Real friendship can be hard to find. Many adults say they have fewer close friends than they used to, and some say they have none. We are busy. We move. We get hurt. Most of us long for someone who really knows us and stays.
On the night before he died, Jesus talked about exactly that.
The last supper
Jesus was eating dinner with his twelve closest followers. He knew what was coming. He had washed their feet. He told them he was going away, and they were afraid.
Then he said this. The Gospel of John, one of the four accounts of Jesus's life, records it.
Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
John 15:15 · King James VersionThe original Greek
οὐκέτι λέγω ὑμᾶς δούλους, ὅτι ὁ δοῦλος οὐκ οἶδεν τί ποιεῖ αὐτοῦ ὁ κύριος· ὑμᾶς δὲ εἴρηκα φίλους, ὅτι πάντα ἃ ἤκουσα παρὰ τοῦ πατρός μου ἐγνώρισα ὑμῖν.
Found in Codex Vaticanus (about AD 325), Codex Sinaiticus (about AD 350).
The Greek word the King James Version translates "servants" is douloi, which also means slaves.
A servant just follows orders. A friend is told what is going on. Jesus was saying, I have not kept you at a distance. I have told you everything. You are my friends.
Just before this, he said the greatest love anyone can have is to lay down their life for their friends. Within a day, he was on a cross.
What it means for us
The God Jesus showed us does not want only obedience from far away. He wants friendship. That can change how you pray. You can talk to him the way you talk to a friend who knows you.
It also gives us a picture of what friendship looks like for us. Telling the truth. Staying close. Putting the other person first.
Friendship takes time and risk. You might start by inviting one person for coffee, calling an old friend, or saying yes the next time someone invites you. If you feel lonely right now, you are not forgotten. Jesus called his followers friends, and he calls you one too.