Abandoned
Everyone
wanted to be around Jesus. From the
moment he was born people were drawn to him.
The shepherds came to his barnyard nursery prompted by the angels. The wise men traveled a long way to see him
following a star. Anna rushed up to the
baby Jesus in the temple and Simeon held him in his arms. Teachers of the law gathered around Jesus
when he was only twelve years old, crowds of people flocked to hear him preach,
and hundreds more brought those who were sick and suffering to him so that
Jesus would heal them. His disciples had
left their jobs and families to follow him around, both friends and enemies
invited him into their homes, and believers stood out on the roads and shouted
his praises wherever he went. And when
Jesus tried to get away and find some quiet place to rest, the people found
him; the people tracked him down; the people searched until they were able to
locate Jesus and it was almost impossible to get them to leave. Everyone wanted to be around Jesus. Until things got ugly. Until things got dangerous. Until it wasn’t worth it any longer to be
around this man they called the Christ.
Until that one infamous night in a garden called Gethsemane when Jesus was
left all alone.
He
wasn’t alone at the beginning of the evening, of course. Eleven of his disciples were with him. But they were actually sleeping while he was
praying. And when he came back to where
they were, he chastised them for their inability to stay up with him and keep
watch. But just as he was speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, appeared. With him
was a crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests, the
teachers of the law, and the elders. Now
the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man;
arrest him and lead him away under guard.”
Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Rabbi!” and kissed him. The men seized Jesus and arrested him. Then one of those standing near drew his
sword and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear. “Am I leading a rebellion,” said Jesus, “that
you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I was with you, teaching in the
temple courts, and you did not arrest me. But the Scriptures must be
fulfilled.” Then everyone deserted him
and fled. A young man, wearing nothing
but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him, he fled naked,
leaving his garment behind.
Jesus
was left all alone. A young man even wanted
to get away so quickly that he left his linen robe behind, running away
naked! Peter, who had just promised
never to abandon Jesus, was gone! John,
“the disciple whom Jesus loved, was gone!
The rest of the disciples who had promised the same thing were
gone! And Judas, a man who had once been
in Jesus’ inner circle, not only abandoned Jesus, but abandoned him in the
worst way possible: he betrayed him. And
he betrayed him to his face! There was
no one left there at Jesus’ side that night.
He was all alone.
Loneliness
Sometimes
those you love let you down, don’t they?
Sometimes those you trust turn out to be not-so-trustworthy
anymore. Sometimes those who were once
right there by your side are no longer there.
And a deep, dark feeling of loneliness can set in. An emptiness on the inside and a
vulnerability on the outside. And it’s a
little scary, isn’t it? It’s a little
frightening when you’re all alone. There
may be people all around you at the time; there may be a whole variety of neighbors
and coworkers and family members that you talk to and interact with every
day. But you know that loneliness
doesn’t have to do so much with the number of people around you as it has to do
with the love and the loyalty and the reliability of those closest to you. In fact, sometimes loneliness is at its worst
when the most people are around.
That’s
exactly what Jesus experienced that night in the Garden of Gethsemane. No one had loved him enough to stick around;
no one had been loyal enough to sacrifice anything for him; no one had been
reliable enough to keep their promise to him that they would never leave. Jesus was abandoned by those people he had personally
hand-picked. Just like he still is
today.
Jesus
has hand-picked each one of us. He has
made us into his children. He has given
us direct access to his powerful Word and has fed us with that Word for
years. But that doesn’t stop us from
leaving him from time to time. And we
leave him by blaming him for things that happen in our lives instead of loving
him. We leave him by pushing him aside
instead of being loyal to him. We leave
him by making excuses and making exceptions instead of keeping our promises to
him. And when he patiently invites us to
study his Word, sometimes we leave him sitting there all alone because we have
better things to do. And when he happily
bends his ears to hear our prayers, sometimes we leave him waiting there all
alone because we were just too tired.
And when he opens up his arms to wrap us in his love, sometimes we leave
him standing there all alone because we saw something else a little more enticing
and a little more appealing. And just
like he was in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus is left alone by those who
should love him, those who should be loyal to him, those who have every reason
to keep their promises to him. But we haven’t. And we don’t.
And we won’t.
Never Alone
Again
That
night in Gethsemane, when Jesus was physically abandoned by those closest to
him, he remained alone until his death.
When he stood in front of the high priest in that kangaroo court that
morning, who was there to defend him as the chief priests and the teachers of
the law threw accusations against him?
No one. He was all alone. When Jesus stood in front of Pontius Pilate
and was grilled by the Roman governor about who he was and what he had done,
who was there to speak up on his behalf?
No one. He was all alone. When Jesus was thrown into the hands of the
Roman soldiers and they beat him and hit him and crowned him and scourged him,
who was there to fight for him? No
one. He was all alone. When he was there bleeding on the cross, who
was there to ease his pain? Some of his
followers were there at that time but what were they going to do? All they could do was watch. Because no one could help Jesus. He was all alone. Even his own Father - God the Father - wouldn’t help him!
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus cried. His own heavenly Father had abandoned
him! God himself had left him all
alone. And when Jesus did eventually die
he was placed in a grave in which no one else had ever been laid. So even in death, Jesus was all alone.
But he
had to be. Jesus had to be all alone
during those last few painful hours of his life on this earth so that we would
never have to be alone again. Jesus
stood in the Garden without support, he stood on trial without an advocate, he
stood on the steps of the Roman palace without sympathy, he hung on a cross
without his Father, he died on that hill without a reprieve. He suffered alone. He died alone. And he was buried alone. But because he suffered alone, you won’t
suffer alone. Because he died alone, you
won’t die alone. Because he was buried
alone, you will rise. You are forgiven
through Jesus’ loneliness. You will live
because of Jesus’ loneliness. And you
will join him in heaven forever along with the thousands upon thousands of
believers and angels already there. He
did every for your salvation all alone so that you never have to be alone
again.
And that
includes right now. You are not alone
right now and you never will be. Because
Jesus is right here. He is sitting right
next to you. He stays awake in your bedroom
while you sleep. He bends his head down
next to you while you cry in the corner.
He holds your hands in his while you pray. He puts his arm around your waist and walks
with you ever step of the way in this long, long life. And he will never leave. When no one else seems to love you, Jesus
does. When no one else can be trusted,
Jesus can. When no one else has kept
their promises to you, Jesus will. Because
he knows exactly what it’s like to be left.
He knows what it’s like to be abandoned.
He knows what it’s like to be all alone.
And he will not let that happen to you.
No matter how you may feel at times, no matter what it might seem like
at times, no matter what other people do to you at times, this fact will always
remain: Jesus is with you. Jesus has
forgiven you. Jesus will take you
home. You are not alone. You are
not alone. You never were.
Amen.
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