Christian tradition calls the Friday before Easter "Good Friday." The gospel writers make no such identification. Luke, for example, says that...
Luke 23:54 It was [the] Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.
That common designation would apply to any Friday. Why does the church assign special, positive significance to this Friday? What's Good about Good Friday?
- On that day almost two thousand years ago, God's people were subject to Rome and could not govern themselves.
- The High Priest was a political appointee and not from the lineage God had chosen.
- Three men were executed that day and, while two of them deserved their punishment, one clearly did not.
He was in the prime of life, a successful and popular servant of God who modeled the pious and peaceful existence to which he called others. Nevertheless, jealousy and fear compelled religious leaders to conspire against him.
- After one of his own followers betrayed him, they seized him, gave him a mockery of a trial, and turned him over to Pilate, the local representative of their oppressor.
- When Pilate could see no reason to hold him, they pressured the Roman governor to release a convicted thief and murderer rather than the innocent man and then incited a mob to cry for his crucifixion.
- There was no appeal, no last-minute pardon, and in the horrified presence of family and friends, the man suffered a prolonged and excruciating death.
Such a travesty of justice is certainly not good. So, why do Christians call this Good Friday?
Even given what we know of the man—that he was God incarnate—does not mitigate the horror of this day. In some ways, it only makes matters worse. During his entire life on earth, he had enjoyed uninterrupted fellowship with his Father in heaven, but on the cross that union came to a sudden and painful end as he cried out: "Eli, Eli, lama sabachtani?" (Aramaic; Matt 27:46; Mark 15:34). Then he
died—God the Son died! This was very bad, and God the Father responded with prophetic portents of doom. Luke records that...
Matthew states:Luke 23:44b ...darkness came over the whole land... 45a for the sun stopped shining.
All three Synoptic gospels say that "the curtain of the temple was torn in two" like the garment of a mourner (Matt 28:51a; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45b), as if God was indicating His grief and dismay over the death of His son. Such displays of divine displeasure are certainly not good. So, why do people call this Good Friday? ...They call it Good Friday because it demonstrates God's ability to use the bad things that happen, the evil intentions others have, for a good end.
There is an example of this in the Book of Genesis. Joseph's brothers were jealous of the favorable treatment he received from their father Jacob, so they plotted to get rid of him. They threw Joseph in a pit, initially planning to kill him, but decided to sell him into slavery instead, a fitting turn of events for one who had always enjoyed such privilege. The Midianite traders who bought Joseph then sold him in Egypt where, in an unusual turn of events, he attained a position in the government second only to Pharaoh. When a famine in the region forced Jacob and his family to look for food in Egypt, Joseph was able to help them survive. His brothers were concerned that Joseph might seek revenge for their earlier mistreatment of him, but Joseph allays their fears and explains to them something
about God.
Gen 50:20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.
God has the ability to use the bad things that happen for a good end.
The result, no matter how good, did not alter the basic nature of what happened to Joseph. The bad things were still bad.
- His brother's malicious intentions toward him were just as malicious.
- What he experienced was just as unpleasant: slavery, slander, imprisonment.
The abuses Joseph endured were still bad, but God, in His sovereignty and grace, turned them so the outcome was different from what anyone would have expected. That which would normally have worked to Joseph's and Israel's ultimate harm, God transformed to their ultimate good.
Scripture contains other examples of "a beneficent divine plan at work [despite] calamity and confusion [such as events in the lives of] Daniel, Esther, Ruth" (Hamilton 1995:707). Paul notes this principle in his letter to the Romans.
Rom 8:28 [NAS] ...God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to [His] purpose.
How, then, does God bring good from the many bad events on the day of Jesus' crucifixion? ...The abuses Jesus endured were still bad, but God, in His sovereignty and grace, turned them so the outcome was different from what anyone would have expected. God used that tragedy, that calamity, to accomplish something of eternal significance. The "good" in Good Friday consists of what Jesus' death accomplished for us. It satisfied two of God's requirements, something we could not have done ourselves. First...
- Jesus' death satisfied God's justice.
God is just and cannot let sin go unpunished. He has determined that the penalty of sin is death, not merely physical death—the separation of the soul from the body—but spiritual death—the eternal separation of an individual from God. Because we have all sinned, we are all subject to this penalty, and the justice of God demands payment. In His mercy, however, God accepted Jesus' death in our place, because he alone was sinless. As Peter writes...
1 Pet 3:18 Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.
Jesus' death satisfied God's justice. Second...
- Jesus' death satisfied God's holiness.
God is holy, and His response to sin is wrath, not merely against the sin but against the sinner. As Paul states,
Eph 5:6b God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient.
Jesus' death appeased God's wrath—so that He is no longer angry with us—and it enabled us to have a proper relationship with Him. As Paul states again...
Rom 5:10a ...when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son....
Jesus' death satisfied God's holiness.
However bad the day of Jesus' death appears, we must keep in mind that he approached it willingly, knowing what was in store for him. In fact, it is the very reason for the incarnation: He came to die. Jesus himself said,
Mark 10:45 ...the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
The crucifixion is the reason for the incarnation.
So, What's Good about Good Friday? God took what was by all indications a tragic, mean-spirited, and pointless event, and He accomplished something of far-reaching and eternal benefit. The good of Good Friday is that Jesus died for us that we might live with God. It was the "Preparation Day" for our salvation.
For the Bibliography and Endnotes see the pdf here.
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Jim Skaggs