Thought for the Month - February 2019

"The loneliest man in the world" by Barry Adair

I saw a blurry photo from a very rare video of a tribesman who has been called the "loneliest man in the world". He has been living totally alone for the last 22 years, deep within the Amazon rainforest in Brazil, South America. We know about this man for one main reason, greed! More on this shortly…

The "loneliest man in the world" has had no human contact since the last members of his tribe were murdered in 1995. He is believed to be in his 50's and appears fit and healthy. But what mental scars he must still carry! Apart from glimpsing him from afar, very little is known about the man. We don't know what language he speaks (or spoke!), we don't know his name, we don't know his religion, we don't know the name of the tribe he was once part of. All we do know is that he is officially classed as "uncontacted" i.e. no outsider has ever spoken to him.

The video I mentioned earlier was released by the Brazilian government's "Indigenous Peoples Agency". So why film him? Under the Brazilian constitution, indigenous people have a right to land. Therefore, the Indigenous Peoples Agency needs to show he is still alive to keep renewing the Restriction Order on the area of land he lives in! Without this, illegal loggers or greedy developers and farmers would take over the land and decimate the natural rainforest. In fact, this has happened numerous times in the Amazonian Rainforest as there is an on-going, relentless pursuit of its land and resources.

It got me thinking about another Man. This Man could also be described as the "loneliest Man in the world". I'm speaking about the Lord Jesus Christ. When Jesus lived in Israel, He had His family and, later on, His disciples close by. But at His death, He was truly alone. Even though His family was present during His barbaric crucifixion, Jesus was alone in a way that no other human being could ever experience.

Now, you may be thinking that this man in the Amazonian jungle is much lonelier than Jesus ever was. But sometimes, you can be very lonely even when surrounded by other people. Do you remember the helpless paralytic that Jesus met by the pool at Bethesda? For 38 long, weary, painful years that man had waited for someone, anyone, to help him into the 'healing waters'. Perhaps hundreds of thousands of people had shuffled past him in all those years without even noticing him. But on meeting Jesus, his response showed the incredible loneliness and friendlessness that he had experienced over many years - "Sir, I have no man…"!

While on that cross, even with those present, Jesus was very, very alone. Even His Father in heaven had to leave Jesus to His fate, such was the stench of the world's sin that He bore on that cross.

Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? (Matthew 27:45,46)

Jesus was completely alone, probably for the first time in eternity. John Piper further explains the abandonment of Jesus while on Calvary's cross…

The judgment was to have God the Father pour out His wrath, and instead of pouring it out on us, he pours it out on Him. That necessarily involves a kind of abandonment. That is what wrath means. He gave Him up to suffer the weight of all the sins of all of His people and the judgment for those sins. We cannot begin to fathom all that this would mean between the Father and the Son. To be forsaken by God is the cry of the damned, and He was damned for us.

Jesus was alone in a way that we cannot even imagine! There He took the weight of the world's sin on Himself. He died that we might live - the Just for the unjust. And He did it for you and He did it for me!

If you have never acknowledged your need of a Saviour, could I ask you to examine your heart. Look unto Jesus - after all, He was looking out for you!

And if you feel totally alone at times, Jesus totally understands!

For those who truly know Him, He is a friend that sticks closer than a brother!

Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look for Christ, and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in. (C. S. Lewis)

Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. (Isaiah 25:42)

 

Until next month (DV)…

Are you SURE that you have your place booked in Heaven? Read this if you're not!