Friendship is powerful. During adolescence, it becomes central to almost everything, especially trials. One of the privileges of discipling young people is being able to walk through trials with them and point them to Jesus when they need healthy support. From our smallest needs to our most epic feelings of desperation, we all long for someone who loves us, is reliable, is capable, and is willing to humble themselves enough to help, even if it requires sacrifice. The Gospel of John shows 4 reasons why we should turn to Jesus in times of trouble that you can use to point young people to Christ. He is the best friend and ultimate support in times of need.
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1. Jesus is Loving
John 1:1 describes Jesus as the word and the creator of all that was made. The garden was made from an explosion of creative activity. It was beautiful, intimate, and God delighted in Adam and Eve. The perfect relationship between the Father and Son was made known to them and they were given free will. He gave them the garden, which was a place of life, love, satisfaction, belonging, and closeness with the Heavenly Father because he loved them.
2. Jesus is Reliable
When Adam and Eve rebelled by believing the lying words of Satan, Jesus put in motion a plan to save and restore creation. And he followed through. God’s rescue plan that was foreshadowed in Genesis 3:14-15 was in full motion with the arrival of the Son of God (who was there at the beginning). Jesus is reliable. He said he was coming and he did.
3. Jesus is Capable to Offer You Help
"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." - John 1:14
John states that Jesus is God in the flesh. Jesus is the only one capable of helping us because he was both fully God and fully man. If you have looked at Jesus, you have seen God in the flesh. There is nowhere else to look or search for a Gate, a Ladder, a Door, a Way to get out of the dark dungeon of sin that we all live in. Jesus is the Way.
4. Jesus is Willing to Help You
Jesus is the King who desires our love and desires a real, mutually satisfying relationship with you. The King, Jesus humbled himself in the most extreme way, to win our hearts back to him.
Perhaps this is best expressed in a short parable written by Soren Kierkegaard…
The Peasant King and Maiden Parable
“Suppose there was a king who loved a humble maiden.
The king was like no other king. Every statesman trembled before his power. No one dared breathe a word against him, for he had the strength to crush all opponents. And yet this mighty king was melted by love for a humble maiden.
How could he declare his love for her? In an odd sort of way, his very kingliness tied his hands. If he brought her to the palace and crowned her head with jewels and clothed her body in royal robes, she would surely not resist—no one dared resist him. But would she love him?
She would say she loved him, of course, but would she truly? Or would she live with him in fear, nursing a private grief for the life she had left behind. Would she be happy at his side? How could he know?
If he rode to her forest cottage in his royal carriage, with an armed escort waving bright banners, that too would overwhelm her. He did not want a cringing subject. He wanted a lover, an equal. He wanted her to forget that he was a king and she a humble maiden and to let shared love cross over the gulf between them.
“For it is only in love that the unequal can be made equal.” The king, convinced he could not elevate the maiden without crushing her freedom, resolved to descend. He clothed himself as a beggar and approached her cottage incognito, with a worn cloak fluttering loosely about him. It was no mere disguise, but a new identity he took on. He renounced the throne to win her hand.
These qualities of our King are what we all long for because they satisfy our needs. Modeling good friendship and support to young people can help them connect the dots to the source of our love: Jesus himself.
Questions to Ask Yourself and Those You Disciple
- What is some aspect of your life right now that is revealing your great need for Jesus?
- When things get out of control in your life, who is a person you might turn to? In what ways does that person display love, reliability, capability, and willingness to help?
- John wants us to see that Jesus is the one we should call on when things “turn to custard” because he is loving, reliable, capable, and willing to help, even though it required his great sacrifice. What are some ways that Jesus has shown himself to be loving, reliable, capable, and willing to help you?
- In verse 12, John calls his audience to “receive” Jesus. This word means to take as companion or as in betrothal like is described in Matt. 1:20. Have you “received” Jesus this way? If not, what is holding you back? If you have, how might you embrace more deeply your “companionship” with him this week?
- John teaches us in 1:16-17 that if you have looked at Jesus you have seen God in the flesh. What are some common misconceptions your friends have about Jesus? How might Soren Kierkegaard’s story about the Peasant King, help people understand Jesus’ true personality and humble desire for a relationship with us?