"I call you friends"

Those words from Jesus really reach me.  They are the extraordinary statement of the new relationship that exists between humankind and God. They are in a way a declaration of love for humankind. After all true friendship is a love.  There can be a stage in a relationship between two people where it changes and grows and there is a dawning realisation that it has moved on to a deeper level.  In a similar way this is Jesus speaking out loud what he and the disciples might have known in their hearts for some time. 

Maybe it is just a tiny phrase to us that is hidden away in a longer speech that Jesus made at the last meal that he had with his companions.  But my belief is that it is very important.  The other things that were said at the meal are important.  But they all stem from, or are motivated by, the friendship love expressed.  Jesus is the tenderness of God expressed in human form.  Jesus fully human yet fully divine is the message of God for all of us.  He teaches us that God is not too far away for us to reach.  And that His command to love (though difficult) is not impossible.  In fact it is the only thing that can make our lives worthwhile.

Of course the next thought is how do we respond to the friendship that God is offering us.  I was thinking about that and remembered a poem by Kahlil Gibran that I have kept in a little notebook for years.

"and let your best be for your friend.
if he must know the ebb of your tide,
let him know its flood also.
for what is your friend that you should
seek him with hours to kill?
seek him always with hours to live."

I will think again about that poem this week.

Post Script: The quote from Jesus is to be found in the gospel of John if possible read the whole passage which can be  found at John 15