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Night, with Ebon Pinion

Loneliness was the first thing God found in His creation that was not good (Genesis 2:18).  Today, it continues to be one of mankind’s biggest struggles and leads us to many sins, addictions, and negative coping mechanisms.  Being fully man, how did Jesus handle loneliness?  A glimpse into Gethsemane reveals the answer.

I.  John 17:5-12.  Just before Gethsemane, Jesus points to the fellowship He shares with His Father that He also hopes for us (John 10:30; John 11:42).  Yet, as He gets to the garden, His circle shrinks from eleven (Judas had left) to three to just Him, whose heart was sorrowful to the point of death (Matthew 26:36-38).  They had all insisted that they would stand by Him before He went (Mark 14:27-31), but after they all deserted Him (Mark 14:50).  As He bore the guilt of all our sins on the cross, even the Father would forsake Him (Matthew 27:46).

II.  Luke 22:39-46.  Jesus was fully God, yes, but to be our sacrifice on the cross, He had to face all temptations and struggles as fully man (Hebrews 2:14; Hebrews 4:15).  Having conquered the devil’s snares in the desert at the beginning of His ministry (Luke 4:13), the opportune time came for Satan to try again while all earthly support had been stripped from Jesus–Gethsemane.  Jesus leaned on the fellowship He shared with His Father in prayer, but the answer was a cup of anguish placed before Him that His Father would not remove.

III.  Hebrews 10:5-10.  So, in this body prepared for Him and all alone except for the Father, whose will it was to crush Him for our transgressions (Isaiah 53:10-12), Jesus wrestled in the flesh with remaining a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1-2) that did His Father’s will or living for His own will.  It is the same choice that is before us as we promised with our confession of ‘Jesus as Lord’ and our baptism to trust and obey.  Yet, is this what we do when life strips us of all earthly comforts and places a cup before us we don’t want to drink?

Do we, along with Jesus who made it possible for us to do so, say, “Not my will, but yours, be done”?

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The alternative to freezing to death in our loneliness

The German philosopher Schopenhauer compared the human race to a bunch of porcupines huddling together on a cold winter’s night. He said,

“The colder it gets outside, the more we huddle together for warmth; but the closer we get to one another, the more we hurt one another with our sharp quills. And in the lonely night of earth’s winter eventually we begin to drift apart and wander out on our own and freeze to death in our loneliness.”

Christ has given us an alternative: to forgive each other for the pokes we receive. That allows us to stay together and stay warm.

—Wayne Brouwer, via Glenn Hitchcock’s “Thoughts for the Day to Brighten Your Day“

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The Lonely Soul

The lonely soul, O Lord, has none
of your glorious Self, or else is blind
to Nearness.

Make us see the One who came
from Heaven and works among us still
in power.

Make us hear his call to love,
to seek the lonely as he himself
is seeking.

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The choice to be glad

Heavenly Father, we thank you for time to be with family and to enjoy the good things of life. We ask you to bless those who have neither, those who are alone on this day, in prison, in hospital, in travels, in care homes, at service, or living alone. Bless them through us, that we might serve them in some way. Continue reading “The choice to be glad”