Jesus: My Friend and Companion

Amazingly Jesus is both fully God and fully man. He is both Lord and Friend. He is both Savior and Companion.

In the Bible we find a surprising level of intimacy in the language used to describe our relationship with Jesus.


JOHN 15:5. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. (nrsv)

JOHN 15:15. 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. (nrsv)

JOHN 14:23. Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. (nrsv)

JOHN 17:26. I have revealed you to them, and I will continue to do so. Then your love for me will be in them, and I will be in them. (nlt)


How do you build friendship with Jesus?

• Spending time together...
• Prayer...
• Bible study...
• The Lord's supper...

Read this section of the paper THIS HOLY MYSTERY, which focuses on the presence of Christ in the Lord's Supper.

As you come to know Jesus better, you will learn to ask..."Jesus, where are you working in my community? How can I join you in your work?"


The great hymns of faith also express this quality of friendship and companionship with Jesus.

I would love to tell you what I think of Jesus,
Since I found in Him a friend so strong and true.
I would tell you how He changed my life completely;
He did something no other friend could do.
No one ever cared for me like Jesus;
There's no other friend so kind as He.
No one else could take the sin and darkness from me;
O how much He cared for me.
(words by Charles Weigle)

Read the story here about the writing of this song.


There's not a friend like the lowly Jesus. No, not one! No, not one!
None else could heal all our soul's diseases. No, not one! No, not one!
There's not an hour that he is not near us. No, not one! No, not one!
No night so dark but his love can cheer us. No, not one! No, not one!

Jesus knows all about our struggles, he will guide till the day is done;
There's not a friend like the lowly Jesus. No, not one! No, not one!
(words by Johnson Oatman, Jr.)


What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!
Oh, what peace we often forfeit, oh, what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.
(words by Joseph Scriven)

Jesus is the Friend of sinners, he can set you free.
If you trust him, he will save you, give you life anew.
He will walk along beside you, guide you day by day.
He will lead you on to glory, home forevermore!
(words by John W. Peterson)

The same is true of more contemporary praise songs!

Who am I that you are mindful of me? That you hear me when I call?
Is it true that you are thinking of me? How you love me...it's amazing.
I am a friend of God, I am a friend of God,
I am a friend of God, he calls me friend.
God Almighty, Lord of Glory, you have called me friend.
(words by Michael Gungor and Israel Houghton)


Read this paragraph, based on a book by Jack Hyles, focusing on Jesus as our friend:

My friend wrote me a love letter. He tells me in John 3:16 that he was sent by God so that if I believe in him, I should not perish but have everlasting life. He tells me in Romans 5:8 that while I was yet a sinner, he died for me. He tells me in Romans 8:28 that all things work together for good to those who love him and to those who are called according to his purpose. He reminds me in Philippians 4:13 that I can do all things through him who strengthens me. He tells me in John 14:1-3 that my heart should not be troubled but that I should believe God and believe also in him. He reminds me that in his Father's house are many dwelling places, and that he has gone to prepare a place for me, and he will come again receiving me to himself, so that where he is, there I may be also. He reminds me in Psalm 91:1 that if I dwell in the secret place of the Most High, I may abide under the shadow of the Almighty. In 1 Corinthians 13, he reminds me that his love will never fail.