Jesus was arrested. He’d told His disciples it would happen. He’d told them He would be leaving them. He told them He would come back for them. Despite knowing all this, when He was taken captive…they fled in fear. Of course, this didn’t take Jesus by surprise, but it still had to hurt. To be completely abandoned by the ones who claimed to love Him and who promised allegiance to Him? In the face of possible arrest for association with Him, they abandoned Him to save their own skin.

I can’t read this short passage without getting teary-eyed. After seeing all the miracles He’d performed, after living with Him and traveling with Him and eating with Him and fellowshipping with Him, to run away when the going got tough seems so cowardly and selfish. Yet so very human. Do I abandon Jesus by staying silent when others demean Him? Do I choose selfishness when I neglect to perform a kindness in His name? Do I go along with the crowd rather than taking a stand, even when I know the activity doesn’t honor my Savior? There are so many ways to “flee.” May I never be guilty of abandoning my Lord.