Some values make us more human, nobler, a little more like God—sublime principles such as love, loyalty, honesty, sincerity, and dedication. Home is the ideal space to cultivate these values that are epitomized in friendship, because friends sweeten the soul, watch our backs, and motivate us to live. “The pleasantness of a friend springs from their heartfelt advice” (Proverbs 27:9).
Jesus is the perfect model of friendship. Precious virtues were modeled in His home: the humility and faithfulness manifested by Mary of Nazareth when she was called by God to be the mother of the Redeemer (Luke 1:38) and Joseph’s loyalty and noble attitude toward Mary. And Jesus displayed the entire range of virtues imparted by the Holy Spirit: “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22, 23).
The Cross
The Cross fulfills the ideals of friendship. In His sacrifice, Jesus confirmed what He told His friends the night before the crucifixion: “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13).
Jesus’ earthly life was characterized by unwavering friendship, yet some repaid Him with betrayal. During His vigil in Gethsemane, in extreme anguish over His approaching suffering and death and the fear of eternal separation from His Father, and in the face of the attack of His adversaries, Jesus also suffered disappointment because His friends abandoned Him. Can there be anything more devastating than being abandoned by friends? But He who is “the Lord Almighty” (Isaiah 9:6) “set His face like a flint” (see Isaiah 50:7) and did not relent in His redemptive zeal, even for those who forsook Him and for those who would kill Him.
How refreshing it is to have unconditional friends who listen when we pour out our sorrows, who offer heartfelt comfort and support. The Friend of all offered that help, but when He was in the crucible, no one helped Him. At the most decisive moments in the history of redemption, the Redeemer was abandoned.
Have you ever thought how quick you are to eliminate from your circle of friends those who—consciously or unconsciously—have failed? Not so with Jesus. His love is expressed in absolute surrender and commitment. Friendship, that relationship sanctioned by Heaven and by Scripture, centers not on what is received but on what is given.
There is in the Gospel of John a revealing statement about true friendship. Jesus declares, “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you” (John 15:15). Through Christ’s friendship, Heaven becomes one with earth in precious, two-way communication. This friendship honors us with a change of status. Jesus loves His friends so much that the redeeming secrets of the Godhead are revealed to them. And He culminates His friendship with humans by sacrificing Himself for them. What a demonstration of friendship: integrating us into the family of God and saving us by supreme sacrifice. God be praised; Christ be exalted!
In the twilight of history, homes are needed where family members model friendship and all are friends with Christ. Let us honor our divine Friend.
The author is a Christian minister. He writes from Richland, Washington.
