Our Friend!

Proverbs 18:24

A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.

Matthew 14:1-21

Friendship---that is what I think as I read through these scriptures. First of all John the Baptist is being a true friend to Herod because he is being honest with him about what he is doing, regardless if Herod wants to hear the truth or not. If John didn’t care about Herod he certainly would not have risked his life to be brutally honest with him. What other reason would John have for telling Herod not to be messing around with his sister-in-law? What do I think? I think John had enough of God in him that he saw past the bad in Herod and was concerned for his soul---he wanted him to change his ways, there is no other explanation. John was truly loving his enemies!

Next I see John’s disciples true friendship come out when they take John’s body and have a proper burial for him. It says they came and took his body---so when I read the word ‘took’ it sounds like they might have had to sneak around in order to obtain John’s body. They probably were risking their lives as well, however, they did it anyway. Why? Friendship---they were his brothers in Christ and they proved that genuine love through their actions.

After Jesus learned of John’s death scripture tells us that he left to be alone. Jesus’ friend had been murdered and he needed to be alone. Yet here comes the crowds of people to find Jesus. What does Jesus do? He does what any true friend would do, he puts his feelings aside and he listens to the needs of the people around him. In fact, it tells us that he had compassion upon them. Really? Jesus just lost someone close to him and instead of wanting people to feel for him, he had compassion on others. What lessons Jesus teaches us about being that true friend to others, about putting others needs above our own.

He not only heals these people, but he performs another miracle for the entire crowd by multiplying fish and bread and feeding the entire group. With all things considered, these people probably would not have starved without the one meal that Jesus provided, yet Jesus once again showed compassion and feed these people. It may have seemed like a huge miracle because of the vast number of people that he feed, but this miracle, in my opinion, was scores of small miracles put together. Jesus cared for these people so much that he meet a simple, basic need for them, it was not a life-threatening need, yet Jesus showed them how much he cared through this miracle. Isn’t that what we do when we do something for someone just because we want them to be happy, for them to feel like someone cares about them. Isn’t that showing Jesus to someone? With all this in mind, we can never forget the best friend that we will ever have and that is Jesus Christ. He is the truest friend that we could ever hope to have. When you can’t talk to anyone else, always know that you can go to Jesus with it. Good, bad, right, or wrong---what ever the need may be, Jesus will listen and if you will listen you will find your answer in him, the Savior of the World!