Natural Abandonment

Matthew 26:56 records the words of Jesus just following His betrayal and arrest. “‘But this is all happening to fulfill the words of the prophets as recorded in the scriptures.’ At that point, all the disciples deserted Him and fled.”

Such cowardly abandonment from the very ones who’d just earlier claimed to be His closest friends... the ones who would “never desert” Him even after His prediction that they would.

And we can consider the many reasons these men left hastily. It could’ve been because of weariness and exhaustion. It might’ve been because they had been told not to resist evil (5:39), and this was indeed as evil as they had encountered. They may have simply fallen victim to involuntary influence. One left, they all left. And so often is the way of those following the world. Our greatest temptation often lies within our compulsory cooperation with misguided motivation from those unworthy of our devotion.

But I wonder too, about something else this morning. I wonder if ingratitude had a lot to do with their desertion. The disciples had grown ungrateful for their experience with the Savior.

Because the expression of gratitude is indebtedness. It’s obligation to the giver. Gratitude is when the receiver has a deep sense of deliverance and maintains a severe liability on behalf of the giver. And here there appears to be undeveloped gratitude in the hearts of Christ’s students.

And so I ask today: Lord may I never loose my sense of wonder at what You’re doing, and may I always remain grateful to You for all things and in all things!

We will naturally abandon that which we cannot feel genuine appreciation for.