Becoming Friends with Jesus

[Milestone]

I find it hard to relate to Jesus Christ sometimes. I certainly can’t relate to His divine nature, but it is difficult to relate to His human nature as well. Sure, He was tempted, but He never entertained an evil idea and is completely ineffable. If a fictional character were presented as Jesus is in the Gospels, this character’s perfectness would have him panned as uninteresting and inhuman. Jesus isn’t a fictional character, but this example demonstrates how we can often relate to and become more invested fake people rather than our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. How do you relate to Him and grow closer to Him personally? How can I get to the point where I can genuinely call Him my friend?

 

[TheAmazingGrace]

I took a “Synoptic Gospels” course in college, and learning all of the nitty-gritty details about these writings really helped me to understand who Jesus was as a person, and connect with him on a human level. The Gospels were written for a 1st century audience, so they can be understandably alienating to 21st century readers. You have to learn their cultural/historical nuances before you can fully appreciate what they mean.

 

[Reuben_J]

I find it hard to relate to Jesus Christ sometimes. I certainly can’t relate to His divine nature, but it is difficult to relate to His human nature as well. Sure, He was tempted, but He never entertained an evil idea and is completely ineffable. If a fictional character were presented as Jesus is in the Gospels, this character’s perfectness would have him panned as uninteresting and inhuman. Jesus isn’t a fictional character, but this example demonstrates how we can often relate to and become more invested fake people rather than our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. How do you relate to Him and grow closer to Him personally? How can I get to the point where I can genuinely call Hi9m my friend?

Similarly, how can we love God? We love Him because He loves us first.

We are Jesus’ friends because he calls us friends.

but he is also King, brother, teacher,master and Lord. Our friendship with him has to be based on wbat he is . It is like having your boss as a friend. The friendship is genuine but he is a boss as well in the office. Can you use your friendship to influence him as your boss, maybe for that long awaited raise, well, it is up to the boss. Usually it is easier if he is your friend.

As to how we relate to him - we cam admire him for what we are not and then to try to be like him, like how we try to be like our teacher.

It doesn’t mean that we always can but more importantly in the trying.

It is difficult to be perfect but possible in trying to be perfect. Our walk on earth is simply just that - trying to be perfect. Like a race, we will do it until the finishing line - until we come face to face with the Lord.

 

[po18guy]

I find it hard to relate to Jesus Christ sometimes. I certainly can’t relate to His divine nature, but it is difficult to relate to His human nature as well. Sure, He was tempted, but He never entertained an evil idea and is completely ineffable. If a fictional character were presented as Jesus is in the Gospels, this character’s perfectness would have him panned as uninteresting and inhuman. Jesus isn’t a fictional character, but this example demonstrates how we can often relate to and become more invested fake people rather than our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. How do you relate to Him and grow closer to Him personally? How can I get to the point where I can genuinely call Him my friend?

Call your local Catholic Parish and ask when they offer Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Really. Protestants are particularly invited.

Go and spend time in His presence - wouldn’t a friend to that? While there, you may lay out your doubts. Then, be as patient with Him as He has been with you. When the Holy Spirit convicts you that Christ is there, you will be eternally changed for the better.

After entering the Church, you may then partake of the Divine Nature via the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. You not only have a friend for life, but also for eternity.

 

[anon98328916]

I find it hard to relate to Jesus Christ sometimes. I certainly can’t relate to His divine nature, but it is difficult to relate to His human nature as well. Sure, He was tempted, but He never entertained an evil idea and is completely ineffable. If a fictional character were presented as Jesus is in the Gospels, this character’s perfectness would have him panned as uninteresting and inhuman. Jesus isn’t a fictional character, but this example demonstrates how we can often relate to and become more invested fake people rather than our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. How do you relate to Him and grow closer to Him personally? How can I get to the point where I can genuinely call Him my friend?

Ask Jesus to enter your heart and take over your life…Jesus will do the rest.

 

[Jennifer132]

I think I understand what you are getting at. As a devout Protestant myself, now converting, I found that I knew a lot about Jesus, I knew my doctrines and I had large portions of scripture memorized, but I don’t know that Jesus was my “friend”. I may have even started a similar thread on here about it.

The number one thing for me was simply asking Jesus for the grace to know him and love him as a friend. I sometimes wonder if what we do not have is because we do not ask for it. Ask him. I feel certain he will give you this grace.

