The Loneliness of Christ

Introduction.  There are few feelings quite so bitter as loneliness. It leads us to feel isolated and obscure.  Milton observed that loneliness was the first thing that God named not good.  We sometimes feel that we experience conditions no one else has ever faced.  Thomas Wolfe once wrote:

The whole conviction of my life now rests on the belief that loneliness, far from being a rare and curious phenomenon, peculiar to myself and to a few other solitary men, is the central and inevitable fact of human existence.

There are different types of loneliness:  1). isolation in space (e.g. fisherman in boat at night; mountain climber in camp); 2) isolation in spirit (e.g. the man in solitary confinement, the one with no friends or family, when one faces ridicule, scorn or rejection).  We are said to be alone when we are neither seen, touched, nor heard by anyone. Loneliness of soul can be a condition in which we have contact with others, but we still feel isolated.

Examples of Loneliness in the Bible: 

•  Elijah  (I Kings 19:1-4; 9-10). When he fled from Jezebel’s threat to kill him after the defeat of the prophets of Baal, he cries out to the Lord “I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.”

•  David (Psalm 142:1-7). When he fled from Saul cried out, “Look on my right hand and see, For there is no one who acknowledges me; Refuge has failed me; No one cares for my soul.”

These examples touch us but Scripture records for us another example that should touch us much more deeply—the example of Jesus (Hebr. 2:17-18).  Loneliness can be a great temptation and it can offer us great consolation when we feel alone to realize that not only have other servants of God shared such feelings in the past, but our Lord Himself shared what we feel as well. 

I.  Jesus’ Loneliness Within His Family.

•  His Family Did Not Understand His Purpose (Luke 2:41-50).

•  His brothers did not believe in Him.  (John 7:3-5).

II.  Jesus’ Loneliness from His Disciples (John 16:32-33).

Why was Jesus rejected while John the Baptist was accepted?  To some Jesus didn’t make sense.  How could He shun sin and yet associate with sinners?  The “respectable religious people” would come to shun Jesus.

•  Sometimes He left them.  (John 6:15).

•  Sometimes they left Him  (John 6:33-35; 41; 60-66).

III.  Jesus’ Loneliness in the Garden (Matthew 26:36-46).

•  He was a “man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:2-3).

Three times when He returned from prayer to gain their consolation He found the sleeping.  To Peter - “What could you not watch with me one hour?”  Luke (through the Holy Spirit) is somewhat more forgiving...  

•  They were “sleeping from sorrow” (Luke 22:44-46).

The last time He comes there is no time left for comfort—His betrayer had come for Him.

IV.  Jesus’ Loneliness in Judgment (Matthew 27:11-26).

•  Peter could have been there (Luke 22:54-62).

Think of the song “I’ll be a friend to Jesus.”  Would we really?  ARE we really?

V.  Jesus’ Loneliness at the Cross (Matthew 27:38-45).

•  Jesus’ cry to the Father (Matthew 27:46). Note: “why have you forsaken Me.” This is a hightly debated passage:

•         Did Jesus feel forsaken?

•         Is He quoting the Psalmist in Psa. 22:1? If so, the psalmist comes to finally acknowledge God’s care for him all along.

•         Does His death symbolize a type of separation from God?

What is clear is that God the Son was never actually separated from God the Father—there were not two gods for awhile. Even at this dark hour when there was to be no comfort offered from friends, angels, or even the other persons of the godhead, Jesus was never truly alone...

• In death Jesus was never truly alone (John 8:28-29).

 

Conclusion.  We all feel lonely sometimes, but in Christ we do not need to feel this way. We have a God in heaven that loves us and cares for us.  No matter what we must face we can be assured that God will never forsake us or leave us (Heb. 13:5). He will not leaves us—will we leave Him?