Good Friday is an essential day in Holy Week. On this day, Christians throughout the world remember the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. You may wonder, why do we call this day Good Friday when the crucifixion does not sound good? Other names for this day are Great and Holy Friday (as the Eastern Orthodox call it), Sorrowful Friday (as German churches call it), and even Black Friday. The word “good” in Good Friday supposedly comes from the older English phrase “God’s Friday.” Whatever the history and semantics surrounding the name “Good Friday,” we must remember why we observe it.
After the Last Supper, Jesus and his disciples went to the Garden of Gethsemane. While there, Jesus was apprehended by Judas and the religious leaders. He was then put on trial by the religious leaders and Pontius Pilate who all decreed that he be crucified. Jesus was then led to be crucified on Calvary. While hanging on the cross, Jesus endured various things including the mocking of the crowds (Matt. 27:39-43; Mark 15:29-32; Luke 23:35) and separation from the Father (Matt. 27:46-47; Mark 15:34; cf. Ps. 22:1) because he bore the sins of humanity (Isa. 53:4-5). Within the six hours he hung on the cross, Jesus forgave the people who crucified him (Luke 23:34), admitted one of the thieves on the cross into Paradise (v. 43), commended his mother Mary to St. John the Apostle (John 19:26-27), relinquished his spirit to the Father (Luke 23:46). After declaring that he accomplished our salvation, Jesus died (Matt. 27:50; Mark 15:37; Luke 23:46; John 19:30).
You may wonder, what does this all mean to us? Why is the death of a man on a cross so significant for us? What’s the big deal about Good Friday? I will say that Good Friday is a big deal for us. Christ’s death is a primary doctrine in the Christian faith (1 Cor. 15:3). His death was the solution for our sins. In the first chapters of Genesis, God created humanity to represent him on the earth and to be in a relationship with him (Gen. 1). God told Adam and Eve to not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2). However, they rebelled against God by listening to the devil’s lies about the tree and brought sin into the world (Gen. 3). God declared that there would be a rivalry between the serpent’s seed and the woman’s seed; he furthermore said, “He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (3:15 ESV). Christ came to defeat Satan and our sins by dying on the cross (Col. 2:15).
St. Paul wrote, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23 ESV). Our sins separate us from God (Isa. 59:1-2). They also result in his wrath upon us (John 3:36) and our death (Rom. 6:23). On Good Friday, not only did Jesus remove our sins (John 1:29), but he also satisfied God’s wrath (Rom. 3:25). At the cross, God expressed his amazing love and brought us back to him (Rom. 5:8-10). There is so much more that happened when Jesus died on the cross. This Good Friday, let’s remember Jesus’ death and how it accomplished our redemption.
Collect (Prayer) of the Day
Almighty God, we beseech you graciously to behold this your family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to bebetrayed and given into the hands of sinners, and to suffer death upon the Cross; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (taken from the Book of Common Prayer, 2019).
Bible Reading
Isaiah 53:5 (ESV)
But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
Photo Credit Unsplash.com
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