Jesus (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“Really…? The masses have just abandoned Jesus… and now His own kin folk are writing Him off as one who the men in white suits and carrying butterfly nets come to retrieve?” (That’s me thinking… not Jesus)

The seventh chapter of John gives us a picture of Jesus’ life that is difficult to digest. The scene is founded on a very sad note. Jesus’ brothers are making a mockery of His ministry. Much to their dismay, He refuses to play along because His eyes are on the cross… not childish assailants.

The masses have all left Him. His family has now deserted Him. All that is left is for His closest friends to run in fear… they will. Jesus must face the brutal beatings and illegal crucifixion alone.

It gets worse. On the cross, Jesus is forsaken by His own Father! No one will stand at His side (Matthew 27:46).

I can’t help but wonder what must have gone through His mind. Fully human, how did Jesus receive the escalating degree of loneliness and abandonment? Did His heart ache for companionship? Was His pain comparable with an orphaned child, an abandoned spouse, or a broken friendship?

When I consider thoughts as these, I must remember that just as everyone else rejected our Lord, so too have I. In a very real way, I also walked away from Him in His hour of need. The hour of need He endured for me. I left my God in pursuit of my sin.

We cannot travel back in time and undo the treatment of Jesus. We would not want to. He must needs endure the wrath of the cross for our sake. We can however realize the degree of loneliness in our world. We can be observant to those in our midst who have been forsaken. We can lend a shoulder. Matthew 25

We can share the joy of the good news… there is a pathway back to our Father, but it can only be traversed on one’s knees… through a blood-stained and lonely cross… through one Man who endured the punishment and shame alone.

On a desolate cross on Calvary’s Hill… Jesus paid it all. All to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain… He washed it white as snow!

Can I share with you what really turns this whole story on its head? The One that we all forsook… promised to never leave us! ~ Hebrews 13:5

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