Good Friday. It’s the day when Jesus hung on the cross, suffering and alone, and cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46)
I can’t imagine.
You know that song, How Deep the Father’s Love for Us? There’s a line in there that always undoes me, one that kicks off the second verse:
How great the pain of searing loss, The Father turns his face away…
The Father turns his face away. As I said, I can’t imagine.
Incredibly, though, it is the very agony of abandonment that Christ faced that throws wide the door for us to draw near to God. There is no pain or betrayal that he does not understand or hasn’t experienced. And our sin, no matter how ugly or frightening, is never bigger than his obedience.
Hebrews 4:15-16 reminds us of all of these things, and more. Let’s make it our Good Friday prayer, knowing that God will never again turn his face away.
Lord Jesus, thank you that you understand our weaknesses and that you faced all the same testings we do, yet you did not sin. Remind us, particularly when we feel rejected or forsaken, or when we struggle under the weight of our own inadequacy and failure, that we can come boldly to the throne of our gracious God, where we will receive mercy and find grace to help us when we need it most. (Hebrews 4:15-16, NLT)
(Click here to for the Phillips, Craig, and Dean version of How Deep the Father’s Love for Us, written by Stuart Townend.)
