For the Love of Friends

“A friend loves at all times.” —Proverbs 17:17

Who do you call, “friend”? Think about it for a moment. Is it the one who keeps a confidence for you? Those willing to drop everything and “be there” for you? The listener who does not condemn? We all have a “friend” category, and consciously or not, it often has a reciprocity about it: treat me as your friend, and I’ll regard you as my friend. Then by contrast, consider the three times Jesus addressed someone as “Friend”—twice through parable illustrations and once in real life. Who were they? The first was an ungrateful worker who grumbled at receiving an agreed-upon wage. “Friend, I am doing you no wrong,”¹ replied the hiring foreman. Next was a presumptuous one, crashing a wedding party. “Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?”² asked the host. And the real-life scenario? It was to Judas in the act of betrayal that Jesus said, “Friend, do what you came to do.”³

In a recent post, I concluded that, “If in death I will see Jesus face to face, I’d do well to open wide my relationship with Him right now.” I went on to say that, for me, drawing closer to Him means, among other things, “Trust His love.” For love is the very nature of God, as John stated so plainly: “God is love.”⁴ God not only speaks His love through reassuring words, He also demonstrates His love through promise-keeping deeds. John continues: “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.”⁵ Then God’s love for us does not depend on our human notion of goodness, nor does it vacillate with our faulty version of faithfulness. He loves us “with an everlasting love,”⁶ and this despite ourselves—“God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”⁷

This love cannot be exceeded, and it is ours, for “Greater love has no one than this, that a person will lay down his life for his friends.”⁸ This love liberates us today without fear of tomorrow. This is love we can trust, love we can live, love we can give. Forever.

We confess with Paul …
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”⁹ Lord Jesus, thank You for loving us as friends. Amen.

¹ Read Matthew 20:1-16, the parable of the laborers.
² Read Matthew 22:1-14, the parable of the wedding feast.
³ Read Matthew 26:47-50, an account of Jesus’ betrayal.
⁴ 1 John 4:8
⁵ 1 John 4:9
⁶ Jeremiah 31:3
⁷ Romans 5:8
⁸ John 15:13 NASB
⁹ Romans 8:38-39