Friends of God (Luke 15)

One of the themes of these parables is that of friendship. We can see that the religious leaders found fault with Jesus for eating with those they regarded as sinners (v. 2). In his response to this criticism, Jesus told the stories of the lost sheep, lost coin and lost son. In each of the stories, he mentions friends. When the man came back with the lost sheep, his friends and neighbours celebrated. Similarly, when the lady found her lost coin, her friends and neighbours rejoiced with her. In the parable of the lost son, we are not told about his friends, although we can assume that there were plenty who wanted to waste his wealth with him. We are told that the self-righteous son complained that his father had not given him anything to share with his friends, which is untrue because the father had given him his share of the inheritance which he had squandered. 

Who is depicted by those friends?

In the story of the lost sheep Jesus says that the friends and neighbours depict someone in heaven. He is more precise in the story of the lost coin because he says that the friends and neighbours depict someone ‘before the angels of God’, which is another way of saying God. So God is our friend. In the parable of the lost son, Jesus does not say who the friend is, but he does speak of someone who is the father of two lost sons.

How does one become a friend of God?

The answer given in each story is that the way to become a friend of God is by repentance. The stories of the lost sheep and the lost coin point to what had to be done in order for repentance to be possible. Someone had to go and find them in their lost condition. The search of them may be arduous and difficult and time consuming, and it required persistence on the part of the Searcher. Still, the lost was found, and brought back to where it should have been, the sheep in the fold and the coin with the other coins. God in heaven responds with joy because the recovered sinners are showing repentance. In order to discover what repentance looks like, we need to consider the penitent son.

Repentance unto life

What features can we see in the prodigal son that can help us to understand repentance? Here are some guidelines. First, he discovered that the world cannot satisfy. He spent all that he had on reckless living and at no stage along the journey did he discover real enjoyment. The world promises much, but delivers little, even nothing in this man’s case.

Second, he discovered that the journey from his father was not only dissatisfying, it was also isolating. His plunge took him where he never imagined he would be. After all, which Jew would want to look after pigs! But it was worse with him, because he could not even eat the food of the pigs. He found himself alone, without anyone to help him (v. 16). He had no friends. The road from the father’s house was one that led to disaster.

Third, he used his memory to recall a better place, the life he had once known in the father’s house. Even the servants there had much more than he now had. They were flourishing, while he was perishing. Still, mere recollection is not sufficient. He had to rise from where he was and make his way home to the father’s house. There were no friends to wish him well on his journey.

Fourth, his mind was focused on what he would say to his father about the life he had lived. He realised what a mess he had made of things. And he knew that his actions could be covered by one word – sin. There does seem to have been in his awareness a deficiency about grasping the fullness of the father’s response. That was true in the story, and it is also true in spiritual experience. The penitent person thinks about what he should say about his sin, and we can understand why that is the case. He was ashamed and he would be happy with a small place in the father’s house. That small place would be better than the biggest place in the world.

The response of God

The father saw his son coming from a long distance away. When we apply this to God, what is the distance between heaven and earth! The journey home would be a long one for the son, but the father could cover the distance very quickly. We can see in the actions of the father something of the desire there is in the heart of God towards returning sinners. He rushes to embrace them and gives to each of them the kiss or reconciliation.

People have tried to see specific significance in the various items that the father asked the servants to give to his returned son (the robe, the ring and the shoes). It is better just to say that the father gave to him what was needed for him to live in the father’s house. His disobedience had been forgotten, he was now restored to the place of being a son, and the home was full of joy. In saying this, Jesus was informing the religious leaders that sinners live by grace in the heavenly Father’s presence.

The response of the self-righteous son

One would have assumed that the elder son would have joined in the festivities, but he did not. He was angry at the father’s kindness, which revealed that he did not know the heart of his father. All the years of service were only his attempts to persuade the father to be pleased with him enough to give him some good things, when in fact all he had to do was ask his father for anything he wanted. He was selfish, and he would not be a friend to the penitent son. But the penitent son was now on friendly terms with his father, a picture that reminds of this most precious relationship. 

We can recall how Abraham was called the friend of God. In the story we have two sons. Which of them is like Abraham as far as this status is concerned? Not the proud religious leaders, but the penitent son. Like Abraham, he knew he was but dust and ashes, but he also knew he had a bountiful Father.

Living as the friends of God

It is obvious from the stories that Jesus wanted sinners to be his friends. He showed friendship to all kinds of sinners in a variety of ways, but the ones he really wanted as his friends were those who repented of their sins. We can consider briefly some of the ways he used this theme.

In Luke 12:4-7, he addresses his disciples as his friends: ‘I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.’ A true friend will tell his friends what to do. Here, Jesus tells his disciples not to fear men, but to fear God, and to do so because God never forgets about them and knows everything about them (even the number of hairs on their heads).

Jesus call his disciples by the title of ‘friends’ three times in the Gospel of John, and each of them are said on the last evening he was here on earth. They occur in John 15:13-15. In verse 13, Jesus says to them, ‘Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.’ He may be citing a general truth here, or he may be stressing what he was about to do. I think we need to see in this assertion that the nature of the love needs to be explored. After all, friends are those who have helped a person, and who may choose to die for him or her for many positive reasons. But Jesus was going to die for those who were about to deny him, and he was going to die for them because they were sinners facing the judgement of God. We can see that he is indeed the Friend who sticks closer than a brother.

The second example is in the next verse, John 15:14: ‘You are my friends if you do what I command you.’ Jesus does not say that the proof of their friendship to him will be shown by occasional acts that may seem striking at the time. Rather, the proof of their friendship will be ongoing obedience to his commandments in the everyday experiences of life. Of course, this obedience is not done through fear of punishment, but are constant expressions of gratitude to him for his mercy to them.

Then in John 15:14, Jesus says this to his disciples: ‘No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.’ Friends share secrets, plans, hopes, intentions. Jesus shared his plans with his disciples. At the time, he had told them why he was going to the cross, why he would return to heaven, why he would send the Holy Spirit, and why he bless them, and all that he said to them was found in his Father’s purpose of love.

Jesus our Friend, we can say, died for us as our priest, teaches us as our prophet, and rules over us as our King. He is our personal Friend, our permanent Friend and our perfect Friend. As our Friend, he loves at all times (Prov. 17:17), and even when he corrects us we know that faithful are the wounds of this Friend (Prov. 27:6). Indeed, we are told by the wise man that ‘the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel’ (Prov. 27:9), and that is certainly the case when we think of Jesus our Friend.