And they all forsook him, and fled. — Mark 14:50.

Down through the ages all the simple acts of steadfast devotion, of obedience in difficulty, of loving service, have been taken by Me as an atonement for the loneliness My humanity suffered by that desertion.

Yet I, who had realized to the full the longing of the Father to save, and His rejection by men, the misunderstanding of His mind and purpose, how could I think that I should not know that desertion too?

Learn, My children, from these words two lessons. Learn first that I know what loneliness, desertion, and solitude mean. Learn that every act of yours of faithfulness is a comfort to My Heart. Learn too that it was to those deserters I gave the task of bringing My Message to mankind. To those deserters, those fearful ones, I gave My Power to heal, to raise to life.

Earth’s successes are not the ones I use for the great work of My Kingdom. “They all forsook Him and fled.” Learn My tender understanding and pardon of human frailty. Not until man has failed has he learnt true humility. And it is only the humble who can inherit the earth.

Then said Jesus, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34