Alone and Rejected

There are several reality shows that focus on people having to survive in various situations. While many people can endure a season without food, the greatest struggle is being alone.

When the Lord created all things, we see Him look at what He created afterward and declare, “It was good.” Then He made man in His own image from the clay of the ground. He breathed into man, and Adam became a living being. He then placed man in a beautiful garden that had an abundance of everything, yet the Lord said, “It is not good that man should be left alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him” (Genesis 2: 18).

Jesus started His Passion in the Garden of Gethsemane. On the way to the garden, Jesus said:

“All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: ‘I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will scatter.’ But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.”

Matthew 26: 31, 32

If we turn to Isaiah 53, we read:

“He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.”

Isaiah 53: 3

Jesus, we are told, was with the Father and was one with the Father. He came, and He walked this earth, and He said the Father was with Him (John 8: 29). Then He went to the Garden, and He brought the disciples with Him. We are told He took Peter, James, and John, and He and then went off to pray, but Jesus left these men and went a little further, where He fell and prayed. He said to them:

“My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.”

Matthew 26: 38

The word for “stay here” in Greek is “meno,” and it means to be present, stand, tarry, or wait here. The word “watch” comes from “gregoreuo,” and it means to be vigilant, awake, to take heed lest through remission and indolence some destructive calamity suddenly overtake one.

He had called them to stay awake in prayer with Him. He knew what He was about to endure and what they were about to face.

“Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.’ But he said to Him, ‘Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death.’ Then He said, ‘I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know Me.”

Luke 22: 31- 34

The term “cock crows” was used in connection with the Feasts at the Temple to state that by the time the cock crows, the crowds would have already gathered to begin the celebration. So, before the crowds had fully gathered and the full pressure was on Peter, he would have failed three times. Traditionally, an offender would be forgiven for offending twice, but three strikes and it was over. Now, we can understand why Peter thought he had blown it and was beyond recovery.

Also, notice that the heart of Jesus was that Peter would remain strong and be restored, but it wasn’t enough for Jesus to simply want this; He had to pray for it. Prayer is part of a spiritual law, and James explained that we have not because we ask not (James 4: 2). Jesus proactively, rather than reactively, dealt with everything in prayer.

In the Garden, He returns to His inner core of three to find them asleep. Jesus had explained that it was a dire hour and He was in an intense battle, and asked them to pray with Him.

“What! Could you not watch with Me one hour?”

Matthew 26: 40

You can hear the disappointment in His voice that they could not endure and watch with Him for even one hour. Jesus would leave and return three times, and all three times the disciples are sleeping.

How often, when we need someone to stand with us and just be there, do we find ourselves alone? Jesus was going to endure His Passion alone. Since the Fall, men have known the pain of being alone, and the devil loves to divide and conquer. He loves to get us alone where we are most vulnerable.

When we are alone, the secret place of the heart is revealed. When we are alone and able to do whatever we want and desire, the heart is revealed. It is here where we either pursue Him or the desires of the flesh. The reality is that our secret place life must be sanctified unto the Lord, or it becomes the opportunity for the enemy to get into our lives. Jesus would daily seek the Father, and the Secret Place became the Holy Place of meeting.

“Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed. And Simon and those who were with Him searched for Him.”

Mark 1: 35, 36

If you want to meet with Him, search for Him in the Secret Place, and it too will become the Holy Place of meeting Him. We see in the Gospels that Jesus would often get alone to be with the Father so that He was ready. Ready to meet the needs of the people and, in all of it, give the Father glory.

In Luke 6, in verse 12, we see Jesus pray all night before choosing the twelve disciples. After hearing about John the Baptist being killed, Jesus went to a solitary place (Matthew 14: 13), and then when He was in the Garden of Gethsemane.

You can be in a crowd and yet be alone!

After He was taken captive and put on trial, He would spend the night alone in a cell in the ground, most likely half-filled with water to ensure He stayed awake. If the water didn’t work, He was beaten by soldiers.

