Top Friends from the Lord.

Although Jesus did choose twelve disciples, he usually took apart only some of them to accompany him in the key moments in his life. It happened in the transfiguration in the mount Tabor (Lc 9, 28), it also ocurred in Getsemani (Mc14,33) when they prayed with him and also in the healing of Jairo’s daughter (Mc 5, 21-43). This friendship with James, Peter and John is confirmed with the roles of the three of them in the first communities and the legacy that Jesus Christ gave to each of them.

Despite of being his closest friends, in the key moments Peter even deny to know him (Mt 26, 69-75). However, Jesus Christ not only forgave them but also he trusted in them his most beloved. In fact, there is a beautiful chapter where Jesus offers Peter the possibility to recoup from his three denials with three consecutive statements of this love to Jesus… (Jn 21, 15-17). Once cleared, He built the church on top of Peter, nominated as the first Pope, He invited John to embrace Virgin Mary as his own Mother and finally he gifted James the first apparition of the Virgin Mary, on top of a pillar close to Caesar Augusta (current Zaragoza, Spain) in the year 40 d.C.

There are many good books that describe the relationship between Jesus and his disciples. I especially like one that look at such relationship from the outside, under Nicodemo’s perspective that is called «The letters of Nicodemus» , from Jan Dobraczynski (find it here). He was a Jewish master that followed Jesus from the shadow, as he recognised Him as the promised Messiah

In conclusion, this design invites us to celebrate friendship and to take care of it, even when it is not always perfect. Being able to forgive is a proxy to show if the friedship is real.