Good Friday

© 2013 Mahieu Summer. Licensed under CC-BY.
The Friday of Holy Week is known as Good Friday.  Why "Good" Friday?  The worst crime ever committed by humanity on a Friday denoted as "Good."  That seems wrong.  "Evil" or "Bad" Friday seems more appropriate.  Some Christian traditions do this: in German, the day is called Karfreitag, or “Sorrowful Friday.” In English the origin of the term “Good” is debated: some believe it developed from an older name, “God’s Friday.” Regardless of the origin, the name Good Friday is appropriate because the suffering and death of Jesus, as terrible as it was, marked the dramatic culmination of God’s plan to save his people from their sins.
Good Friday is a crucial day in the history of the world.  Jesus' death and resurrection is the turning point for all creation.  Paul considered it to be “of first importance” that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and was raised to life on the third day, all by what God had promised all along in the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3).
On Good Friday we remember the day Jesus willingly suffered and died by crucifixion as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins (1 John 1:10). The horror of His death is told all about us with crosses; we often proclaim it with jewelry we wear.  The ugliness of Good Friday is soon followed by the glorious celebration of the resurrection; Easter.
For the good news of the gospel to have meaning for us, we first have to understand the sad news of our horrid condition as sinful people under condemnation. The excellent story of deliverance only makes sense once we see how we are enslaved. It is essential to understand and distinguish between law and gospel in Scripture. We need the law first to show us how hopeless our condition is; then the gospel of Jesus’ grace comes and brings us relief and salvation.
Good Friday is “good” because as terrible as that day was, it had to happen for us to receive the joy of Easter. The wrath of God against sin had to be poured out on Jesus, the perfect sacrificial substitute, for forgiveness and salvation to be poured out to the nations. Without that awful day of suffering, sorrow, and shed blood at the cross, God could not be both “just and the justifier” of those who trust in Jesus (Romans 3:26). The day that seemed to be the most significant triumph of evil was actually the deathblow in God’s gloriously good plan to redeem the world from bondage.
Good Friday marked the day when wrath and mercy met at the cross. That’s why Good Friday is so dark and so Good.  Do you find it good?

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