The final picture (the fourth) we have of Philip is when he and the other disciples have joined Christ for the Passover meal during Christ's final hours before the crucifixion.
During these last hours Christ explains to His disciples:
My command is this: love one another as I
have loved you.
[Note: in the verses before he said 'As
the Father has loved me, so have I loved you'
and now he commands that they love each
just as much (1) as God loves His Son
(2) because that is how much God's
Son loves them.
The friends of the King must not only love him,
they must love one another....a joyous
everlasting circle of love.]
Greater love has no one than this, that he
lay down his life for his friends.
You are my friends if you do whatever I
command. I no longer call you servants,
because a servant does not know his master's
business.
Instead I have called you friends, for everything
that I learned from my Father I have made
known to you.
You did not choose me, but I chose you....
- John 15:12-16
The Perfect Friend
These verses summarize what it means to be a 'friend.' A friend in general, but also specifically a friend of the "Lord of lords and Kings of kings."
It is a humbling experience to be His friend, and we can remind ourselves each day that He chose us, we did not choose Him.
A friend keeps in touch. A friend is aware of what
each one needs. A friend listens and responds in
kindness. A friend shares what is on his heart and
does not refrain from loving counsel.
A text or e-mail might come to me: 'Please call' and I do. Because it is a plea from my friend!
A friend shares his plans and confides his secrets.
The LORD confides in those who fear him;
He makes his covenant known to them.
- Psalm 25:14
And Christ is sharing His plans right there in that
Upper Room where He is sharing the last Passover.
Christ, by example, is the perfect friend!
The Perfect Helper
It would not be easy for the disciples to take it all in -- after all, that week began with Christ's Triumphal Entry (Palm Sunday) into Jerusalem, and would end with His crucifixion and resurrection - but Christ promises the gift of the Holy Spirit to comfort them and to bring them remembrance and understanding:
I will ask the Father and he will give you
another Counselor to be with you forever -
the Spirit of truth.
The world cannot accept him, because it
neither sees him nor knows him...
All this I have spoken while still with you.
But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom
the Father will send in my name, will teach
you all things and will remind you of
everything I have said to you.
- John 14:16-17, 25-26
(What an exciting promise -- they didn't even have to worry that they would forget some of His teaching!
So their past months of being in the presence of the God-man could be, like gleaming treasures, moment by moment, retrieved and savored for the rest of their lives!)
What Was Bothering Philip?
Jesus had already given his command to 'love one
another' to His disciples in John 13 (verse 34).
Jesus repeats it several times. (John 15:12 and 17 for two examples.)
And it is stated again and again throughout the New
Testament.
Philip, along with the rest of the disciples, listened
to all this and tried to put it all in context.
But something else had been bothering Philip.
See Jesus' Close Friends - Philip - Part 6
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