Why Is It Called “Good Friday?”

When I was a kid, I remember people using the phrase “Thank God It’s Friday.” There was a song on the radio and even a movie by the same name. It seemed that everyone was waiting to get to that wonderful day, Friday. Friday would be the last day of work and subsequently the first night of the weekend. A night that would be spent… going to the football game, dancing, dinner, partying, at the movies, or anything you can think of fun. So when I went to church and they said next week is “Good Friday”, I naturally smarted back, “Aren’t they all!”
Not exactly! While most Friday’s are certainly enjoyable, there is one particular Friday that stands alone. This particular Friday is one of the three most important days for Christianity. Yes, Christmas, whatever day that falls on is important as well as Easter Sunday, but let me tell you why Good Friday is so crucial. You see… there would be no Easter morning without Good Friday. Some might think that it was a bad day. After all, Jesus, the Son of God, did go to the cross after being tortured, beaten, and humiliated and died as a common criminal. How can there be any good in that?
That is the day that Jesus went to cross and took all the sins of the world and heaped them upon himself and destroyed them. The fact that Christ died on that day for our salvation makes it “good” for you and I. In that event, Christ’s death cleaned us all from our transgressions. This “good news” is what early Christianity is founded upon. In the crucifixion, Christ, God Himself, made us whole and worthy. He gave His blood so that you and I can have life eternal. We could never have earned our own way to heaven. It took a dramatic and decisive act on the part of God to enable us to be made worthy of life eternal. The power of sin and death had to be destroyed so that we understood that living our earthly lives in obedience and discipleship could be done free from the law. What is the law? Living under the law is a life of wondering constantly if we are loved and accepted and relying on our own actions and often trivial movements to win God’s favor. Christ broke those chains and freed us to live a life of deep, heart-felt, thankful response instead of a shallow existence built upon following rules to the letter. Good Friday is the day we were set free and justified by God.
It reminds me of a story of a small boy who came to our church during a communion service. As the elements were being passed around, the father reminded the boy about his baptism and what the elements of bread and juice meant. The boy came forward to receive the bread and juice. After taking the bread into his mouth and drinking the juice he responded, “that was good’ with loud excitement. Suddenly it hit me that this boy had echoed the appropriate sentiment. Indeed… it is very Good! Find yourself a church and attend this week!