Dealing With Loneliness (part 4)
This series is taking longer than I thought. Obviously in time amount (which is my own fault), but also in length; I originally said it would be three parts. Oh well.
Christians often suffer from loneliness, which is both different from aloneness and can be a real hazard in the long run. Yet Jesus Christ, our Savior, our King and the hope of our hearts - was lonely, too. If anyone had a right to feel lonely, He did.
There are some who debate this. And I don't begrudge them at all for having different interpretations. Some don't see Jesus as ever being "lonely." Others would substitute the "lonely" label for "alone," which in itself has another meaning. Others want to believe it, but have trouble embracing the concept. It is hard to imagine, sometimes. I've struggled more than once to reconcile the fact that Jesus was both God and man at the same time, and I still don't believe I've scratched the surface. I probably never will (until I meet Him face-to-face, of course). But my belief is that when Jesus became a man, like us, he took on all the qualities, raw emotions, and idiosyncrises (pardon my penchant for big words) that a living, breathing human has. Why did He do this? Why did He lower Himself to our level, setting aside His rightful place at the right hand of His Father? I think it was so that we could know Him personally, and accept Him with the full knowledge that He not only lived at our level, but died at our level. Of course, the big difference is, Christ conquered death by his resurrection, and in doing so, brought us salvation. I feel that has a lot to do with why our relationship with Jesus is so incredibly personal. We're not kneeling in awe before a Savior whose qualities and background are muddled, hazy, or vague. God gave us His Son, telling us all we needed to know about Him. His love. His justice. Humility. Compassion. Wisdom. We worship a Savior that we know deeply, One who sets us on fire with His Spirit and drives us to our knees in reverence. Very personal.
I believe Jesus experienced loneliness. I'm not saying He sinned because of that - loneliness is not a sin. It's what comes out of it, the consequences, that can lead to sinful behavior. But this is how I think He understands how I feel when I'm lonely. Sometimes when I'm praying out loud or quietly to God, I get jumbled up. I find myself at a sudden loss for words. I don't always know why exactly, but I suppose part of it is me trying to communicate my crazy, mixed-up feelings to Him. They're feelings even I don't understand. Yet I know He does. He knows me a lot better than I know myself. It's like when I enter a pause and sense myself grasping for the words, I hear God speaking to my heart, "It's all right, David. I know exactly how you feel. What you're thinking. I've been there." I feel so comforted knowing that I don't have to use words to bare myself to God. He already knows my feelings. He's better than any human audience. Because He totally understands.
Isn't it so cool that we have a Heavenly Father who understands our emotions? Loneliness? Oh yeah, that's a big one. Isaiah 53:3 depicts Jesus as "despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief." I read verses like these, and I can't help but think of what Jesus' childhood might have been like? Think about this. If you grow up as a perfect, model young boy with no blemishes on your public record, do you think you would be very popular among your peers? Probably not. Beyond the temple experience, we have no written records of what Jesus' childhood was like, yet from the writings of Isaiah, we know that He was familiar with sorrows and grief. God understands how we feel because He feels too! He's not some detached, ice-cold deity figure who is content to sit up in the heavens and look on passively as we struggle with our emotions. No, He feels right along with us in our hearts. He gives us comfort in a way no one else can. He smiles and shares in our joy when we're happy. He grieves with us when we're sad. What a blessing to know God in that personal way! How incredible!
What about during Jesus' earthly ministry? Here was a great teacher who was rejected and cast out of his own hometown: Nazareth. The Bible says that Jesus did not perform many deeds or miracles there because nobody would believe. Talk about a prime setup for loneliness! You're going out into the horizon to do the work of your Father, and you don't even have the support of your own home, the place in which you were raised and grew up (of course, we know where Jesus' true home is and He said so Himself, but that's beside the point). And what of companionship? Sure, Jesus had the 12 disciples, but it wasn't like they could converse and identify with Him on His level. They were always found lacking in faith, asking unnecessary questions - in other words, not very much different from you and me. Jesus gave Simon Peter and John only a brief, tiny glimpse of His true identity when He was transfigured on the mountaintop, and he conversed with Elijah and Moses. The first words out of Peter's mouth were "I will put up shelters for you three." I wonder if Jesus shook His head and thought, "No, no, no..."
And dare we not forget that harrowing night in the Garden of Gethsemene, the night Jesus was arrested and tried by Caiaphas, Herod, and Pilate, and then handed over to be crucified. His own disciples, the men who had been so close to him all his life, scattered and desserted him. Even Peter, who boldly proclaimed that He would follow his Lord to the death, denied the Christ. One of his friends betrayed him to his enemies. All alone, he endured the rage of the jeering crowd shouting "Crucify him! Crucify him!" Enduring whippings, spit upon and brutally beaten. But the worst was yet to come. The ultimate isolation came in his final moments as he hung upon the cross. For in order to bear the weight of man's ugly sins, Jesus had to be separated from God. Sin can not be found with God, and so Jesus had to bear it alone. As He approached his final breath, He cried out in a loud voice, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" Can you imagine a worse feeling than that? To know that you were enduring all of this persecution for an unrepentent, depraved human race, alone and abandoned, and it's all you can do to cry out to your Father? Even knowing full well what was going to happen after that, Jesus was never more lonely than in His last moments before death. I can't read this and not believe he doesn't understand my own loneliness.
So now we know what loneliness is. We know what it is not. We know what can come of it. And we know who understands it most of all.
