Matthew 11:19 - The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is justified by her children.”
I looked up the meaning of the word friend in the context of this scripture. Maybe it had some special meaning. Nope. It means: friend, to be friendly to one, wish him well; he who associates familiarly with one, a companion. Nothing out of the ordinary. It's what Jesus just was and did.
Let's look at it this way: HE is the friend of all. He befriends US first. But we really shouldn't look to Him as just a friend, like we do with our own. He is, however, THE best friend we can have. He loved us first and will always love us. How many of us can say we will always love someone? He loves us the way we are, but loves us enough to not allow us to remain in our current state!
He is always here for us. How many of us can say we would always be available for someone else? He died for us. Again, how many of us would volunteer to die for another (although it does happen)? Yes, HE is our friend. Do you see to what depth that is? We cannot think of that word friend loosely when discussing Jesus. To diminish the fact that He is the one who is highly exalted dismisses who He is.
He must be looked upon with reverence. He should never be lowered to our human understanding of friend. He was a friend of the disciples. Perhaps until they recognized Him as the risen Savior they treated Him as friend and teacher. They admired Him for the wisdom and manner in which He spoke and they knew there was something so different about Him. But the real knowledge had not yet been made clear.
I would presume after He died and the severity and awesomeness of what He had done became clear, and He was risen and returned to spend a little more time with them, they exalted Him. The idea that this Man had been their friend was now looked upon in absolute awe.
This is the God that created this universe, who holds us in the palm of His hand, who knows the number of hairs on our heads, who knew us and our names before time began and before He created us in our mothers' wombs, who was so perfect in His being that He was considered pure enough to be the spotless Lamb of God who died for the sins of all mankind...and lives yet today. HE befriended people that He might be Lord of their lives.
Oswald Chambers wrote: We know Him "according to the Spirit." The Holy Spirit glorifies the Lord Jesus to us and in us until we know who He is and know the exceeding majesty of Him... When we come into right relationship with God, that Friend grows in a greater way, one we cannot describe as mere friend.
Joshua was confronted with a Man after he and Israel had crossed over the Jordan. He had a sword in His hand and Joshua asked Him if He was for them or their adversaries. He replied: No, but as Commander of the army of the LORD I have now come. THIS is how we should look at the Lord our God, Jesus...And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him, "What does my Lord say to His servant?" Reverence.
Philippians 2:9-11 - Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
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