What makes Good Friday “good?” It’s a common and seemingly innocuous question that sometimes occurred to me as a child. On the surface, the name seems like a misnomer. One interpretation points us in that direction—it is theorized that the term “Good Friday” originated from Old or Middle English, where the word “good” might have signified holiness and sacredness rather than just approval. Over time, it would then seem, as the word “good” evolved and mostly discarded those meanings, the word “good” might not be as accurate of a term to describe the day as it used to be.
In any case, there doesn’t seem to be anything good (as we would understand it) about the events that happened on this day two thousand years ago—our Lord and Savior was killed, brutally murdered on a cross. But the more that we understand the necessity of Jesus’s death, the more we understand that “Good” Friday is truly good, a major part of the most tragic, the most powerful, and the most humbling event that has ever taken place.
Right before Jesus died, he cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46) After hours of grueling torture, having been left behind by his disciples, he was now being left behind by his Father. And when he died, it was almost as if God Himself was grieving—an earthquake rocked the area and the temple curtain was split in two (Matthew 27:54).
No one can argue the tragedy of what had occurred—as those who were guarding him soon realized (Matthew 27:54) —the Son of God had died. It was an undeniable tragedy, the worst thing that could happen. One of the reasons why Jesus’s disciples abandoned him at the cross was likely that they could not muster the strength to watch the final gasping moments of the person who they had been following for years.
However, as much as the death of Jesus was an undeniable tragedy, it is also the only source of our comfort and security in God’s saving power. In the end, Jesus suffered unspeakable pain—condensed into a few short hours—so that we could be free of it. Without the crucifixion, we could not have the empty tomb.
The promise of the resurrection gives us hope, even as we mourn Jesus’s death. That is what makes Good Friday “good”—despite Jesus’s death on the cross on this day many years ago, we know that he will rise again to declare victory over sin and death.
Penn Epistle 