Friends

A friend is someone you know well and care about.

Jesus called his closest followers his friends (Luke 12:4; John 15:14–15). The word “friends” can have different meanings and nuances depending on the culture, the language, or the context in which it is used.

The New Testament is written in Greek and uses the Greek word for “friends.” However, the Greeks and Romans (who also used the Greek language) had a different concept of friendship than many cultures today. For instance, some philosophical groups in the Greek world used terms of friendship to describe close relationships between their members. These concepts of friendship were also different from the way the Old Testament depicts friendly relationships.

Even though Jesus called his disciples his friends, they did not call him their friend. Indeed, early Christians did not call themselves “the friends of Jesus.” They used other words to describe their relationship with him, such as “disciples” or “servants.”