GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Mark 5:37
Friendship
During much of my adolescence, I lived in North Granite, an area adjacent to Granite City, Illinois. The territory of North Granite lay between railroad tracks on the east and the west—an area a block wide and about twenty blocks long separated the railroad tracks. There were several kids about the same age—P.J., Jack, Don, David, Phyllis, and Beverly, to name a few. We sometimes referred to the group as the “North Granite Gang”—though the word “gang” had a different connotation back then; it was more like “group.” We played and spent a lot of our spare time together. There was always a friend available.
While serving as a pastor, I read that the Thessalonians complained about the Apostle Paul’s gospel message turning their world upside down (Acts 17:6), and I discussed this story with a friend, Tom. He said it sounded like a good idea. We chose a neighboring town with a population of about two hundred. (Maybe our vision was too small.) Our goal was to visit every home and share the gospel message, which we did—our version of turning the world upside down. To this day, I remember how important this friendship was.
I have another friend who said, “We can do that” to every idea I brought to him. I imagine that if I proposed building a ladder to the moon, he’d say, “We can do that. It may take a while, but we can do it.” I’m still strengthened by the memory of that friendship.
In St. Mark’s gospel, the evangelist described Jesus’ trip to pray for the seriously ill child of a prominent citizen of Capernaum. On his way, Jesus stopped to teach a woman about faith, and messengers arrived from Jairus’ house, informing him that his daughter had died, so there was no longer a need to bring the teacher. Jesus encouraged the father not to fear but to have faith as they walked on. “And he did not permit anyone to follow him except Peter and James and John, the brother of James.” (Mark 5:37) Of all the people who followed Jesus, even his close disciples, he seemed to draw encouragement and strength from these three—Peter, James, and John. On two other occasions, when he needed the strength of friendship, he called on the same three—in the garden of Gethsemane and at the transfiguration.
There are, of course, other ways of looking at this scene involving Jesus and his three disciples, but the importance and strength of friendship, felt even by Jesus, cannot be overlooked. The deep loyalty of a true friend is a treasure of inestimable worth—more valuable than wealth or material possessions.
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