Jesus Alone

Our Lord did not get much time to himself. If it was not the crowds around him, thirsty for what he had to say, bringing their friends for him to heal, all as noisy as a hungry flock of sheep, then it was those who came quietly to him for the answers he might give in private. Even at night there was Nicodemus come for conference and consultation, to be shocked into new ways of thinking. If Jesus waited for his disciples by a well, along came a Samaritan woman, in the heat of the day, ready to chat him up and find herself converted. If it was a journey by boat and he fell asleep through sheer weariness, a sudden storm shattered the peace. In a quiet moment after he had been teaching, there stood the disciples asking him to explain to them what he had been saying to all the people.

Yet there were significant times when Our Lord was alone.

Surely he must have been alone after Joseph and Mary inadvertently left him behind at Jerusalem. There is no word of his being with a group of mischievous lads his contemporaries. The older people with whom his parents, when they went back to find him, might have expected him to be with, did not know where he was. They found him on his own in the temple, one youth holding discussions with the many learned doctors of the law. Where did Mary and Joseph expect to find him, he asked. Surely they would realise he had made his way to this place which belonged to his Father?

When his time came he went out alone from the security and bustle of family life at Nazareth to find John the Baptist. John had finished dealing with the crowds that day, and Jesus came to him asking to be baptised. When John had agreed to this, afterwards when Jesus was praying, there was the dove, the voice "You are my dear Son. I am pleased with you." With these words ringing in his ears, Jesus was driven by the Spirit away from them all and into wild, lonely places.

When he came back, he knew what he would not do: not use his power to meet his own needs, but to help others; not to indulge in pointless spectaculars, which never changed anybody's heart; and not to join the circus of kings and governors who in their objectives and methods followed evil and did not acknowledge God. Soon Jesus found himself in the thick of all the urgency and excitement of his own unprecedented work of healing and teaching.

Outside Simon Peter's family home the crowds had gathered. They all needed Jesus. And he gave himself to their needs, and it went on and on into the night. Very early the next morning before daylight, Jesus got up and left the house. He went out of the town to a lonely place, where he prayed. Simon Peter and his companions went out searching for him... "Everyone is looking for you". Jesus answered that he must go on to the other villages round about, he had to preach there as well. That is why he had come.

All through the period of his ministry there were times when Jesus slipped away on his own, in order to pray, often at night, sometimes all through the night. The gospel writer mentions these occasions especially when he was needing to meet a crisis or take an important decision. For example: 'At that time Jesus went up a hill to pray and spent the whole night there praying to God. When day came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them who he named Apostles.... when he came down the hill with them he stood on a level place with a large number of his disciples.' A large crowd from all parts of the country had gathered, to listen to him and be healed. The choice of the twelve had followed his night alone in prayer.

The time when five thousand were fed was significant for the direction his work would take. The crowd were all looking to him for more food. Feeding the five thousand had been a most successful spectacular event. The people were wanting him, to be king. Resisting the temptations implicit in this situation, Jesus sent the people away and went away to a hill to pray.

When Jesus was praying alone one day and his disciples came to him, he asked them who the crowd were saying he was? "Elijah... John the Baptist.... one of the old prophets come back to life..." "And you, what do you say?" "God's Messiah" said Peter. A week later he was again on a hill to pray, this time with Peter, James and John in company. While he prayed they saw his appearance change. There were people with him. Once again, there was a voice: "This is my Son whom I have chosen. Listen to him!" The voice stopped, and the three disciples saw Jesus there, all alone.

Once again Jesus was alone, and leading the way to Jerusalem, for the last time. The disciples followed behind, reluctant, fearful, arguing with one another. Arrived at Jerusalem, Jesus spent nights alone, praying on the Mount of Olives. He was alone in the Garden of Gethsemane, when he prayed, "Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet not what I want, but what you want." He was alone on the cross, when he prayed, "Father, in your hands I place my spirit."

Long before this, there had been a time when the Pharisees were disputing with Jesus. He had claimed, "I am the light of the world." They did not believe him. They said he must have someone to back up his claim. Jesus replied, "I am not alone in this. The Father who sent me is with me." But they did not understand, and they would 'lift up the Son of Man' - on a cross. Then, said Jesus, looking to his resurrection, then they would know that God had backed him up completely, because he had been completely obedient. "He has not left me alone, because I always do what pleases him."

When the end came near, Jesus had to tell his disciples that they would indeed run away and leave him alone. They felt confident, at last they were sure about Jesus, because he spoke plainly to them. He had said, " When that day comes, you will ask the Father in my name; and I do not say that I will ask him on your behalf, for the Father himself loves you. He loves you because you love me and have believed that I came from God. I did come from the Father, and I came into the world; and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father." "This makes us believe" they said, "that you came from God." "Do you believe?" said Jesus. "The time has come when you will be scattered, and I will be left all alone. But I am not really alone, because the Father is with me." In this way he reassured them, and indeed reassured himself for the next few crucial hours. For them, it truly would feel different, he was about to return to the Father. The disciples would be feeling alone, however much they might wish to keep him with them.

When Mary met him in the garden in the early dawn, Jesus told her, "Do not hold on to me.... go to my brothers and tell them that I am returning to him who is my Father..... and their Father. To my God.... their God."

Scripture quotations taken from the Good News Bible.