Articles
Abandoned?
It is sometimes stated, in the times when one might feel lonely or in a deep depression, or in times of crisis, distress, severe difficulties, and trials, that it seems God has abandoned us. It is not helpful to tell ones in such situations to “just get over it” or that it is all just in their heads. When Elijah felt like he was the only faithful one left, God reminded him, “I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him” (1 Kings 19:18). He was not alone, and needed to know that.
If you are feeling overwhelmed and maybe even feeling like you are alone, you need to know that you, as a disciple of Jesus Christ, are not alone, either. But before we get to God’s promise on that, let us consider one who was truly abandoned or forsaken, and what He did; His life is a pattern for us in such times. Of course, I speak of Jesus.
Forsaken and Rejected. Long before Jesus came to this earth, it was prophesied by the prophet Isaiah that the coming one would be “despised and rejected by men,” (Isa. 53:3). The psalmist would also write prophetically, “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone” (Psa. 118:22), and this passage was latter applied to Jesus as its fulfillment (Acts 4:10, 11; 1 Pet. 2:4-8). Truly, Jesus was rejected and abandoned by men, and sometimes the ones we might have least suspected would leave Him. Consider:
The Apostles. When Jesus and the apostles were in the Garden and the mob came for Him, Peter at first, “having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear” (John 18:10), but after Jesus told him to put away the sword, it is said, “Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled” (Matt. 26:51-56).
These were the ones who had walked with Jesus for the last three years as He went around teaching and working indisputable signs, miracles, and wonders, and who, when asked by Jesus who they thought He was, replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:15, 16). And, of course, it was Peter who, when Jesus foretold they would forsake Him, had replied, “Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble” (Matt. 26:31). But Peter was included among the disciples who “forsook Him and fled.”
And when Jesus also foretold Peter’s denial, Peter vehemently replied, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” (Matt. 26:35). But He did. When he followed Jesus at a distance, and someone recognized him as one of the disciples of Jesus, he denied it three times (Matt. 26:69-75). Again, Jesus was abandoned by His closest disciples. For the moment.
His People. Before the birth of Jesus, an angel came to Joseph and told him of God’s plan for the Son that was about to be born, and told him, “you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21); we might think that He would be well-received by the people, because He was the One whose arrival they were eagerly anticipating (Luke 2:38).. But, as you probably already know, He was not well-received. He was rejected and abandoned because He was not the Christ or the King they expected or desired.
When Jesus stood before Pilate and His life in his hands, Pilate asked the people, “Whom do you want me to release to you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” (Matt. 27:17), the people — urged on by the religious leaders — answered, “Barabbas!” (Matt. 27:21). When asked what he should do with Jesus, they cried out, “Let Him be crucified!” and again, “Let Him be crucified!” (Matt. 27:22, 23). Having said this, their rejection and abandonment was complete. For the moment.
God? It is a popular belief that when Jesus, on the cross, cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matt. 26:46), it meant that God “had” to abandon Jesus at the cross, for it was then that Jesus bore the weight of the sins of all mankind. It sounds reasonable, but only if you hold to the false teaching of Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross [i.e., that He died “in our place”]. That false teaching has lent credibility to another false teaching that derived from that one, that the righteousness of Jesus is “substituted” for our own sinfulness when God looks upon us, as Christians. [This doctrine teaches that we are never truly righteous, but that God sees only the righteousness of Jesus as some sort of “cloak” over us when He looks at us. This flatly contradicts what the Scriptures teach. (2 Cor. 5:21).]
God did not abandon Jesus at the cross, or at any other time. If anything, God was just as near as He had ever been! It was that final act of obedience to the Father’s will that Isaiah prophetically declared, “it pleased the Lord to bruise Him” (Isa. 53:10); it pleased Him because Jesus was doing exactly what He came to earth to do! If anything, God rewarded Jesus for this great deed for, as Paul wrote, “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:9-11). God did not abandon Jesus!
In fact, in the psalm Jesus quoted (Psalm 22), it is there that question begins the psalm, and it seems the writer, too, felt abandoned. But, as we read on, we find the same writer acknowledging, “He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; nor has He hidden His face from Him; but when He cried to Him, He heard” (Psa. 22:24). God heard because God had not abandoned Jesus on the cross!
Now, before we get to the last point, I should note that in the previous examples where Jesus was abandoned, I closed each section with the statement, “For the moment.” I did so because some of those same ones who cried vehemently for the crucifixion would not long afterwards learn exactly what they had done, and they repented and began following Jesus as the Christ (Acts 2:14-47). Those disciples who forsook Jesus — even Peter — returned to Him and faithfully followed Him and taught the message of the gospel, “that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3, 4). Their abandonment was only temporary!
You? Now to that promise of God! As a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ, never forget the comforting promise He has made: “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Heb. 13:5). While it may sometimes seem like we are alone, and that this world is simply too overwhelming, never forget the world is not bigger than God; your problems are not bigger than God. As the psalmist wrote (Psa. 113:5, 6), the Lord is not too high or too powerful to bend down to look on you and your life and hear your cries.
Follow the example of Jesus: Call on the Father in your darkest days, and do His work and will even if everyone opposes you.
God hears and God cares. As Paul noted, “He is not far from each one of us” (Acts 17:27). Though the world, our closest friends, and even our families may abandon us, God never will. When things are dark, walk in the Light. — Steven Harper
