“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.” (John 15:13-15)
Jesus made many friends. As he traveled, he befriended many people along the way—the Samaritan woman at the well, the wealthy tax collector Zacchaeus, and Mary Magdalene. Peter, James, and John were his inner circle among the twelve. Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha were also good friends. In the above passage, he addresses eleven of his disciples as his friends (Judas had left to betray him.). Jesus was open and honest with his friends. He shared with them what God had revealed to him. In the end Jesus laid down his life for his friends. Through his sacrificial death and resurrection, Jesus expanded his circle of friends to include us. Thanks be to God.
Dr. Sam