JOHN CHOWNING
Loneliness. Every widow and widower have felt its brutal bite. The quarantined elderly has wrestled frequently with it over the past few months. It is a vicious enemy.
Periods of loneliness are a fact of life for young and old alike. It stealthily filled Adam’s soul as he named the animals on the sixth day but found no suitable companion (Gen. 2:19-20). It flooded Elijah’s soul to the point of despair after his great spiritual contest on Mount Carmel (I Kings 19:10). It so overwhelmed David’s spirit that he declared, “no man cared for my soul” (Psalm 142:4).
Immediately after feeding the 5,000 men plus the women and children, Jesus compelled His apostles into the boat and gave them instructions to travel to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (Mark 6:45). He then turned to the multitude who sought to make Him king for the worldly purpose of overthrowing the Roman government (John 6:15) and sent them away (Matt. 14:23). By evening He was alone (Mark 6:47). He was not merely alone in the physical sense, as One who was fully human—made like His brethren in every way (Heb. 2:17) — He felt quite alone emotionally.
Consider the several causes of Jesus’ loneliness. First, there is the loneliness caused by bereavement. The news of John the Baptist’s brutal execution was fresh while demands of ministry had been extreme (see Mark 6:17-31). Spiritually-speaking, John was the closest next of kin Jesus had, and now he was dead. Jesus’ tender heart—the one which wept at Lazarus’ tomb just prior to raising him from the dead (John 11:36-44)—was not impervious to this news. The sharp arrow of bereavement dipped in the bitter poison of loneliness pierced his loving heart.
Second, there is the loneliness caused by spiritual singlemindedness. The righteous way which leads to life is narrow and sparsely traveled (Matt. 7:13-14). From the beginning of His ministry, Satan ever sought to cloud Jesus’ laser-like spiritual singlemindedness. In the wilderness, Satan offered Him all the kingdoms of the world without the brutality, shame, and horrors of Calvary (Matt. 4:8-10). On this occasion in His ministry, Satan offers Him a kingdom of political power via the peer pressure of a multitude of admirers. Just like you and me, resisting peer pressure and refusing to compromise His obedience to God would require of Jesus additional agony and loneliness.
Third, there is the loneliness of being misunderstood. According to Luke, Jesus had used the largest portion of His day teaching the multitude about the kingdom of God (Luke 9:11). Two of the longest discourses of our Lord are the sermon on the mount (Matt. 5-7) and His sermon on the plain (Luke 6:17-49). Where in either of these discourses do you find any hint of Jesus teaching that the kingdom of God is about political revolution and bloodshed? Few causes of loneliness are more bitter than feeling misunderstood. Jesus’ teaching on the mountain near Bethsaida was not misunderstood by a few; it was misunderstood by a multitude. Jesus felt lonely in a crowd of people.
Next, consider the loneliness experienced by the realization that selfish people have sought to manipulate you into fulfilling their personal agendas. To them you are not valued as a person; your value is solely based upon your usefulness as a tool which they can manipulate. The multitude’s interest in Jesus disappeared the next day when Jesus rebuffed their request for a lifetime of free food (see John 6:26ff). When Jesus expressed the demands of discipleship in such strong words as “Verily, verily, I say unto you, ‘Except ye eat of the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you’...many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him” (John 6:53, 66).
Finally, consider the loneliness of knowing your next sermon will require you to confront a crowd of people whose itching ears will not be soothed by smooth words but scratched and offended by the rebuke and reproof of sound doctrine. As recorded by the apostle John, Jesus’ next assignment in His ministry was to do just that (see John 6:22ff). Just like Elijah, Elisha, Jeremiah, John the Baptist, and all the rest of God’s prophets, Jesus had to confront a sin which was popular among a multitude of His contemporaries. A man of God who faithfully preaches the word will find loneliness to be a frequent visitor.
When faced with loneliness, note what Jesus did—”He went up into a mountain apart to pray” (Matt. 14:23) before nightfall (John 6:15-17) and stayed there until the fourth watch of the night—i.e. between 3 and 6 a.m. (Matt. 14:25). Like David, Jesus “cried unto the Lord with my voice; with my voice unto the Lord did I make my supplication. I poured out my complaint before him; I shewed before him my trouble. When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path, ink the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare for me. I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me; refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul. I cried unto thee, O Lord: I said, ‘Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living.’” (Psalm 142:1-5).
Praying without ceasing was Jesus’ antidote to loneliness.
— Christian Messenger
Vol. XLII, No. 34