“Friend,
Why Have You Come?”
I have
been intrigued lately by the questions in the Bible where
God, an angel, or Jesus asks a question. Almost all of
the questions are rhetorical, so I believe that they are
asked for not only for the biblical character, but
are asked of all of us as well. Some of the questions
that are asked seem “ordinary,” if you will,
while others quite literally take my breath away. The
question “Friend, why have you come?” was
one such question.
“Friend,
why have you come?” is a question Jesus asks of
one of his disciples.
In many biblical references we see and hear Jesus calling
those that are closest to him “Friend.” In
fact a very popular gospel song by Israel and New Breed
is entitled “I am a Friend of God.”* To
be a friend of God—to be a friend of Jesus—is
a very awesome and wondrous thing. To have Jesus call
you “friend” in front of your peers sets you
apart as someone special and dear to him.
This
question that Jesus asks, “Friend, why have you
come?” however, is asked at the Garden of Gethsemane.
Judas is walking up to him and about to betray
him when Jesus asks “Friend, why have you come?”
Jesus, of course, is not asking because he does not know.
Jesus is asking to make Judas think about why he is coming.
“Friend, why have you come?” I have contemplated
on how that question must have struck Judas. Jesus
had already told the disciples that one of them would
betray him during his Last Supper. He has already made
it plain that it would indeed be Judas. Judas
even asks his own question during the Last Supper “Surely,
not I Rabbi?” But Jesus confirms “Yes, it
is you.” So, Judas knew without a doubt that Jesus
knew why he was coming. And yet, I am sure Judas
was taken aback when the question started with “friend.”
Surely he must have had thoughts like “why is he
calling me friend?”; “I am not showing myself
to be a friend, so why did he just call me that?”;
and “What is Jesus doing calling me friend,
when he should be calling me, ‘traitor’, ‘fiend’
and ‘you most lowly of men’?” And yet,
Jesus starts the question with “friend.”
As
I further contemplated this interaction between Judas
and Jesus, I realized that I too am Judas. While
I too may be a friend of Jesus, I too betrayed him and
turned against him. I too pinned Jesus to the cross because
of my sin. I too let him die for me. I
too betrayed him. I am no better than Judas. I am Judas.
And yet Jesus still asks, “Friend, why have you
come?”
Jesus
asks this of all of us who come to the cross. “Friend,
why have you come?” He wants to
understand our hearts. He
wants to understand our motivations for coming to him.
Have we come to him because we know we are sinners and
are in need of his saving grace? Have we come to carry
the cross with him? Have we come to shed
blood with him? Have we come because we realize our sin
is so great that only he can cleanse us?
Jesus
desires all of us to come to him. He desires for us to
want to live in his presence. He desires to call us friend.
But he continues to challenge us:
“Friend, why have YOU come?”
*Israel and New Breed. “I am a Friend
of God,” May 4, 2004. Live From Another Level,
Sony 29752.
Cari
is currently at Duke Divinity in order to achieve her Masters of Divinity.
She is also a part-time hospice volunteer. Prior to school, Cari took
a year to volunteer full-time. Before that she was the VP of Employee
Services e-business group with Fidelity for 2 years. She also worked at
IBM for over 18 years in many roles from Human Factors Engineering to
middle management in Human Resources (HR). Cari used to speak at numerous
HR conferences about how to transform HR operations. She also led the
Women’s Diversity Network Group at both IBM and Fidelity. Cari graduated
from the University of Arkansas with a degree in psychology. She loves
to hear from you - her e-mail is 
