The Savior's Friend

The Savior gave His Saints this interesting commandment in a revelation to the Prophet Joseph: “And again I say unto you, my friends, for from henceforth I shall call you friends, it is expedient that I give unto you this commandment, that ye become even as my friends in days when I was with them, traveling to preach the gospel in my power” (D&C 84:77).  Earlier in the revelation the Lord suggested that those He sends forth can become His friends—“ye are they whom my Father hath given me; ye are my friends”—but here He seems to be giving it as a commandment to become His friend, or at least to become like the friends He had.  Elder Renlund in his book The Melchizedek Priesthood, Understanding the Doctrine, Living the Principles suggested that this commandment is part of what we agree to in the oath and covenant of the priesthood (which is specifically given in preceding verses in the same revelation).  Whether we view it as an invitation or a command, as His disciples we are also to become His friend.     

So how exactly do we fulfill this responsibility to become His friend?  The immediate context of verse 77 seems to suggest that performing missionary work is at least a major part of it: “Ye become even as my friends in days when I was with them, traveling to preach the gospel in my power….  And any man that shall go and preach this gospel of the kingdom, and fail not to continue faithful in all things, shall not be weary in mind, neither darkened, neither in body, limb, nor joint; and a hair of his head shall not fall to the ground unnoticed. And they shall not go hungry, neither athirst” (D&C 84:80).  As we go forth to preach the gospel like the apostles of old, He will bless us as friends by taking care of us and our needs.  When the Savior called His original apostles His friends the context was a little broader than missionary work: “Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.  Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you” (John 15:14-15).  We are His friends if we keep His commandments, and by so doing He promises to reveal unto us the knowledge that His Father has given Him.                 Verse 13 of the same chapter also suggests that we prove our friendship in an even more dramatic way: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”  As we lay down our lives for the Savior—by either small or large sacrifices—we show Him our true friendship.  Perhaps we might also take as our instruction the parable of the sheep and the goats in order to become His friend: “For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me….  Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matt. 25:35-36, 40).  As we serve and help others—as we are a true friend to those around us—we are in essence being a friend to the Savior. 

I think we have to be careful not to consider being a friend to the Savior in the same way we might think casual friends here on earth.  He is no Facebook friend or a friend across the street or a friend we play games with on the weekend.  Rather, He can be our divine Friend, our Lord and King, the Father of our salvation whom we reverence and worship with all our hearts.  We can show true friendship to Him as we preach the gospel, keep His commandments, serve all God’s children, and ultimately lay down our lives for Him.  We must strive to be as Joseph described himself to us: a “humble servant and never deviating friend” (D&C 128:25).