The Aloneness of Jesus

Scripture — Mark 15:33-34

When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. At three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Devotion

In yesterday’s devotion, I reflected on the fact that when Jesus was crucified most of his followers either abandoned him completely or watched from a safe distance. Only a few came near, mainly some of the women who had followed him, including his mother, Mary, and Mary Magdalene. The gospels mention only one male disciple who dared to approach Jesus on the cross, the unnamed disciple whom Jesus loved (John 19:25-27).

It must have been horrible for Jesus to feel abandoned by most of his closest disciples and others who had been part of his retinue. The aloneness of his time on the cross would have added to his excruciating pain. But, far more horrendous than this was what Jesus experienced from his Heavenly Father. In his death, Jesus took on the penalty for our sin. He was in that time truly forsaken by his Father in heaven.

This is difficult to understand. In fact, it’s truly beyond our understanding. You may know that Jesus’s prayer from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” is the first part of Psalm 22, which reads: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; and by night, but find no rest” (22:1-2). In the words of the psalmist, Jesus found a way to express the cry of his heart: Why had God abandoned him? Why did his Father turn his back on Jesus in his moment of greatest agony? Why was Jesus alone in such an astounding and confounding way?

This side of Heaven, we will never be able to answer these questions fully. Nor will we fully know what Jesus experienced in his crucifixion. Was he asking, “Why have you forsaken me?” because, in the mystery of his incarnational suffering, he really didn’t know why God had abandoned him? Or was his cry not so much a question as an expression of profound agony? Or was it both? Or was it so much more?

What we do know is that, in some profound way, Jesus entered into the Hell of separation from God. The Father abandoned him because Jesus took upon himself the penalty for our sins. In that excruciating moment, he experienced something far more horrible than physical pain. The beloved Son of God knew what it was like to be rejected by the Father. As we read in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For our sake he [God] made him [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (5:21).

I can quote this verse. I believe it. I believe that the Father abandoned the Son for our sake, for the salvation of the world, and for my salvation. But can I grasp the mystery and the majesty of this truth? Hardly. As Martin Luther once said, “God forsaking God. Who can understand it?” Yet even my infantile grasp of this reality calls me to confession, humility, gratitude, worship, and adoration.

For almost 50 years I have found in the hymn “And Can It Be That I Should Gain” a way to express the mystery, marvel, and miracle of Jesus’s death for me. I’m thankful to Charles Wesley for putting into words what fills my heart. I’ll close today’s devotion with this hymn:

And can it be that I should gain
An int’rest in the Savior’s blood!
Died he for me? who caused his pain!
For me? who him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be
That thou, my Lord, shouldst die for me?

‘Tis myst’ry all: the Immortal dies!
Who can explore his strange design?
In vain the firstborn seraph tries
To sound the depths of love divine.
’Tis mercy all! Let earth adore;
Let angel minds inquire no more.

He left his Father’s throne above,
So free, so infinite his grace,
Emptied himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam’s helpless race.
’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!

Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quick’ning ray;
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed thee.

No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in him, is mine;
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach the eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.

Refrain:
Amazing love! How can it be
That thou, my Lord, shouldst die for me?

Banner Wim van ‘t Einde by Name on Unsplash. 

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project’s online commentary. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: The Cross and Resurrection (Mark 14:32-16:8).

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