He spent the whole night in prayer to God. (Luke 6:12)
Have you ever taken the time to perform a relationship audit of your life, thinking deeply about the many different kinds of associations you have? If you have, you probably noticed that you can generally divide all the people you know into different categories. There are those closest to you, such as a spouse, sibling, or your very best friend/s. Then there’s your larger group of friends, people you enjoy being around and spending time with every now and then. Beyond that are acquaintances, people you know and might be friendly with, but you’re not exactly friends in any sort of meaningful way. I think you get my point: there are different layers to the relationships we have in life. This is true for pretty much every person alive.
It was no different with Jesus. His life and ministry had its own layers of relationships. In Luke 6:17-19 we see Jesus on “level ground” with his broad following of disciples. These were people who knew him and followed him, who benefitted from exposure to him and his ministry (v. 19). Then there was his family, those disciples whom he called up to himself on the mountain (v. 13), a place of intimacy and privacy, the very place where he had been alone with the One with whom he was closest the entire night (v. 12). Layers of relationships can be seen in the life of Jesus, but notice that for Jesus every human relationship he had was formed and grounded first in his spiritual relationship with the Father.
That’s a very helpful place to start for us as well. Our relationship to God should give shape and meaning to all our other relationships.
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