I AM NOT ALONE

As Jesus prepared to approach the Cross, He gathered His disciples in Jerusalem and addressed them over a sacred meal in a private, secluded, upstairs room. As He began to address them an enemy entered that room which only Jesus could see. This enemy whispered into the invisible ear of the one he had already lured into a love for money. Jesus recognised this dark voice. He had previously heard it in a wilderness exchange that He refused to succumb to. In a matter of minutes Jesus would dismiss His traitor and betrayer and talk only to His remaining terrified disciples. “You will all leave Me” He told them. Peter, who was always quick to speak, spoke up in response, “I will lay down my life for You.” Eventually he would. But not this night. This night, all but one would indeed flee from Jesus and leave Him friendless. Alone? No. Jesus said, “Yet I am not alone!” And even though you might feel alone, you too, are not. Here’s why.

 I have been finding great solace from my study of John’s Gospel over these past two years or so. In this last Gospel I am discovering fresh insights into the magnificence of Christ Jesus.The outstanding thing for me has been the fresh realisation of His closeness to His Father. Over and over again throughout John’s retelling of the redemptive work of Christ the Gospel-writer tells us that Jesus was on a mission from His Father, that He was in constant communication with the Father, that He often spent time alone (often at night) with His Father, and that He longed to introduce His disciples (followers) into the same kind of intimacy with His Father.

¶ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,
and we have seen His glory,
glory as of the only Son from the Father,
full of grace and truth.
John 1:14

In fact, in John’s introductory chapter he tells his readers that what Jesus achieved in His mission was to make the Father known.

No one has ever seen God;
the only God, who is at the Father’s side,
He has made Him known.
John 1:18

 While the other Gospel writers only chose to refer to the second time that Jesus cleansed the Temple by driving out the money-changers, and those merchants who sold pigeons (Jn. 2:16), John describes the first time Jesus did this as one of His foundational acts of His public ministry – because of His zeal for His Father and the house that was supposed to be in honour of Him.

And He told those who sold the pigeons,
“Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.”
John 2:16

His disciples remembered that it was written,
“Zeal for your house will consume Me.”
John 2:17

The intimacy that Jesus had with His Father was an offence to the religious leaders of Israel who knew nothing of the Father (Jn. 16:3). This intimacy with God was more than the religious leaders could fathom especially when Jesus declare that He was equal to the Father. 

¶ This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him,
because not only was He breaking the Sabbath,
but He was even calling God His own Father,
making Himself equal with God.
John 5:18

Hours before Jesus was taken by force on the mountain-top garden of Gethsemane, where He would go to confront the evil one (a scene reminiscent of the serpent’s original temptation of the first man and woman), Jesus gave his last instructions to His disciples. John tells us that Jesus was already greatly troubled (Jn. 13:21) and that this deep anguish was compounded by His knowledge that all but one of His disciples would soon abandon Him and leave Him utterly friendless (Jn 16:31). “The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and you will leave Me alone” Jesus sullenly declared.

But, what He was about to go through, He announced again to His disciples, was that His death on the cross would make a way for each of them to have the same kind of relationship that He enjoyed with His Father – because the Father loved them!

In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf;
for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came from God.
I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”
John 16:26-28

Jesus concluded His Farewell Discourse with His disciples with the greatest prayer recorded in the Bible. In this prayer we hear Christ’s heart for His Church and how He longed for each His followers to relate to the Father — include His followers who were yet to be born!

¶ “I do not ask for these only,
but also for those who will believe in Me through their word,
that they may all be one, just as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You,
that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You have sent Me.
John 17:20-21

 Thus, even though Jesus felt the deep pain of rejection and the grief that comes from being abandoned, He was confident that because of His relationship with the Father, He was not alone!

 Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come,
when you will be scattered, each to his own home,
and will leave Me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with Me.
John 16:32

John tells his readers why Jesus chose to say this. This was said, Jesus revealed, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart, I have overcome the world (Jn. 16:33). In other words, there will be times in your life that you will experience rejection, abandonment, being misunderstood, all because you follow Me—and in those times, even though it might feel like it—you are not alone! In forecasting this glorious New Covenant provided relationship with God, the Old Testament announced that Christ would be to the New Covenant believer a Friend who will stick by you closer than a brother (Prov. 18:24). As you follow Christ and continue to seek to know Him and to make Him known, you and I can enjoy an intimacy with the Father that is surely greatest promise that Jesus guaranteed for all who followed, and would one day follow, Him. Surely then, the essence of what it means to be saved and to embark on the Christian journey was summed up in Christ’s prayer-  

And this is eternal life, that they know You,
the only true God,
and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
John 17:3

You are not alone! You have an audience of One!

Your Pastor,

Andrew

Let me know what you think below in the comment section and feel free to share this someone who might benefit from this Pastor’s Desk.

BRUISED REEDS BEWILDERED

The prophets foretold of the Messiah being both powerful and yet gentle. He would vanquish his enemies, yet gather his people as a shepherd gathers lambs. He would punish rebellious nations with a rod of iron (Psalm 2:9) yet be attentive to the distressed and destitute (Psalm 22:5). He would treat the broken with dignity and respect, yet mete out justice to those responsible for their plight (Isa. 42:3). We are presented with a powerful portrait of the strength and compassion of the Messiah in the prophetic psalms and poems of the prophets while being told that despite this, He would be misunderstood, slandered, and maligned.

a bruised reed he will not break,
and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.
Isaiah 42:3

He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Isaiah 53:3

Despite Christ showing unequalled compassion for people, unprecedented care for those close to Him (including His mother and brothers and sisters, and His disciples), His need to, at times, be alone was misunderstood by these people in particular. As unimaginable as it may seem, His mother and siblings at times felt neglected by Him –

¶ And His mother and His brothers came, and standing outside they sent to Him and called Him. And a crowd was sitting around Him, and they said to Him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.” And He answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?”
Mark 3:31-33

His disciples experienced times when they felt He didn’t care for them – 

But He was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”
Mark 4:38

And one can only wonder how the portico full of ill people felt when He walked over some of them and past others of them to restore a man who had been lame for 38 years while seemingly ignoring their plight!

In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be healed?”  The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.”  Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk. And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. ¶ Now that day was the Sabbath.”
John 5:3-9

WHEN ALONE DOESN’T MEAN BY MYSELF

But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer.
Luke 5:16

Jesus often withdrew from people. The One who loved people the most needed to have times of space and distance from them.  Pastors, the most visible representatives of Christ, in days gone by, were almost universally trained that the best day to take off in a week was Monday. Unless someone has ever experienced what it is like to be needed and wanted by so many people so intensely over the course of a day, it is difficult for them to imagine how wearing this can. I imagine that it is also difficult for people to understand that even the most caring people need quiet time alone to recharge and restore – physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Christ’s disciples certainly found it difficult. Mary and Martha found it difficult. Christ’s mother and siblings also had reason to struggle with it. Seasoned pastors turned professors of theology and ministry would instruct their protégés that an intense day of ministry, where preaching just one sermon is equivalent to the expenditure of emotional and even physical energy of labouring 8 hours (let alone preaching twicea Sunday), leading a training meeting, being available for counselling and comfort, showing hospitality over lunch in between services, takes a toll on a pastor. Monday, they would counsel, is the day you need to withdraw and restore. All of these regular Sunday activities for a pastor would only be a fraction of the drain that Christ must have felt nearly every day of His incarnate ministry. Little wonder then, that Immanuel needed to often withdraw from people to be of most value to people. And while it appeared He was alone we know that He was never by Himself. 

For those of us called to care and shepherd others where we are continually attempting to repair bruised reeds and not snuff out struggling candles, we run the certain risk of being misunderstood when these precious lambs confuse our absence for indifference or our silence for rejection. Christ ran that risk and was the subject of such misunderstanding. They challenge for Christian carers, especially those called to shepherd, is to recognise that our needed times of isolation and quiet are not times by ourself but with the Enthroned Father who has no need to slumber or sleep (Psalm 121:4) who gives restoration and strength to all those who wait on Him (Isa. 40:31).

