Do you ever feel lonely? I spend a lot of time alone, but that is not necessarily when I feel the loneliest. Sometimes I feel the most lonely when I am in a crowd--when I am surrounded by people, but none of them are talking to me or seem to care about me at all. Do you ever feel that way? Jesus knows how you feel. He was surrounded by people who mocked and tortured Him, and He had no one on His side.
When Jesus was arrested and then sentenced to death, His disciples all fled from Him or denied Him; the people, the Pharisees and the experts in the law were all against Him, but as He hung on that cross, nothing hurt so much as being separated from His Father. (Mark 15:34) God had to turn His back on Jesus, His Son, even though they had lived in communion with each other since before the world began. Because God is holy, He could not accept us who are unholy into His presence. Only the life of His perfect Son could be an acceptable sacrifice to atone for the sins that have been inbred in us since Adam and Eve fell to the temptation of Satan in the Garden of Eden. While our sin was on Christ, He was separated from His Father. That was the greatest rejection in history, and yet Christ chose to endure it so that all people since then could have a personal relationship with God. We can be adopted into God’s family, and Jesus can become our brother and our friend. Even when we do not have any other person around us that we can talk to, when it seems like no one understands us, we still have Jesus. We will never be put into the position that Jesus was put in. Because of Him, we will always have someone to turn to. Hebrews 4:14-16 tells that Jesus understands everything we have ever been through or will ever go through, and the invitation is extended to come to Him boldly when we need help. We are invited to cast all our burdens on Him because He cares for us. (I Peter 5:6-7)
The next time you are feeling lonely, take time to talk to Jesus. Ask Him to help you through your time of sadness, and to know that you are not alone. Lay all your cares at His feet. He understands.