Why Do We Call Today Good?

I was talking with my son Ethan yesterday and told him Good Friday was coming. He got excited and said, “Oh good. Does that mean we get to buy stuff?”

“No, buddy,” I replied. “That’s Black Friday. Good Friday was the day when Jesus was killed on a cross.”

His look said it all. “Oh, so that’s what you consider good, huh? How Medieval of you.”

It seems ironic that we would call the day that our Lord and Savior was condemned, beaten, mocked, spat upon and ultimately murdered “Good.” And yet, in the grand scheme of things, when it comes to our standing with God, the argument could be made that what we celebrate on this day is actually more important than what we celebrate on Sunday. