Read: 2 Corinthians 4:8-9   We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

When Jesus carried his cross to Calvary, it must have been with a heavy heart.

What was difficult to carry was the disappointment He felt — with His own family and close friends, the holy city of Jerusalem which had rejected Him; with the religious leaders who had engineered His execution, and with a world that was blind to its Saviour.

It was an old disappointment — the disappointment of Creator God who saw the wickedness of the creatures He had created. “The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart” (Genesis 6:5-6, ESV). God’s heart was broken with great disappointment at the unfaithful response of His creatures.

He died for those who failed Him. He died for foe and friend alike.

On the road to the cross, that same disappointment filled God’s heart — that same grief and pain. This time, God did something amazing; He died for His ungrateful and unfaithfully wicked creatures. Jesus may have died of a broken heart, carrying the sins of the whole world and all its disappointments, but that did not change His love for His creation. Even while on the cross, even while alone, He prayed for the forgiveness of those who had deeply disappointed Him and pierced His heart. He died for those who failed Him. He died for foe and friend alike.

Perhaps some of you reading this may be in the grip of some disappointment. Who among us is really free from disappointments? Life throws many setbacks at us — in the family, at work, with friends, with ourselves, in church, with life.

Don’t be tempted to think you are alone in this. Above all, know that in Jesus you have the Saviour who knows all about your disappointments, for He carried a much heavier burden than yours.

He died for those who failed Him.

While the unbelieving world and the wicked devil threw a huge pile of disappointments on Jesus, He refused to allow them to displace His central concern — which was to obey His Father. When Jesus prayed “not my will but yours be done” (Luke 22:42), He was very focused on one thing — to obey His Father’s will and to finish His work. Beaten and bleeding, dying and gasping, His heart sought to please the Father, regardless of the disappointments.

If your life is filled with disappointments, you can do two things. First, turn to Jesus who faced more disappointments than any of us. Second, like Him, never lose your passion to do God’s will and to please Him.

Our disappointments help to point to Jesus. In our disappointments we find a new appointment with God — at the cross. We will discover that Jesus brings hope in the worst situations — how far worse can it be than a lonely, humiliating death on a Roman cross?

… that did not change His love for His creation.

In remaining faithful to His Father, Jesus accomplished what no one could. He paid the penalty for our sins and changed the course of human history. One of the disciples who saw Him die was able to write about the future: “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:4). Jesus opened a new door to a new future. The empty tomb of Jesus was evidence of its reality.

The two disciples who walked to Emmaus that Easter day, walked with the heaviness of great disappointment. They had seen the worst and their hopes were dashed. They talked about Jesus in the past tense: “we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel” (Luke 24:21, emphasis added).

The show was over (so it seemed) and their dreams were broken by the cruel realities of a terminally sick society. But Jesus, the One who carried all our disappointments on the cross, joined them on their journey and brought them new hope, a hope like a new flame that rose from the ashes of human failure and disappointment.

In their disappointment they had an appointment with the Risen Christ and their lives were changed forever.

Jesus opened a new door to a new future.

It is this Easter hope that walks through the pain and disappointment of the cross (arising from the shed blood of Jesus that brings us salvation and eternal life) that gripped the early Christians, including Paul. Amid the pain and suffering of human life and Christian ministry, and living through many disappointments, Paul could see the grace of God and the eternal purposes of God.

As one saved by the living Christ, Paul could testify: “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9). Because of Jesus our Saviour, we need not lose heart for “our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all” (2 Corinthians 4:17) as we keep our eyes fixed on Him.

Easter always follows Good Friday. God has the final word. Whether we face disappointment or not, Jesus is our Saviour and Lord.

Our only hope is in Him, for He died for us, and rose victoriously from death. He has to one day put an end to all the disappointments we find along the way.

 

Consider this:
What is the connection between disappointments and the cross? How do disappointments become appointments with God?

 

Excerpted and adapted from Apprenticed to Jesus by Robert Solomon. © 2014 by Robert Solomon. Used by permission of Armour Publishing. All rights reserved.