Monday 14th April

In church yesterday we were reminded that during Jesus's final week in Jerusalem he stayed with Mary Martha and Lazarus at Bethany.  (Matthew 21:17 and Mark 11:11-12) It was a couple of miles outside the city and a place with which Jesus was familiar and felt comfortable.  Im glad he spent those last few days with His friends.  The disciples were His friends and we know that He loved them and had a special group of three out of the twelve with whom He seems to have been particularly close.   But He had something different with Mary, Martha and Lazarus.  I think He had family.

I like to think of Jesus being able to retreat to the comfort and familiarity of a cosy home during what He knew was to be His last week on earth.  I can envisage Martha cooking and fussing about making Him meals and attending to His every need.  I like to think of Mary asking Him questions and learning as much as she can - listening to Him telling about His day - the people shouting Hosannas, the moneylenders in the temple, the attitudes of the Pharisees and His ongoing conversation with His Father.   I like to think of Him sitting outside in the evening with Lazarus with whom he shared that special bond.  I hope they were able to joke and have a laugh and relax at the end of the day.  Because Jesus was not only the Son of God.  He was also a man.  An ordinary bloke.  Who got tired and lonely and hungry and sad.   He needed His friends that last week and Im glad they were there for Him.

We all need our friends when we hit tough times.  And tough times sometimes tell us who our friends really are.   Many of us will have a lot of aquaintances , work colleagues, school gate Mums, pub or cafe going chums.  Then there are the Facebook friends, the people on our Christmas card list.  The ones we are really genuinely happy to hear from now and again but dont think about that often in between times.
And then there are the soul mates.  The do or die friends.  The handful ( if you are lucky or have lived long enough) who would give you their kidney if you needed it.  The ones who will tell you honestly if they think you are marrying  the wrong person.  The ones who you know without a shadow of a doubt love you every bit as much as you love them.   I do hope you have those sort of people in your life.  I have a few in mine. My life would genuinely be very much the poorer without them.  They are a blessing.  I need them and they need me too.

Friendship is often forged in times of adversity. People show their commitment and love and true character when the chips are down - difficult times either bring out the best or the worse in us I suppose.  Friends are the people you can tell when things are really bad - when you have messed up - when you cant cope - when you just dont have the answers.  They are the ones who will cry with you and know how to make you laugh with a look or a word or an obscure reference to some shared experience from years back.

Jesus's friends weren't perfect.  They didnt understand Him, they let Him down and denied Him and were generally a bit hopeless during that last week.  But He didnt give up on them.  He forgave them graciously and they were the first ones to whom he appeared after His resurrection.  Our friends arent perfect either.  They will let us down sometimes and not be there for us on occasions when we need them to be.  But then we are not the perfect friends either. :-)  What matters is that love covers a multitude of sins and our shared life stories bring us back to a place of deep friendship even when there has been a bump in the road.

Lord, today I am so thankful for my friends.  Thank you for bringing them into my life at the right time and for all the experiences we have shared together.  Keep them safe and bless them.  May they always have a friend at hand when they need one and let me always be happy to share them with others.  Thank you that You know what it is to have friends, to need friends and to be a friend.  Amen