He had a Friend

His disciples regarded Him as rabbi but for John, He was that and more. For John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, Jesus not only showed and taught him about the kingdom of God that had come to dwell amongst man, but that it has come to dwell in the hearts of man. I am sure that alone was overwhelming enough to enthrall John, but it was something else that caused the very being of this disciple to reverberate with a constant refreshing of devotion and love for his rabbi, for his friend. John found in the teachings of Jesus, the heartbeat of God. And what makes the heart of God beat is love. In the aftermath of Jesus' death and resurrection, he would recount his experience and understanding of God's love in these words:-

"This is how much God loved the world: He gave His Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need to be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again." John 3:16-18 The Message.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. John 1:1-2 NKJV......And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14 NKJV.

John, like the Jews of his generation, anticipated the coming of the promised Messiah to restore the nation of Israel. Yet, John saw and understood through his mind's eye, that the Divinity that created humanity had taken on the form of a man and entered history in the person of Jesus. It would not have been a surprise if this revelation had hit him like a ton of rocks!

The Messiah came in his lifetime. Jesus the Nazarene was his rabbi. However, the badly damaged person hanging on the cross for six hours that Friday was a friend he dearly loved because He had first loved him. "In this is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." 1 John 4:10 NIV. John remembered the words of his rabbi,"Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends." John 15:13 NKJV.

Everyone had a rabbi, but John had a friend.

For rabboni,

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