Watching
Read Mark 15:33-47.
In this age of social media, online connections and superficial friendships, most people can claim to have lots and lots of friends. I have friends and followers on Facebook and Twitter literally around the world. But those facts are just proof positive that we've devalued the word "friend." Many of the folks (not you, of course) who connect with me online are folks that I rarely see or talk to in person. Others are, quite literally, people I don't know who I've connected with either for professional reasons or through other people. A true friend is harder to find these days. A true friend is one who is there through thick and thin. A true friend is someone who might even stick with you through and after your death.
You can't read the last hours and minutes of Jesus' life and not notice the complete absence of the disciples. The Eleven have fled and, for the most part, are absent at the cross and the tomb. Even Peter, who pledged himself to follow Jesus unto death, is somewhere in hiding. (But Peter knows or learned enough of what happened there, obviously, to convey it to his apprentice Mark.) Notice who is there, according to Mark's account: Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joseph, and Salome and "many other women" (15:40-41). When Joseph of Arimathea arranges for the burial of Jesus, who is there? Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph (15:47). These women don't do anything necessarily. They can't change what is happening (and, in retrospect, they wouldn't want to), but they can be there. They can watch. They can make sure that this one they loved is treated well, even in his death.
True friends, deep friends are there through the worst of the worst, even unto death. They don't have to do anything. They just keep watch. They stand beside. They have no words because there are no words to say, nothing that can bring comfort, nothing that can change the course of events. But they are there, watching, like these women did for Jesus. (No wonder the women are the first to the tomb on Sunday morning—the disciples had no idea where Jesus was buried!) Watching, caring, praying.
And they are living in some sort of hope, even before Jesus is raised. Remember, they are not there because they think he will come back out of the tomb. They've missed his word about resurrection (everyone did). No, they are there to watch, to care for their friend, to commend him to God the Father. We all need people like that in our lives, people who will sit with us, visit with us when we're sick, who will be strength when we cannot find any, who will be hope when we have lost ours. We need people in our lives like these women—people who will watch.
Who is that person for you? For whom are you that person?
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| Inside the Garden Tomb, Jerusalem, 2017 |
In this age of social media, online connections and superficial friendships, most people can claim to have lots and lots of friends. I have friends and followers on Facebook and Twitter literally around the world. But those facts are just proof positive that we've devalued the word "friend." Many of the folks (not you, of course) who connect with me online are folks that I rarely see or talk to in person. Others are, quite literally, people I don't know who I've connected with either for professional reasons or through other people. A true friend is harder to find these days. A true friend is one who is there through thick and thin. A true friend is someone who might even stick with you through and after your death.
You can't read the last hours and minutes of Jesus' life and not notice the complete absence of the disciples. The Eleven have fled and, for the most part, are absent at the cross and the tomb. Even Peter, who pledged himself to follow Jesus unto death, is somewhere in hiding. (But Peter knows or learned enough of what happened there, obviously, to convey it to his apprentice Mark.) Notice who is there, according to Mark's account: Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joseph, and Salome and "many other women" (15:40-41). When Joseph of Arimathea arranges for the burial of Jesus, who is there? Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph (15:47). These women don't do anything necessarily. They can't change what is happening (and, in retrospect, they wouldn't want to), but they can be there. They can watch. They can make sure that this one they loved is treated well, even in his death.
True friends, deep friends are there through the worst of the worst, even unto death. They don't have to do anything. They just keep watch. They stand beside. They have no words because there are no words to say, nothing that can bring comfort, nothing that can change the course of events. But they are there, watching, like these women did for Jesus. (No wonder the women are the first to the tomb on Sunday morning—the disciples had no idea where Jesus was buried!) Watching, caring, praying.
And they are living in some sort of hope, even before Jesus is raised. Remember, they are not there because they think he will come back out of the tomb. They've missed his word about resurrection (everyone did). No, they are there to watch, to care for their friend, to commend him to God the Father. We all need people like that in our lives, people who will sit with us, visit with us when we're sick, who will be strength when we cannot find any, who will be hope when we have lost ours. We need people in our lives like these women—people who will watch.
Who is that person for you? For whom are you that person?
True friends are very rare indeed. Some I thought would be with me to the end have even disappeared.
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