Pastor Andrew

ALONE BUT NOT LONELY

ISOLATION, SOLITUDE, & SUPERHEROES

The most socially helpful people are those who who value solitude. The most socially destructive people are those who prize isolation. There is a world of difference between the two in much the same way as there is a world of difference between being alone and being lonely. Reading through the Gospel accounts of the life of Jesus of Nazareth and we are unavoidably confronted with Love Incarnate who habitually sort solitude so that He could effectively minister socially. This is contrasted by Judas who isolated himself from Christ and the other apostles and inevitably became socially destructive. As God redeems people He takes them from being weakened by isolation to being strengthened through integration into the community of the faithful and the fellowship with the Holy Spirit in solitude. It's not only the first followers of Christ who hear Him say, "Come away and be alone with Me for a while."

And he said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while." For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. Mark 6:31

DESIGN & DYSFUNCTIONALITY

There is something in the human soul that is designed to be enriched by being connected to others. The One who designed us said of our First Father, "It is not good for man to be alone." (Gen. 2:18). God did not  (and does not) want anyone to be lonely due to their isolation. He has created mankind to be connected with others. Of the several things that make a person truly rich, friends and family are among their greatest treasures. When we are disconnected from others through isolation caused by offence, hurt, unforgiveness, breaches of trust, or grievances, we are especially vulnerable to loneliness. The child who grows up with a sense that one of their parents rejected or abandoned them, is very prone to forming dysfunctional relationships. For example, the daughter who feels betrayed by her father because he left his family to pursue a relationship with another woman and to start a new family is highly likely to crave male attention - but often in a controlling way (because although she craves the attention of a man, she doesn't want to be hurt again by a man). Despite seeking, and usually getting male attention, such a girl can feel cheated, deprived, and hard done by. This attitude is extremely socially isolating. People, especially those close to them, are made to feel guilty for not doing enough for them or giving them enough attention. This inevitably leads to a critical, judgmental, negative outlook that makes it even more difficult for them to connect with others or maintain existing relationships.

A brother offended is more unyielding than a strong city,
and quarreling is like the bars of a castle. 
Proverbs 18:19

SUPERMAN v JESUS

Alone doesn't have to mean lonely. But when you're hurt and unforgiving it rarely means anything else. Alone can mean restoring solitude. My favorite superhero is Superman. There's a host of uncanny parallels between Clarke Kent and Jesus of Nazareth. Here's one that often gets overlooked. Q. Where did Superman go to be renewed - where he could affirm his own identity - and commune with his very distant father? A. The Fortress of Solitude. Where did Jesus go to be renewed?

¶ Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns.Matthew 14:13
¶ Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.John 6:15

Jesus would often withdraw from the crowds (and even His disciples) to be Himself, to be transparent in His own identity.

And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!" And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.
Luke 9:35-36

Jesus would often spend time alone to be with His Father. 

¶ In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God.
Luke 6:12

Some people are left to endure aloneness due to the unwelcome circumstances of life. In a very real sense though, the child of God is never alone. Jesus teaches us to see aloneness not necessarily as leading to loneliness, but as a door to solitude - where we might be renewed, reminded, and restored. From my observation, people enduring loneliness don't immediately discover the door of solitude. There is often an uncomfortable transitional journey from longing for what isn't to accepting what is - and then realising the contentment that follows. The content person is a socially attractive person, a safe person. The discontent person is a socially difficult person. The content person has found simple joy in being interested in others and great joy in resting in God. The discontented person doesn't even realise their condition inhibits them from such simple delights of cordial social interaction. The discontented has learned how to justify their lack of attentiveness for others by appealing to their own past relationship injuries and garnering sympathy.

¶ Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire;
he breaks out against all sound judgment.
Proverbs 18:1 

In the meantime they are susceptible to isolating themselves from the source that God has ordained to heal, strengthen and bless us: our brothers and sisters in Christ. 

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Hebrews 10:24-25

Isolation from this source of wholeness, strength and blessing is caused by pride. Not until the discontented discover that they are never truly alone can they begin to be healed. And with the dawn of this revelation they will also discover that they actually are loved beyond imaginable limits by the One Whom they are often alone with.

A person who has friends may be harmed by them,
but there is a Friend who sticks closer than a brother. 
Proverbs 18:24 NET

Ps. Andrew