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“My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” Matthew 27:46
During this solemn season of Lent, it seems the weight of the world can feel a bit heavier than usual, as if life’s circumstances are draining the light from our days (literally this morning, thanks to Daylight Saving Time), causing a feeling of loneliness. Loneliness in our own thoughts — maybe a feeling no one would ever understand — is the lack of connecting on a deeper level with those all around us. Maybe it is due to the loss of a loved one, loneliness in a marriage, motherhood, or an “empty nest.” It could be experienced in retirement, loneliness in a diagnosis, or maybe even in our vocations. Perhaps we are so busy that we feel lonely.
To whom do we turn in these periods of loneliness? Is it someone readily available — at all times and at all costs? Even those God places in our lives with purpose can fall short of our expectations, leaving us with disappointment, frustration, and isolation (Micah 7:5-8). Loneliness is a distressed Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane while His disciples slept, the ones who would then deny, reject, and abandon Him. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41). Jesus is diagnosing the human condition by saying that we have a weak ability to carry things out. Like the disciples, we will never be able to fully satisfy the needs of someone else. We will continuously fall short and disappoint one another.
Our sin led to the ultimate loneliness of Jesus hanging on the cross and His cry of desolation, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46). A total sense of abandonment. Why? Jesus suffered through this so we would never have to. We will never be forsaken or abandoned. We will always be able to turn to the Father. In that instant, when there was nothing left for Jesus to do from the cross, He bowed His head and gave up His spirit for us — the curtain of the temple was torn in two. It was that pivotal moment when we were no longer separated from God and given full access to Him through Jesus. Once and for all, the barriers were removed between us and God.
As we soon approach Good Friday, let us be reminded that, in the seasons or moments of what feels like loneliness, we can turn to Him, our Creator, our suffering Savior — the One who knows us like no other, who knows our thoughts even when we are far away, the One who goes before us and follows us. In utter seclusion, He is there (Psalm 139:1-18). Let our loneliness be a catalyst for growing our relationship with our Father, rather than stifling what He places in our hearts — a deep longing that only He can satisfy. May we embrace the lonely and forsaken Jesus so we can hold on to God’s promise: that He will never leave us alone, abandoned, or forsaken.
When the woes of life o’er take me,
Hopes deceive, and fears annoy,
Never shall the cross forsake me;
Lo, it glows with peace and joy.
LSB Hymn 427 "In the Cross of Christ I Glory," Stanza 2
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