From here on out, the journey from the Mount of Transfiguration to Mount Calvary will be alone. None of those Jesus has chosen will stand with Him. None of those who saw His miracles will be with Him. None of those who heard His teachings and marveled at His words will be with Him-none of those. For the rest of the journey, Jesus will be alone.
It is one thing to be alone and never have had the companionship of another. It is quite a different loneliness when you have known companionship and are deprived of it. Jesus will not have familiar companionship until after His resurrection. All of the disciples have run away. One of them-when the soldiers tried to stop him-ran and left behind his clothes.
So alone, arrested, bound, Jesus continues the journey to Mount Calvary. He understands being abandoned. He has great compassion for the abandoned. Though all abandoned Him, He assures those who are abandoned He will always be with them. He will never forsake them.
He also has great compassion for those who desert others in need. It is a forgivable sin. He forgave the disciples for deserting Him. He forgives all those who in their acts of desertion recognize their sin and seek His forgiveness.
THE PRAYER: Forgive us, Lord, for our acts of desertion. Amen.
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