Throughout Jesus’ challenging ministry, the faithful apostles proved to be real friends to Jesus. (Prov. 18:24) Jesus valued such friends. During his ministry, none of his fleshly brothers put faith in him. (John 7:3-5) At one point, his relatives even thought that he had gone mad. (Mark 3:21) By contrast, Jesus could say the words of today’s text to the faithful apostles on the night before his death. The apostles occasionally disappointed Jesus, but he looked past their faults and saw that they had faith in him. (Matt. 26:40; Mark 10:13, 14; John 6:66-69) On the last night with them before he was executed, Jesus said to these loyal men: “I have called you friends, because I have made known to you all the things I have heard from my Father.” (John 15:15) Without a doubt, Jesus’ friends were a great source of encouragement to him. w19.04 11 ¶11-12