What do you look for in a friend? Here I ask the iron-willed to pause and jot down three or four qualities you value in your friends. What earns them, or you, the name of 'friend', different from family, work colleagues and next-door neighbours.
Now don't throw that away, but keep it handy while you move on to think of Jesus as a friend. That should not be hard; the concept is deep-rooted in hymns and prayers, since it begins in the gospels - with a difference. Our friendship with the Lord is just that; he is the Lord, so it is not the friendship of equals. But in many other kinds of friendship too, age, talents, and status may all be quite varied.
One favourite text shows Christ as a 'friend of sinners'; the insult which became an accolade. In another, his friends are those who do what he tells them; probably not on your short list. But if his friendship has different dimensions, it is not less than that of others, but more. Now think of some hymns which spell this out.
