Don't Leave Us, Lord

April 3, 2026

Wow, a lot has happened in the last 3 years with Jesus and His disciples! They have watched him heal blind and crippled people, cast demons out of victims, and feed five thousand with only five loaves of bread and two fish and still had food left over. He has controlled the weather, told multiple parables (about His kingdom, human responses, and the future), spoken boldly to the religious leaders, and escaped crowds who wanted to kill Him. 

Jesus has talked about His eternal kingdom granted by God. He goes off by Himself often to pray and will make no move outside of His Father’s will. The disciples are learning to trust Him and His motives and realize that nothing should surprise them.

The disciples follow His direction to prepare the Passover meal. They don’t realize that this will be the first communion and their last meal with Him as a man.  Matthew 26:26-27 states:

 “While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, ‘Take and eat; this is my body.’” 

Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the[a] covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

Jesus just told the disciples that one of them will betray Him and that all of them will run away when he says, “This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written: ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.” (Matthew 26:31-32)

Peter can not accept this prophecy, but Jesus responds, “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times” (Matthew 26:34).

Peter declares, “ ‘Even If I have to die with you, I will never disown you.’ And all of the other disciples said the same” (Matthew 26:35). 

Although the disciples have listened to Jesus repeatedly prepare them for His upcoming demise, they can’t comprehend it. You may have watched a loved one be chronically ill, yet their moment of death is still shocking! How can a person be with you one moment and gone the next? This is too deep a pain to process in a few moments. For some people, they will need the rest of their lifetimes to contemplate and accept the loss.

God doesn’t let us get stagnant. The inevitable must occur, and Jesus moves this painful story forward as His disciples accompany Him to the Garden of Gethsemane to sit while He prays. We’re told in Matthew 26:37-38  that He took Peter, James, and John “along with Him, and… said to them, ‘My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.’” Even though He is so grieved that He sweats to the point of bleeding, His friends keep falling asleep. 

The fateful moment arrives and Jesus is arrested after Judas betrays Him with a kiss. Peter tries to protect his friend by cutting off the ear of a servant of the high priest. Jesus heals the man’s ear and chastises the multitudes that it is ridiculous but necessary to fulfill scriptures that so many people come out with swords and treat Him as a criminal. Matthew ends this scene by telling us in verse 56, “Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.” And, my heart sinks for I know that I probably would have reacted the same way. 

It gets even more shameful for Peter. He is trying to stay in a close vicinity to Jesus during His false and illegal trials through the long night. But, his fear gets the better of Him the third time that he denies knowing Jesus. “He began to call down curses, and he swore to them, ‘I don’t know the man!’ Immediately a rooster crowed. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: ‘Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.’ And he went outside and wept bitterly.” (Matthew 26:74-75).

How do three years of intimate friendship allow this? Of course it was sad for Jesus, but His unconditional love and infinite wisdom already knew this dark moment was coming and had forgiven His friend. We’ve all denied Jesus sometime in our lives. Aren’t you thankful for this story to remind us of Jesus’ unmoveable love? If Peter had done this to someone online today, he would be blocked and cancelled. But, Jesus uses this to show His love that overcomes all obstacles. It gives us hope to know that our worst thoughts and actions can’t stop our Redeemer from loving us. 

We must continue through this painful journey. Jesus was on the cross for three excruciating hours after being falsely accused, spit on, whipped to the point of being unrecognizable, and carrying the 300 pound cross up the hill of Calvary. In Matthew 27: 46 we are told that, “About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli,[a] lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”). He had never done anything wrong, but He took on our sin at that moment to perform the greatest single person rescue mission for all of mankind. His Father could not tolerate that sin He carried and, thus, had to look away. The Father and Son were separated because of our sin. The beautiful thing is that Jesus would have done it if you were the only person on the planet. 

We know that John was at the crucifixion site, but we don’t know about the rest of the disciples. I assume they were watching from the outskirts of the scene. Maybe they were hiding but had friends who were there for Jesus’ final human moments. I am positive that the tragic news traveled quickly.

I don’t know what you are experiencing at this time. Maybe you are dealing with the enemy’s attacks, consequences of your decisions, or are just tired from plugging on and trying to move forward. Lately, I have been battling unpleasant situations and emotions. God has been gracious to me by giving me small amounts of information at a time. I spend the rest of the day processing it before the next day brings more bad news to manage. This has resulted in me stress baking, gardening, and reading. Fortunately, this is my Easter vacation, so I am given the luxury of lingering in bed to read, talk with God, and write cards. Also, I am blessed with extra time with friends. I asked God why I always long for that during stressful seasons. He said it’s because I want to know that I have a core group of support since I didn’t as a youth. This shouldn’t be necessary because Jesus is all I need. But, alas, I am a human who falters and longs for tangible proof that I will not be alone no matter what happens. My husband is always a faithful and witty encourager. But, there is also strength in spending time with those of my same gender. As I hear myself talk with precious sisters in the Lord, I can analyze the challenges and put them into a better perspective. Until everything is fully mulled over, I feel like my brain is stuck in a rut, and I can’t move forward. I find it fascinating that this comes during Holy week. This is always a bittersweet week contemplating how my sin required Jesus’ deep unconditional love and devotion to be painfully revealed on the cross. I know Jesus isn’t dwelling on this but is joyfully waiting for my arrival in Heaven when the time is right.

Jesus loved His disciples during His crucifixion and death, yet He couldn’t be there to comfort them. All of them had to struggle to get through this first Good Friday. 

What would you be thinking if you were one of His closest friends? I imagine they felt like the Israelites who couldn’t understand why Yahweh had Moses lead them out of slavery in Egypt so they could wander in the wilderness for 40 years. Rabbi, why did you call us from our families and jobs for three years and teach us your truths that contradict our former religion just to leave us and not make our lives or the political scene any better? This is too painful, Jesus. We don’t know if we will survive without you. Help! Don’t Leave us, Lord!