By Don Aguiar.
Mumbai: Why do we call Good Friday “good,” when it is such a dark and bleak event commemorating a day of suffering and death for Jesus?
It is a significant day for the Christian community since it commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Judas betrayed Jesus, and Christians believed that Jesus came back three days after being crucified, on the day known as Easter. The word ‘good’ in Good Friday means pious or holy.
Good Friday is celebrated in memory of Christ’s Passion, crucifixion, and death. The most important Good Friday symbol is the crucifix, or cross, which represents the way in which Jesus died.
For Christians, Good Friday is a crucial day of the year because it celebrates what is believed to be the most momentous weekend in the history of the world. Ever since Jesus died and was raised, Christians have proclaimed the cross and resurrection of Jesus to be the decisive turning point for all creation. Apostle 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 in accordance with 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). It is followed by Easter, the glorious celebration of the day Jesus was raised from the dead, heralding his victory over sin and death and pointing ahead to a future resurrection for all who are united to him by faith (Romans 6:5).
Still, why call the day of Jesus’ death “Good Friday” instead of “Bad Friday” or something similar? Some Christian traditions do take this approach: in German, for example, the day is called Karfreitag, or “Sorrowful Friday.” In English, in fact, 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 entirely 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.
In order for the good news of the gospel to have meaning for us, we first have to understand the bad news of our condition as sinful people under condemnation. The good news of deliverance only makes sense once we see how we are enslaved. Another way of saying this is that it is important 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.
In the same way, 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, in order 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). Paradoxically, the day that seemed to be the greatest triumph of evil was actually the deathblow in God’s gloriously good plan to redeem the world from bondage.
This, the calamitous day is celebrated as Good Friday. … That terrible Friday has been called Good Friday because it led to the Resurrection of Jesus and his victory over death and sin and the celebration of Easter, the very pinnacle of Christian celebrations.
The cross is where we see the convergence of great suffering and God’s forgiveness. Psalms 85:10 sings of a day when “righteousness and peace” will “kiss each other.” The cross of Jesus is where that occurred, where God’s demands, his righteousness, coincided with his mercy. We receive divine forgiveness, mercy, and peace because Jesus willingly took our divine punishment, the result of God’s righteousness against sin. “For the joy set before him” (Hebrews 12:2) Jesus endured the cross on Good Friday, knowing it led to his resurrection, our salvation, and the beginning of God’s reign of righteousness and peace.
The Bible says about Good Friday – He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. ‘” “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” “We may say that on the first Good Friday afternoon was completed that great act by which light conquered darkness and goodness conquered sin.
Good Friday marks the day when wrath and mercy met at the cross. That’s why Good Friday is so GOOD.
In ‘Fratelli Tutti’, Pope Francis writes: “The parable of the Good Samaritan is clear and straight forward, yet it also evokes the interior struggles that each of us experience as we gradually come to know ourselves through our relationships with our brothers and sisters. Sooner or later we will all encounter a person who is suffering. Today there are more and more of them. The decision to include or exclude those lying wounded along the roadside can serve as a criterion for judging every economic, political, social and religious project. Each day we have to decide whether to be Good Samaritans or indifferent bystanders” Or passers-by.
While world leaders dialogue and build bridges worldwide, can’t you and I sincerely strive to be Good Samaritans, not indifferent bystanders, not passers-by, as life swiftly passes by, by following the example of Jesus Christ as we move into Good Friday the day when he died on the cross for humanity so that he could save us from our sins?