ALONE (I)
“And they all forsook him, and fled.” —Mark 14:50
In 1934 Commander Richard E. Byrd spent five winter months in self imposed solitary vigil at a meteorological station in Antarctica. Subsequently he published an autobiographical account of his experience in a book entitled “Alone.” It was a great adventure that nearly cost him his life, but it was not the loneliest event in history.
Calvary was the loneliest place on earth, and the loneliest journey in history. No one was ever more alone than the Son of God on His way to and through the cross.
The Savior’s solitude began with His betrayal by Judas, one of “His own.” Judas had accompanied Jesus, with the other disciples, from the beginning of His ministry. In fact, he was not only one of the twelve, but had been engaged in service among them as treasurer for the group. Judas’ problem, as with so many who presume to follow Christ, was that he had his own agenda, and when it became apparent that Christ was not going in the same direction Judas decided to sell Him out.
When the issue of the cross reached its zenith, the rest of the twelve “all forsook Him and fled.” Fond as they were of Him, they could not muster the courage or strength to follow through to the end. They left Him to face Calvary alone.
Notable among the twelve, not for betrayal, but for determination, was the apostle Peter. Informed after the passover of the betrayal and subsequent sacrifice of the Lord, Peter forcefully declared, “Although all shall be offended, yet will not I…If I should die with Thee, I will not deny Thee in any wise.” (v. 29, 31) But, not long thereafter Peter joined the others in abandoning Him, and “began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the Man of Whom ye speak,” and his denial, when it came home to him, drove him to tears.
Alone. But that does not yet tell the whole story. In the next chapter the depth of Jesus’ isolation is spelled out in the agonizing word from the cross lifted from earth to heaven when He cried to the Father, “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me!? Abandoned by all who had been His companions and friends, the crisis was amplified to infinity by the unthinkable fact that His eternal relationship with the Father was also ruptured at the cross. He was, indeed, ALONE!
What does all of this teach us? At least this: when we reach ‘the other shore,“ we will take nothing with us to justify our arrival. Association and service (Judas) will not suffice to see us through to glory. Our affection for the Son of God, born out of however long we have walked with Him, (they all) will not serve to sustain us. Our most adamant determination (Peter) will not carry us to the cross nor beyond. Faith alone will suffice, and faith succeeds not because it is tethered on our end, but because it is anchored to that which is “within the vail.” It is the character of God, not of man—any man—that determines our destiny. We will arrive on heaven’s shore not because we have “held on,” but because He holds on to us, for some incomprehensible reason, and will not let us go.
“Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you…” “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast [Eph. 2:8-9].” It is sovereign grace, nothing less and nothing more, that accounts for the salvation of any and every sinner who identifies with the Savior.
If I associate with Him and “serve” Him, it will not suffice. If I am fond of Him, my “love” for Him will ever be fickle. If I am ever so determined to follow Him to the end I will still, like Peter, come up short at last. Salvation is all of God. I can only cast myself upon Him by my feeble faith and trust the “judge of all the earth” to do what is right. “Failure” is my middle name; “Faithful” is His, and He has promised, “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Betrayed by Judas, abandoned by “His own,” denied by Peter and, finally, forsaken by the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ did what no one else could do nor contribute to—alone. And He did it for you and for me.
With David of old our response can only be:
I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.
Psalm 34:1-2
"Pastor" Frasier
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