The one remaining question is, what do we do about it?
Christians often suffer from loneliness, which is both different from aloneness and can be a real hazard in the long run. Yet Jesus Christ, our Savior, our King and the hope of our hearts - was lonely, too. If anyone had a right to feel lonely, He did.
There are some who debate this. And I don't begrudge them at all for having different interpretations. Some don't see Jesus as ever being "lonely." Others would substitute the "lonely" label for "alone," which in itself has another meaning. Others want to believe it, but have trouble embracing the concept. It is hard to imagine, sometimes. I've struggled more than once to reconcile the fact that Jesus was both God and man at the same time, and I still don't believe I've scratched the surface. I probably never will (until I meet Him face-to-face, of course). But my belief is that when Jesus became a man, like us, he took on all the qualities, raw emotions, and idiosyncrises (pardon my penchant for big words) that a living, breathing human has. Why did He do this? Why did He lower Himself to our level, setting aside His rightful place at the right hand of His Father? I think it was so that we could know Him personally, and accept Him with the full knowledge that He not only lived at our level, but died at our level. Of course, the big difference is, Christ conquered death by his resurrection, and in doing so, brought us salvation. I feel that has a lot to do with why our relationship with Jesus is so incredibly personal. We're not kneeling in awe before a Savior whose qualities and background are muddled, hazy, or vague. God gave us His Son, telling us all we needed to know about Him. His love. His justice. Humility. Compassion. Wisdom. We worship a Savior that we know deeply, One who sets us on fire with His Spirit and drives us to our knees in reverence. Very personal.
I believe Jesus experienced loneliness. I'm not saying He sinned because of that - loneliness is not a sin. It's what comes out of it, the consequences, that can lead to sinful behavior. But this is how I think He understands how I feel when I'm lonely. Sometimes when I'm praying out loud or quietly to God, I get jumbled up. I find myself at a sudden loss for words. I don't always know why exactly, but I suppose part of it is me trying to communicate my crazy, mixed-up feelings to Him. They're feelings even I don't understand. Yet I know He does. He knows me a lot better than I know myself. It's like when I enter a pause and sense myself grasping for the words, I hear God speaking to my heart, "It's all right, David. I know exactly how you feel. What you're thinking. I've been there." I feel so comforted knowing that I don't have to use words to bare myself to God. He already knows my feelings. He's better than any human audience. Because He totally understands.
Isn't it so cool that we have a Heavenly Father who understands our emotions? Loneliness? Oh yeah, that's a big one. Isaiah 53:3 depicts Jesus as "despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief." I read verses like these, and I can't help but think of what Jesus' childhood might have been like? Think about this. If you grow up as a perfect, model young boy with no blemishes on your public record, do you think you would be very popular among your peers? Probably not. Beyond the temple experience, we have no written records of what Jesus' childhood was like, yet from the writings of Isaiah, we know that He was familiar with sorrows and grief. God understands how we feel because He feels too! He's not some detached, ice-cold deity figure who is content to sit up in the heavens and look on passively as we struggle with our emotions. No, He feels right along with us in our hearts. He gives us comfort in a way no one else can. He smiles and shares in our joy when we're happy. He grieves with us when we're sad. What a blessing to know God in that personal way! How incredible!
What about during Jesus' earthly ministry? Here was a great teacher who was rejected and cast out of his own hometown: Nazareth. The Bible says that Jesus did not perform many deeds or miracles there because nobody would believe. Talk about a prime setup for loneliness! You're going out into the horizon to do the work of your Father, and you don't even have the support of your own home, the place in which you were raised and grew up (of course, we know where Jesus' true home is and He said so Himself, but that's beside the point). And what of companionship? Sure, Jesus had the 12 disciples, but it wasn't like they could converse and identify with Him on His level. They were always found lacking in faith, asking unnecessary questions - in other words, not very much different from you and me. Jesus gave Simon Peter and John only a brief, tiny glimpse of His true identity when He was transfigured on the mountaintop, and he conversed with Elijah and Moses. The first words out of Peter's mouth were "I will put up shelters for you three." I wonder if Jesus shook His head and thought, "No, no, no..."
And dare we not forget that harrowing night in the Garden of Gethsemene, the night Jesus was arrested and tried by Caiaphas, Herod, and Pilate, and then handed over to be crucified. His own disciples, the men who had been so close to him all his life, scattered and desserted him. Even Peter, who boldly proclaimed that He would follow his Lord to the death, denied the Christ. One of his friends betrayed him to his enemies. All alone, he endured the rage of the jeering crowd shouting "Crucify him! Crucify him!" Enduring whippings, spit upon and brutally beaten. But the worst was yet to come. The ultimate isolation came in his final moments as he hung upon the cross. For in order to bear the weight of man's ugly sins, Jesus had to be separated from God. Sin can not be found with God, and so Jesus had to bear it alone. As He approached his final breath, He cried out in a loud voice, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" Can you imagine a worse feeling than that? To know that you were enduring all of this persecution for an unrepentent, depraved human race, alone and abandoned, and it's all you can do to cry out to your Father? Even knowing full well what was going to happen after that, Jesus was never more lonely than in His last moments before death. I can't read this and not believe he doesn't understand my own loneliness.
So now we know what loneliness is. We know what it is not. We know what can come of it. And we know who understands it most of all.
The one remaining question is, what do we do about it?
posted by david @ 9:30 PM
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