Alone!

Alone?

Loneliness is a terrible thing! It can attack anyone…even in a crowded place. Jesus understands the feelings and the fear that come from loneliness.

Today we are going to look at the most lonely time in Jesus’ life. It took place on the cross. Matthew’s gospel paints the portrait of a lonely man, who has just been denounced by the very ones He came to save, despised by those He loved, and condemned to death by a heathen judge:

Matthew 27:26-46

26 Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.

27 Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him.

28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him,

29 and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. "Hail, king of the Jews!" they said.

30 They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again.

31 After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.

32 As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross.

33 They came to a place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull).

34 There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it.

35 When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

36 And sitting down, they kept watch over him there.

37 Above his head they placed the written charge against him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

38 Two robbers were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.

39 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads

40 and saying, "You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!"

41 In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him.

42 "He saved others," they said, "but he can’t save himself! He’s the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him.

43 He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ’I am the Son of God.’"

44 In the same way the robbers who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

45 From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land.

46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"-- which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

(NIV)

No one can adequately explain what took place in the Trinity the day Jesus on the cross.

All we have is the cry of a child who felt ALONE.

Never before had Jesus been apart from the presence of God. During all the days of His life on earth, Jesus bathed in the presence of His Father. But now God’s smile is withdrawn.

Habakkuk 1:13

13 {Thine} eyes are too pure to approve evil, and Thou canst not look on wickedness {with favor.} (NAS)

God has turned His face away from His own Son and darkness that can be felt has covered the land. For the first time in Jesus’ life, he is completely ALONE! The sting of loneliness expressed by Jesus in His cry to God is a direct quote from Psalm 22:

Psalm 22:1-2

1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?

2 O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent.

(NIV)

Psalm 22:1-2

God, God... my God!

Why did you dump me miles from nowhere?

Doubled up with pain, I call to God all the day long.

No answer. Nothing.

I keep at it all night, tossing and turning.

(The Message)

Jesus knew what it was like to be forsaken by the people he came to redeem.

Jesus was forsaken by the WORLD.

John 1:11

11 He came to that which was his own,

but his own did not receive him.

(NIV)

Not only had He been forsaken by those He came to save,

Jesus was forsaken by the DISCIPLES.

Matthew 26:56

56 … Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.

(NIV)

Can you imagine what it feels like to have someone you trust leave you? You depended upon them and they ran away. When that happens you become angry, and sad, and disappointed, and discouraged…all at the same time!