Good Friday 

   Years ago I didn’t understand why Good Friday was called “Good”.  After all, this is the memorial of the day when Jesus was scourged at the pillar, and then had a crown of thorns forced upon His head.  At the demand of the Jewish leaders, He was sentenced to death and forced to carry His cross through the streets of Jerusalem to Calvary.

   At Calvary He was stripped of His clothes, nailed to the cross and raised up to die a painful, agonizing death.  It wasn’t enough that the religious leaders demanded His crucifixion, they stood at the cross jeering and cajoling Him.  Even at this point they still demanded a sign to prove to them that He was the Messiah.

   I can’t help but wonder at the horror and fear that must have gripped those who had Him condemned when the earth went dark for three hours.  What went through their minds when the earth shook, and the temple veil was torn from top to bottom at the moment Jesus died.  Did they then realize the mistake they had made?   Judging from history and the persecutions the church has endured, it would seem they still didn’t grasp, or simply refused to admit that He was, and is, the Messiah.

   I have come to realize that Good Friday is, in fact good.  Not because of the evil that was done, but because of the tremendous good that resulted.  What happened to Jesus was part of the plan to offer salvation to those who would believe.  He suffered, died, and was buried for our sins, and those of the whole world from the beginning of time until His coming again in glory.

   Good Friday is good because without the passion, cross, and death, there could be no resurrection on Easter morning.  Jesus made proper atonement for sin and overcame death.  He offers the same to us; He will forgive our sins and offer us eternal life in heaven.

   So, yes, Good Friday is a good day.  Jesus Himself would agree.  He said, “There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!” (Luke 12: 50).

   As we gather today to relieve the passion and death of our Lord, let us sorrow for His pain and death.  But let us also remember that from His passion and death came the resurrection.