On Good Friday, we witness unanswered prayer. Nailed to a cross and slowly suffocating, the Son cried out to the Father with a chilling question: “My God,” He gasped, “My God, why have You forsaken Me?” And there was no response to the “why”. No dove descending. No booming voice.” Pete Greig, God on Mute
Jesus was sent from heaven to earth to live and die for our sins. That was the Father’s plan all along. Jesus, son of God, would be born in a lowly manger and grow up the child of a mere carpenter. When he came of age, he began teaching and preaching about God and his plan to redeem his people, including of course, that he, the Son of God, would die and be raised again. Jesus would also perform miracles in God’s name. All of this and yet people did not really understand who he was, chose to ignore it, or call him a liar for claiming to be the Messiah.
Jesus had many followers, including his twelve disciples, Jesus’ closest friends. Regularly they were witnesses to his awesome miracles and teachings, and yet still they didn’t fully understand. When Jesus told them that he would need to be killed and then raised again on the third day, his disciple Peter actually got upset with him for saying this (Mark 8:31-33). Mark 16:10 tells us that those who were his followers were mourning and weeping after his death.
These followers of Jesus gave up everything to follow him: families, homes, material possessions. They were devoted to him, to his teachings and to following him physically- telling others about the good news and the coming Messiah. So how did the followers and friends of Jesus process watching their teacher, their friend, die on the cross?
Many were probably at the scene of the cross; watching him suffer and ultimately die. The one they had invested everything in, devoted their lives to, became close to even as a friend and confidant was now gone. Many probably felt lost. Their sense of purpose was gone. The man that they thought was going to save them and become their Messiah was gone.
They met together to mourn this loss. They cried and probably asked each other and God, “Why?” and “What now?”. Maybe they felt angry at God, trying to reason with him, saying, “This wasn’t what was supposed to happen. He was supposed to save us and be our mighty Messiah.”
But what they didn’t realize is that it was never about their idea of what Jesus should be or do. It was God’s plan. His plan has always been to provide a Messiah, to save and redeem.
Jesus revealed God’s plan to them many times, but they were blinded to the whole truth by their idea of what God’s plan should look like, not what it would actually look like.
How many times have we been disappointed by God? How many times have we questioned God’s will and goodness? “God, you promise good to your people, you promise to give us hope and a future, but this can't be good,” or “God, why would you allow this to happen? How could this horrible loss be part of your will?”
Many of our questions to God are the same his followers had at the time of Jesus’ death. We can ask those questions, but eventually, we have to recall the truths we know about God.
God is a good God (Psalm 100:5). He does love his people (Psalm 86:15). He promises to give us hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11), but it doesn’t always look the way we feel it should look.
You see, God can see the big picture. We only see a pinhole of what he sees. He has a plan for his people, his creation. One that is beautiful and filled with his glory, but we might not get to see his vantage point this side of eternity.
Jesus’ followers had to wait three days. Three days of darkness, sorrow, confusion and disappointment. At the end of those three days there was beauty- Jesus was raised from the dead and God’s plan for redemption was revealed, but first they had to sit in the heaviness of their confusion and loss.
God promises that all will be revealed to us, but it may not be until we get to heaven (Luke 12:2). He may ask us to sit in the sorrow, disappointment and confusion for some time. He warns us that this world will give us trouble (John 16:33), but he also promises to be with us (Joshua 1:9). Our creator, our Heavenly Father, who loves us so much that he sent his son to die for us (John 3:16) so that we could be saved from the bondage of sin and live in communion with him, promises to walk with us. He gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit to bring his peace and joy (John 15:11; Romans 15:13), even when it seems impossible. We can come to Him with our sorrow, our confusion, and our disappointment. He promises to comfort us and to give us rest (Matthew 11:28).
The waiting is hard. The loss often feels unbearable. But we are never alone and we will one day see the big, beautiful picture of God’s story. Your disappointments, your losses are not for nothing. They are part of the beautiful story God is writing. Take heart that God is always good, even when we don’t understand it.