Abandoned

"You do not want to leave too, do you"...(John 6:67)?

He is the most enigmatic person to ever walk this earth. We have no description of him. Did He wear a beard? Was His hair long? How tall was He? One day He speaks about loving your enemies, the next He is making whips and turning over tables in the temple courtyard. Some days He heals without hindrance, next he has a problem healing because of lack of faith. He stays far away from Jerusalem only to sneak into the city during feasts. Next He is headlong determined to reach Jerusalem to meet His death. The most we know of this man is found in four books, written by two who walked with Him and two who did not. His band of twelve was a mixture of mismatched individuals that you could ever find. A hated tax collector, a rebel Zealot, some were fishermen, and some we know very little about and seem to walk off the scene after Pentecost. He forgave sins as easily as healing infirmities. Spoke harshly against the Pharisees and yet more than likely He was of that persuasion. The difficulty with this man is that He claimed to be the Son of God: The Messiah. He gathered great crowds and then many abandoned Him when they could not understand His teaching.

Furthermore, we only have a scant record of His childhood and His ministry lasted about three years. Yet, this man changed the course of history. We date our calendar by Him, His birth. Lives changed, so much so that those who believed would rather die than turn away from Him. This man who knew all the pain and suffering that we face in our lives came to know what it means to be abandoned. One of His closest disciples denied Him, others ran away into the night. At the cross we only know that a few who followed Him remained; "Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalen, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there" (Mark 15:40-41). We know that John was there and cared for Jesus' mother after His death (John 19:25-27).  Where was Peter and the rest of the twelve? Where were the throngs of people who were fed, the five thousand, the four thousand? For the most part Jerusalem went about its business while the Savior of the the world, their long-awaited Messiah hung on the cross. Abandoned.

He knows our every care! He has experienced abandonment! He loves you and me so much that He was willing to allow Himself to die upon a cross just so that we could have what God intended from the beginning of time; Everlasting life with Him, in communion with Him. By the way, Jesus forgave Peter, and commissioned him to carry the Good News that salvation has come and is available through Him. The Good News is for us, when we are feeling depressed abandoned He is there for He has sent to us Holy Spirit our comforter. In our troubled times will we run to Him or abandoned Him?  When we don't quite understand His teaching will we seek Him or abandon Him? Prepare our hearts for it is soon to be the season called Easter when we celebrate His death, resurrection and ascension. Take this is My body broken for you, this is my blood of the covenant for forgiveness of sins (Matthew 26:27-29). 

Daily Prayer:

Heavenly Father it is my humble heart that I approach Your lofty throne. You alone knew that You would have to send Your Son to die for me. Yet that is exactly what you did! Jesus the only way I can thank you is by my obedience, I have nothing else to give and I give that freely to You. Take my life and use it for Your glory and may my life be a witness of Your great love.                               Amen