Have you ever been alone? I mean, truly alone with no physical person to share your grief...no companions, no buddies, no family pets to lick your hand and bring you comfort. I'm sure many of us have felt, even as Believers, that we were alone at some point in our lives. Maybe some of us even feel deserted - forsaken - right now. Well, then, you're in good company.
Jesus, Himself, was deserted. Jesus, Himself, was betrayed and left alone by His friends...His pals...His buddies. They walked together with Him for three years. He had shared His very life with them - His plans, His heart, His feelings. He had been completely open and honest with them about everything. His friendship held nothing back, and they loved Him for it. They truly, loved Him, all but one. They followed Him, hanging on His every Word. They had met LOVE in human flesh, and they never wanted to leave His side. They declared they would even die with Him, just to be with Him.
Until that night...that night in the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus was forsaken by His beloved disciples. That night, He was "deserted" by them. See for yourself - Mark 14:50 says, "they all forsook Him and fled." I know it sure would make me feel better if the Word had said, "All but one or two forsook Him and fled."
I think that's one of the saddest verses in the Bible. His buddies...all of them...for whatever reason, forsook Him and fled. They abandoned their friend in His time of need. They could have traveled with Him and witnessed for Him, but instead, in their fear, they chose to reject Him...to leave Him entirely...to reject their Messiah.
In a real physical sense, Jesus was alone, really alone. In the Garden that night, surrounded by countless enemies, Christ had no one. There was no one there to comfort Him, no one to wipe the blood from His eyes, no one to put their arm around Him and tell Him everything would be alright. In His divinity, He knew He was not alone...but in His humanity...He was completely alone.
That's so sad to me...
Yet, because of His aloneness - in the Garden and on the Cross - we will NEVER, NEVER, NEVER truly be alone. Hebrews 13:5 says, "...for He Himself has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.'"
So, even if I FEEL alone, praise Jesus, I AM NOT. I can't be. He promised me that. Friends may betray me. Family may turn on me. Enemies may seem to have isolated me completely from those I love, but I am not and will never be alone.
Hmmm...that's not so sad after all.
Thank You, Jesus, that I am never alone...never.
