Of course, these are rhetorical questions, as he well knows that the answer is, “nowhere.” Jesus said, “Yet I am not alone because the Father is with Me.” He said this to His apostles whose time of abandoning Him was near. The hour when each would be scattered, “and you will leave Me all alone…”
Jesus was well-acquainted with loneliness, yet it never consumed Him because He knew He was never truly alone. He knew the heavenly truth that the Father dwells in our “now”s and our “to be”s. There is no life in our past, for it only exists in eternal record. God does not dwell where there is no life, He dwells in the present and in the future. He dwells in the future because “He goes before you,” and He dwells in the present because He “will be with you.” This deuteronomical promise is for our “now”s and our “to be”s.
Loneliness is not predicated upon proximity, for one can feel loneliness in a crowd. Loneliness springs forth from the inability to relate. Jesus began His long walk to Golgotha as soon as He began His public ministry. As the months and weeks passed, the crowds dwindled. And when it came time to die for the sins of mankind, there was no human on earth who could truly relate, no human who could understand, and Jesus found Himself alone in the crowd. Yet He was not alone because His Father dwelled in His “now” and His “to be.”
Oh Lord, where can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? Nowhere. For You dwell eternally in all my “now”s and my “to be”s.
(Deut 31:7,8) Then Moses called for Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you will go with this people into the land that the LORD swore to their fathers to give them, and you shall give it to them as an inheritance. The LORD Himself goes before you; He will be with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.”
(John 6:64-66) However, there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray Him.) Then Jesus said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to Me unless the Father has granted it to him.” From that time on many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him.
(John 14:16-18) And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot receive Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you do know Him, for He abides with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
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