(By Angela Watson)
Have these past two years made you feel lonely, isolated, and separated from others?
The dictionary describes being alone as having no one else present, having no help or participation from others, isolated and lonely.
Sometimes being alone is good. You may have heard someone say, “I just need some alone time,” maybe you’ve even said it yourself.
Jesus was no stranger to being alone. Luke 5:16 tells us He would often withdraw to desolate places and pray. He found rest, comfort, and strength away from the crowds, alone with God.
But on the cross, Jesus experienced a depth of loneliness like never before. To endure the wrath and punishment for our sin, He had to experience being separated from God.
“But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear" (Isaiah 59:2).
That is what sin does; it separates us from God. And for Jesus to take our place, He had to experience that separation. The words that Jesus cried from the cross give just a glimpse of how alone He must have felt as he cried those words, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46).
Jesus was willing to experience being forsaken by God so that we could be saved. This reminds me of the words of the hymn we often sing on a Sunday morning:
Alone, alone, He bore it all alone,
He gave Himself to save his own
He suffered bled and died
Alone, alone.
He was completely alone, so we wouldn’t have to be.
May it fill our hearts with worship this morning as we consider the extent of the loneliness that Jesus endured on the cross for our salvation.