12 This is my command: Love one another as I have loved you. 13 No one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 I do not call you servants anymore, because a servant doesn’t know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have heard from my Father. ~ John 15:12-15CSB
Jesus is often referred to as a friend of sinners, but that’s not quite right. Jesus says that the overzealous religious people of His generation accused Him of being a friend of sinners, as well as a drunkard and a glutton in that same sentence, but we never refer to Jesus as either of those last things. So, why do we refer to Jesus as a friend of sinners?
When I see this being used or referenced in today’s world, it’s being used by people justifying their own sin. They say Jesus hung out with prostitutes and deviants, but that’s not true either. Jesus was friendly with everyone. He spoke to and ate with anyone willing to listen. After being in His presence, one of two things happened: the person changed their ways, or they were left where Jesus found them.
For Jesus to be a friend of sinners is to say Jesus is a friend of the world. But this is impossible. Look at what the Scripture says:
4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
James 4:4
Jesus wasn’t an enemy of God; He was, is, and always will be God. Jesus was friendly with everyone but wasn’t a friend of everyone. Look at what He tells His disciples:
14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 I do not call you servants anymore, because a servant doesn’t know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have heard from my Father.
John 15:14-15CSB
This is after Jesus washes their feet. After the Last Supper and the LORD’s Supper. After Judas goes out to betray Jesus. It’s just Jesus and the eleven. They had been following Him for about 3 ½ years. Three of them had witnessed the transfiguration and saw Moses and Elijah with Him. They had all cast out demons and healed the sick. Nevertheless, they weren’t His friends until that night when He would be arrested before sunrise and killed before the next sunset.
If these men, especially Peter, James, and John, were not counted as Jesus’ friends, how can we say Jesus is a friend of sinners? Yes, it sounds good. Yes, it makes for a good talking point, but there isn’t any Truth to it. Jesus said if you are my friends, you will do what He has commanded. That means to allow Him to wash you in His blood and Word that you might no longer be a sinner but now a saint.
Therefore, don’t allow the twisting of Scripture to confuse you. Don’t allow your ears to be tickled by the deceived. Seek a true relationship with Christ, a true friendship that will change you. If your religion doesn’t change you, then it doesn’t save you either.
Peace. Love. Go Forth and Strive For Friendship.
Similar Content
