What’s So Good about Good Friday?

The world may wonder why we refer to such a dark, painful, and horrific day as Good Friday. At first glance, calling the day of Christ’s crucifixion “good” may seem contradictory.

Jesus, the Son of God sent to earth, chose to suffer the agonizing death of crucifixion to offer atonement for the sins of every person, wanting no one to perish. He purchased our salvation by enduring the brutal punishment of the cross—punishment for our sins, not His.

Sin is costly and requires payment. By dying for our sins, Jesus became our sacrificial Lamb, the price required for sins to be forgiven and washed away. His sacrifice ended the need for continual temple sacrifices, satisfying the debt once and for all. Through His temporary suffering on earth, He offered us an eternity with Him in heaven instead of the eternal suffering we all deserve. 

We serve a Savior who can personally relate to even the worst level of pain, human suffering, betrayal, and loss that any one of us will ever face. The mockery of the trial He endured, the betrayal of His beloved disciples, the subsequent brutal beatings and torment Christ experienced all finally culminated in His crucifixion. By sharing these painful human experiences, He became the Savior who suffered as we suffer. He intimately knows our pain, our physical and emotional sufferings, and our betrayals. Because of His own path to the cross, He understands our sicknesses and loneliness beyond description. His level of suffering of every kind offers solace to any one of us who suffers. 

Was that dark, painful Friday a “good” Friday? Unquestionably! Thank God for His immeasurable love and His inconceivable plan to save all who will call upon His name and surrender their lives to Him. 

Christ’s sacrifice for the sins of a dying world is everything “good” we could ever need. May this Good Friday remind us all of the “good” God offered and still offers through the gift of His only Son on Calvary’s cross that eternity-shifting day.