“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in Me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” – John 14:1-3
“But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you.” – John 16:6, 7
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” – Mark 15:34
When Jesus talked to the disciples in the upper room on the night of His arrest, He told them He would be leaving them. They must have been devastated! After all, this was a man that they had dedicated their lives to over the last three years or so. Some had left friends and family and all of them had, at least, put their careers on hold. They had believed in. They accepted His claim that He was the Messiah…the one that they had been waiting for…now He was leaving them?
“Jesus, Jesus, why are you abandoning us?”
Jesus knew their hearts were breaking as He was talking to them that night. He knew that they were afraid and that they would feel forsaken…”I know you are sorrowful”. So, He calms them down and begins one of the longest narratives recorded in the Gospel with these words, “Let not your hearts be troubled…”
I remember when my kids were small and I would have leave on a trip of some sort. They would act like I was leaving them forever! They would get extremely upset. “Why are you leaving?” “Do you have to go?” As a father it would tear my heart apart as I tried to convince these ones that I loved that I was not abandoning them. I was not leaving forever, but I could see in their eyes that they were feeling…forsaken. “I will be back soon”, I would promise. “Be good while I am gone and…when I come back I will bring back gifts from where I am going for each of you!” Then we would hug and kiss with tears and I would go hoping that they were comforted and that they knew that I would be back.
I believe that the one near the cross that felt the most forsaken was John. He is the one being left behind. He was going to be alone. Therefore, I believe that Jesus was expressing a divine sympathy for John while giving him hope at the same time. “I know how you feel John, and you’re not the first to feel this way. Remember David in Psalm 22? Although he felt the pain of loneliness and felt forsaken, the Father had not abandoned him…and He has not abandoned you…or me…Let not your heart be troubled…”
Yes, this word from the cross revealed to us a Savior who empathizes with our deepest fear, but it was also spoken as a word of comfort for you today. And, though you feel alone and that the Father has abandoned you…He has not. He is with you and He will never leave you or forsake you!
“Let not your heart be troubled”