"Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me."
~ John 16:32 (NKJV)
We have heard the story countless times, of Jesus' final hours and death. But we also know that it ends happily in His resurrection. And so we seek each year to somehow recapture the horror of the tale, so we might treasure it with increasing depth.
If one point captures me, again and again, it is the agony not of Gethsemane, but of a baby Boy's anguished cry:
And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?"
~ Matthew 27:46 (NKJV)
Surely every one of us has known the pain of feeling completely alone in a crowd. Jesus would face the extreme contempt of one crowd after another, all alone. Yet the malice of ignorant mortals cannot be compared to the point when the Father turned away from the filth of sin laid upon Jesus, forsaking His beloved Son.
Hours before Gethsemane, Jesus affirmed that "the Father is with Me"—the Father His ever solace in solitude. Then Jesus thrice begged His Father to take away the cup. I cannot help but wonder if the Father mercifully veiled until the last minute that the full cost of our sin included being forsaken.
"I'll never know how much it cost to see my sin upon that cross."
~ Chris Tomlin
We who are in Christ shall never know the cost of being forsaken. Though we may taste loneliness—perhaps even persecution—we are never alone.
We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed ...
~ 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 (NKJV)
Father, thank You that I shall never know personally the cost of my sin. Here I am to worship You, to serve You, to love You.
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Copyright 2012, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Yes, I want to worship, and love Him, always.
ReplyDeleteYes, Denise, "Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness!" (Psalms 96:9)
DeleteI love that Chris Tomlin song. He did die alone -- and yet my sin was there.
ReplyDeleteDavid, I'm inclined to think that Hell is not a fellowship of the wicked, but desolate isolation from all fellowship. Thank You, Jesus, for taking our sin and its penalty!
DeleteAnne, this may sound so strange, but I never thought of Jesus as being "alone in a crowd" before...the way you write it. I always pictured that moment such an intimate time between him and his father. It's as though the crowd disappeared in my mind. But this drive home the very real truth that they were there before him and he did feel alone.
ReplyDeleteLots to think about here.
~ Wendy
Wendy, I appreciate you letting me know how these words resonate with you, about the lonliness of Jesus. Perhaps that's why He assured us that He would never leave us or forsake us.
DeleteOh....completely forsaken, gives me chills to think about. In fact, I can't think too long about it at all, but how grateful I am. Yet not grateful enough too many times to count! "Alone in a crowd" I often think of Him walking away from the crowd and going up to the mountain to pray, but I confess I haven't thought too much about Him being along in a crowd....Thank you for causing me to ponder this today! Lori
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lori, for the words you've added here. Jesus really did walk through all the things we do.
Delete"Father, thank You that I shall never know personally the cost of my sin."
ReplyDeleteAmen! What a tremendous cost!
Joe, can you imagine the Hell built up with their sins that the condemned will face? We are so, so blessed to have avoided what we deserved.
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