Loneliness
Loneliness
LONELINESS.To speak of the isolation of Christ would give a wrong impression as far as the everyday circumstances of His life are concerned. He was most often either in crowds, teaching and healing, or else seeking loneliness without success; He was lonely in the same sense as that in which Nazareth and Syria were lonelyplaced close to the worlds highways, yet living a life of their own (cf. G. A. Smith, HGHL [Note: GHL Historical Geog. of Holy Land.] , p. 432; Edersheim, Life and Times of Messiah, i. 147). We may notice four aspects of what may be called the loneliness of Christ.
1. Solitude for the purposes of prayer, meditation, and rest. The outstanding instances arethe Temptation in the Wilderness (Mat 4:1, Mar 1:12, Luk 4:2), the retirement after the excitement consequent on the feeding of the five thousand (Mat 14:22, Mar 6:45; cf. Joh 6:15), and the retirement for prayer, soon interrupted (Mar 1:35; cf. also Luk 6:12; Luk 9:18 where Mar 8:27 has in the way he asked his disciples). It should be noted that at times of peculiar spiritual intensity Jesus withdrew from the other disciples, but kept by Him Peter and the sons of Zebedee, as at the Transfiguration (Mat 17:1, Mar 9:2, Luk 9:28), at the raising of Jairus daughter (Mar 5:37), and at Gethsemane (Mat 26:37watch with me,Mar 14:35, Luk 22:43).
2. Retirement from possible persecution, or from unwished for notoriety: e.g. after the death of John the Baptist (Mat 14:13; in Mar 6:11 this retirement immediately follows the return of the Twelve); from the opposition of the Pharisees (Mat 16:13, Mar 8:27, Luk 9:18; also Mat 15:21, Mar 7:24). Similarly, He was extremely anxious that His miracles should not become known (Luk 5:13, Mat 8:4, Mar 8:26; Mar 9:9; the chief exception, where there were special reasons, is in Mar 5:19). The opposite reason for solitude and concealment is given in Joh 6:15 (perceiving that they were about to come and take him by force, to make him king). On the other hand, it must be remembered that (a) Jesus was constantly accompanied, at least in Galilee and at the end in Jerusalem, by twelve friends and disciples specially appointed (Mat 10:2, Mar 3:16, Luk 10:1 imply a larger circle from which to draw); to these we must add a number of women (Luk 8:3; cf. Mat 27:55, Mar 15:40, Luk 23:49). In connexion with the visits to Jerusalem recounted in the Fourth Gospel, the disciples are hardly mentioned; Joh 7:10, coupled with the absence of reference to the disciples in chs. 7 to 10, seems to make it certain that Jesus was alone; we find the disciples with Him again in Joh 11:16. (b) In the earlier part of His ministry Jesus was constantly inconvenienced by the thronging of the vast crowds drawn to His side (cf. Mat 4:23; Mat 8:18; Mat 9:35, Mar 1:37, Luk 4:42; Luk 12:1; see Swete, St. Mark, p. lxxx); in the last visit to Jerusalem He sought retirement at night by leaving the city either for Bethany or the Mount of Olives (Mat 21:17, Mar 11:19, Luk 21:37). (c) His conduct was social enoughas distinet from that of John and of the Essenesto give rise to the slanders about a gluttonous man and a winebibber (Mat 11:19, Luk 7:34); He went to the marriage at Cana (Joh 2:1); He was found at the feast in Simons house (Mat 26:6, Mar 14:3, also Luk 7:36); with Matthew (Mat 9:10, Luk 5:29), and Zacehaeus (Luk 19:6); and contrasted Himself with John as one who comes eating and drinking (Mat 11:19, Luk 7:34).
3. The inevitable result of His own attitude. The question in Mat 12:48 seems to be that of one who wilfully cuts himself off from human ties; as He faced death more nearly, isolation could not but grow on Him (Mat 17:12, Mar 9:30, Luk 9:22; Luk 9:44, cf. also Mar 10:32); as early as the feeding of the five thousand, many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him (Joh 6:66). The disciples remained with Him till the end, when the arrest proved too much for their loyalty, although we find John, with the women, at the foot of the cross (Joh 19:25-26, Mat 27:55, Mar 15:40).
4. The uniqueness of Christs Person. This is emphasized chiefly in the Fourth Gospel; though that it was soon felt is shown in Luk 5:8 (Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord; compare the timidity of the disciples in Joh 21:12); and easily gathered from the manner in which the disciples misunderstood Him and His purposes for themselves (Mat 20:21, Mar 10:37; cf. Luk 9:54-55, and Mar 9:32, Luk 9:46; Luk 22:24). When Christ speaks of His own nearness to the Father, distance from mankind must naturally follow; see Joh 5:18 ff; Joh 8:16; Joh 8:27; Joh 8:29; Joh 10:30; Joh 20:17. On the other hand, this special relation of Christ to the Father is one which is, through Christ, to be shared by His disciples (see Joh 10:4, ch. 17 passim, and Joh 20:17). The extreme of loneliness, as it is heard in the cry upon the cross (Mat 27:46, Mar 15:34, cf. Luk 23:46, Joh 19:30), lasted, it would seem, but for a moment. See Dereliction.
Literature.In addition to the Commentaries and Lives of Christ, see F. W. Robertson, Sermons, 1st Series, p. 220; J. Caird, Aspects of Life, p. 111; II. P. Liddon, Passiontide Sermons, p. 138; J. Martineau, Endeavours after the Christian Life, p. 159; E. B. Pusey, Sermons from Advent to Whitsuntide, p. 188.
W. F. Lofthouse.