesus Do?

“To the beloved, whom I love in truth…I pray that all may go well with you.”
3 John 1-2

A lot of us have more friends than we can count these days, that is if we can “count” the dozens (even 100s) of “friends” we have on Facebook, notwithstanding that we may have never actually met or spoken, uh, face to face, with many of these folks. “Friend” has become a rather abstract term nowadays, whereas it was very concrete at one time. Was a time when the highest expression of love was the willingness to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. Sure, we may say all those folks on Facebook are our friends, but how many of them would we really be willing to die for? Jesus, who actually died for his friends, and, even more, for his enemies, truly loved, and prayed for, his friends. John 17 is perhaps the best example we have of a friend expressing his love of, and of praying for, his friends.

It is not at all surprising, then, that the apostle John emulated the One who loved him and who prayed for him, by loving and praying for his own friends. 3 John is a letter written by a friend to a friend. The first part of the letter, verses 1-8, which we’ll consider today, expresses love and prayer for a friend, along with some encouragement and advice. And there is no mistaking that Gaius was a friend of John’s.

Unlike so many today who toss around the word love as if it were nothing more than a sweet bon-bon, John loved Gaius in truth. As in, he loved his friend in a Jesus way because, well, Jesus is the truth (John 14:6). What’s a Jesus kind of love look like? Out of this world! It’s a love that is obsessed with the one loved, as in: Jesus never thought of himself but always of others, never did anything selfishly but always selflessly, and, though he was fully aware of the ultimate cost of agape (That’s loving like God loves), he did not flinch from paying the full price of love on the cross. That was the kind of love John had for Gaius, love in truth, love in Jesus.

One of the greatest, and most neglected, acts of love, is to pray for a friend. Not just when they tell you they need prayer, but rather, because you are their friend you count it as privilege to lift them up to the Lord eagerly and often, asking his blessing, grace, and mercy for them. Again, John learned to pray for his friend Gaius in this manner because John had heard his friend Jesus pray in this manner for him.

John did not stop at loving and praying for his friend Gaius, he also encouraged him and gave him some advice. First of all, John applauded the genuine faith of Gaius as demonstrated by his generous hospitality to itinerant preachers who had shown up on his doorstep (3 John 5). As the preachers had headed out, with no means of support, to spread the Gospel, it was fit and proper, as they used to say, for all believers to help them, and in so doing be fellow workers for the truth (3 John 8). That’s a timeless piece of advice, which the Church needs to hear today as much as Gaius needed to hear it in the First Century.

Here’s the thing, uh, beloved. As Jesus had done, so did John. That is, the apostle loved in truth and prayed for his friends. It might not be the flashiest of ministries, and it will often go completely unnoticed. But there are few things more important for us to do as believers. I can say this with complete confidence because that’s what Jesus did.

S.D.G.

Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4