“Now the men who held Jesus mocked Him and beat Him. And having blindfolded Him, they struck Him, saying, ‘Prophesy! Who is the one who struck You?’ And many other things they blasphemously spoke against Him.”

Luke 22: 63-65

Key Words

Mocked: “Empaizo,” meaning to play with, trifle with, and to mock

Beat: “Dero,” meaning to flay, skin, to smite, or to beat

Struck: “Typto,” meaning to pummel, strike, beat with a staff or whip, to inflict

Struck: “Paio,” meaning a less violent blow or strike

The King James version says they struck Him on the face. So, for hours, Jesus is blindfolded and physically and verbally abused. Then, when he was taken before the Sanhedrin, even though some of the priests believed in Him, He had entered a hornet’s nest. No one stood up to defend Him or support Him. He was in a crowd of those who should have known who He was, but He was alone. They were not interested in a fair trial, justice, or seeking the truth. Christ’s fate was already determined, and it was clear He would have to die.

Loneliness has been connected to a variety of issues, including depression, anxiety, and cognitive decline. They have seen that loneliness can result in serious mental and physical sickness. No wonder the Lord declared that it was not good for us to be alone.

Loneliness can result from a lack of validation from people we look towards and expect to receive it. In loneliness, we feel misunderstood, unworthy, rejected, invisible, and all our accomplishments overlooked and dismissed. No matter how hard we try or what we do, we are not good enough and fall short. The pain that comes as a result can end up being internalized and result in emotional and physical pain. Others deflect this hurt and reject, and begin to abuse others.

Isaiah revealed that He was the Lord and the only God (Isaiah 43: 10). He was the One who formed us (Isaiah 44: 24), and “For I am God, there is none like Me” (Isaiah 46: 10). Isaiah would also declare:

“Listen to Me, you stubborn-hearted, who are far from righteousness…”

Isaiah 46: 12 a

Then John wrote:

“He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.”

John 1: 10, 11

He alone went to the Cross for us.

While He was on the Cross, all but one of Christ’s disciples were hiding and were not there. Only John was there, and he was close enough for Jesus to speak to Him from the Cross. John was a witness to the whole thing and saw Jesus fulfilling Isaiah 53.

“Now there stood by the Cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, ‘Woman, behold your son!’ Then He said to the disciples, ‘Behold your mother!’ And from that hour that disciple took her to his own house.”

John 19: 25- 27

Jesus saw John standing there by Him! John could have stayed with the rest of the apostles and missed that moment and the divine appointment he had with Jesus. Moments come and moments go, but often can’t be replaced. May we always be at the right place at the right time to receive our divine appointment.

At His Last Passover with His disciples, Jesus said to them:

“The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, let him follow Him; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My father will honor.”

John 12: 23b- 26

Jesus bore our loneliness, rejection, and hurt. He calls us to look to Him and seek His validation and not men’s. We are accepted in the Beloved (Ephesians 1: 6). He has chosen and appointed us (John 15: 16).

Be strong and of good courage, fear not, nor be broken before them; for the Word of the Lord thy God will be the leader before thee, He will not forsake thee, nor be far off from thee.

Deuteronomy 31: 6 (Targum Onkelos)

Jesus, the Word promised us that He is with us always (Matthew 28: 2), and He will not leave us orphans (John 14: 18). The writer of Hebrews instructs us:

“Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

Hebrews 13: 6

His love is from everlasting to everlasting and His love will not fail us. The Lord wants our lives grounded and rooted in His love and not in bitterness, hurt, or rejection. He calls us to come abide longer in the Secret Place of His Presence so that it becomes our Holy Meeting Place with Him, where we are assimilated into His love and become secure in Him.

This is to become our abiding place and habitation.

“Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him on high, because he has known My Name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation.”

Psalm 91: 14- 16

He has put a seal of His love over our lives so that we no longer should walk held captive by a cloud of loneliness and rejection.