Good Friday comments

The drama this morning has tried to portray the overwhelming sense of loss Jesus’ disciples must have experienced on Good Friday. “He’s gone. He’s really gone” they said to themselves. “How are we going to cope? Where are we going to go from here?” They felt alone, abandoned, and afraid.

And in a far greater way, that is what Jesus experienced on the cross. As he hung there dying in excruciating pain, something else was happening that was far worse than even his physical suffering. It was the sense of abandonment he felt in his spirit when he became the sin-bearer and his fellowship with God the Father was severed.

At one point, Jesus cried out in agony “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” and the word forsaken means “to be left alone; to be abandoned”. Jesus asked “Why? Why am I alone? Why am I abandoned?”

Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever felt that God was a million miles away? That he had forgotten about you? That he had abandoned you?

The major characters of Easter felt that way on Good Friday. Jesus felt it. His disciples felt it.

And yet in those awful events at Calvary, not only was God NOT absent, He was doing the most important work he ever did on our behalf. We were never more on God’s mind than on Good Friday, as His only son hung dying on that cross. And Jesus was never more in the center of God’s will than when he cried the cry of the forsaken.

What does this tell us about God? It tells us that…

• Although at times he may be hidden from us, He is always there with us

• Although we may feel he has forgotten about us, He is always thinking of us

• Although we may conclude that our situation is hopeless, God is even then working on our behalf to give us hope and a future.

At the end of his agony on the cross, Jesus, by faith, was still able to say, “Into thy hands I commend my spirit”. He knew that God the Father still loved him.

On Good Friday night, the disciples were completely discouraged and defeated. Little did they realize that the greatest thing that was ever to happen to them was about to occur. It was Friday, but Sunday was coming.