I love Good Friday, as I say on my blog every year. It’s an amazing opportunity to reflect on Jesus’ death on the cross to give us assurance of eternal life with Him. The aspect of the cross I’m most thankful for this year is the “no” God the Father gave to a request Jesus made shortly before His death. It reminds me of God’s “Father heart” and makes me thankful for the times in my own life when God says no, because, even when it’s hard to accept, I know it’s out of love.
The incident with Jesus that I’m talking about is in the Gospels where He’s praying in the Garden of Gethsemane shortly before being falsely arrested and eventually crucified. Jesus knew the pain and agony that He was to endure on the cross and was in great distress. Sweat even poured down His face like drops of blood. He fell on this face and prayed to God the Father:
“My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” (Matthew 26:39b)
As Jesus is God in human flesh, in that moment He knew that only a sinless God could save humans from sin, but, in His current body as a man, He also knew the pain He was to face and separation from the Father that He’d also experience while on the cross. He wondered, however hypothetically, if there was any other way that the plan of salvation could be accomplished if He didn’t suffer death.
But, as we know, God the Father’s answer to that request was no. In the same breath, Jesus also prayed the Father’s will, which was that He die. In other words, Jesus’ ultimate wish was for God’s purpose to be accomplished, but His secondary request was for another way. But because Jesus died, you and I can be saved from God’s wrath by accepting His free gift of salvation and experience a personal, eternal and intimate relationship with God that would not have been possible otherwise. This is The Gospel. In essence, God’s no to Jesus’ request not to die became our best yes.
God’s no to Jesus – so out of love for us – also makes me thankful for the “Father heart” of God that at times says no in my life, even when I can’t always understand why. There are times when we don’t get our way, and we can be tempted to be discontent with God because of that. But when we see Him not only as all-knowing, but also as our Heavenly Father who knows us best and gives us what is best, we can learn to react less adversely to not getting what we think we should have.
We can come to understand God’s Father heart in a limited way through things our parents may have said no to us on out of love and, if you have kids, through things you say no to your kids on because you care. And in those situations, parents don’t even know the full picture, while our Heavenly Father does. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares The Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”
Do you believe that, even in a painful no? It’s worth it to, because it means that God always has something greater, although it may not be packaged how we think. I’ve long loved this quote from Elisabeth Elliot that I think really breaks down how we should see the “nos” of our compassionate Heavenly Father:
“Let’s not forget that some of God’s greatest mercies are His refusals. He says no so that He may, in some way we cannot imagine, say yes. All His ways with us are merciful. His meaning is always love.”
That’s profound – a no is just another opportunity for a yes – and a God-sized one! As with Jesus going to the cross, there may be a pain-filled no in the midst of the yes, but after, we will see His glory in it, and His glory is astounding. That’s what we get with Easter – Jesus didn’t stay dead, He rose again, conquering sin and death. He’s alive, and through His death, we can experience new, eternal life!
So Lord, thank you that, to save me, You had to say no, out of love. Thank you also, Jesus, that love was Your aim in praying the Father’s will and dying for me. Because You love me so much, I can’t help but love You, and pray Your will. I love You I love You I love You! Thank you for the cross, my Friend. Through it, you gave me my biggest yes. Amen.
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