Find some reading material that helps draw you closer to him. Consoling the Heart of Jesus was a really wonderful book that brought me closer to him. Also, Clarence Enzler’s My Other Self has meant a lot to me. He writes as though Jesus himself were speaking to you.

It is not without effort on our part that we can draw close to him in friendship. As with any friendship, it takes work. Make sure you’re spending time with him every day in a meaningful way. Sometimes we receive the consolation of feeling close to him, other times we don’t. So just because you don’t feel something, don’t assume you aren’t his friend. He is close by, all we must do is remember to acknowledge him throughout our days.

 

[MrsAngelala]

What a lovely question.

How do you get to know someone? You spend time with them! As you’ve learned, you can go all over the internet (or in this case, all through the Bible) to learn a person’s basic statistics, or to see what they’ve done or said, but that doesn’t mean you know them. You can really only get to know who they are by spending time with them.

I second the suggestion re: Eucharistic adoration. If you’re not an introvert or you don’t like quiet, it can be hard starting out, but it’s very worth it. You don’t have to be Catholic. My husband is Protestant, but he comes with me to adoration once a month, and it’s something he looks forward to. If I forget to ask him about setting a date, he asks me.

You might be surprised at how much of a tangible difference it can make in your day, to just sit or kneel and spend time with Jesus – not in getting to know what he said or did, but just in getting to know him. You can ask him to teach you who he is. He won’t be offended. But in asking that question, keep in mind that “Aslan is not a tame lion.” Happy adventuring.

 

[AveOTheotokos]

I struggled for a while with trying to relate to our Lord Jesus.

I mean, what on earth could I have in common with God incarnate?!

I have spent a lot of my prayer time pondering this and asked Mary to help guide me to a better relationship and understanding of her Son. The answer came to me in one of the most unexpected, yet effective ways.

I was working later than usual one day, and when I came out of work the sun was setting. As I walked across a pedestrian bridge to get to my parking lot, the view of the sky was breathtaking.

All of a sudden, I had a thought that had never crossed my mind before: was Jesus ever awe struck by a stunning sunset before? It got me pondering his human nature and how he would have experienced a sunset and all it’s beauty just like the rest of us.

He witnessed all of creation take place, yet when he became man, he saw the days turn to night and the night turn days just like us.

I felt an overwhelming sense of comfort and peace. I also felt a kinship and relatability to Jesus that I had never experienced before.

The next night, I had to work even later. As I left the office, the sun had already set and had left a chill in the air. As I walked in the dark across the pedestrian bridge, the cold wind was coming straight at me. I shoved my hands in my jacket pockets and pulled it in tight across my chest. I put my head down and tried to curl up the best I could to keep warm.

Again, I was struck with a revelatory new thought: Had Jesus ever felt cold?

In my mind I pictured Jesus walking across a darkening desert pulling his cloak tighter around himself trying to retain as much warmth as he could in the cold desert air. I then imagined him lying near a small fire with his back to some shrubs and brush, curled up trying to keep warm.

I felt a warmth come over me as the wind calmed down and hurried on to my car. As I drove home, I left the radio off and spent the hour long drive home just pondering Jesus and His humanity.

Since those two days, I have tried to think of Jesus any time I am moved by emotion or experience, whether good or bad. Through these short meditations and ponderings, I find that I not only grow closer to Jesus in his humanity, but also that I am truly awe-struck at his divinity and his willingness to take on our humanity with its joys and sorrows.

 

[Bataar]

For me, it’s hard to be friends with or relate to anyone who simply seems to ignore me. There was a guy I used to be really good friends with. After a while, the friendship fell through. I’m not sure why, but I think it’s because the other guy started hanging out with a different group. I’d call him and he wouldn’t answer. I’d leave him a voice message asking him to call me back and get no response. No replies to emails either. Eventually, I just gave up and stopped calling. That seems to be how my relationship with Jesus is.

 

[PelagiathePenit]

There are a lot of people who never entertain evil ideas, not just Jesus (if indeed, this is true of him?)

Many relate to him as a person who was trying to do good for people, stuck up and spoke out for what he believed in, and died trying to live his ideals. He also seemed to care about his family and he liked to teach. He didn’t care about material possessions. Many can relate to some or all of the above.

I wouldn’t say his character is “perfect,” tho–he got angry, he had outbursts, he confused a lot of people with his words and actions.

How to get to the point where you call him your friend?
Not quite sure what you mean by this question. How are you defining “friend”?

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Jesus Christ is considered the epitome of human perfection to Christians. Sure there are many who share his attributes.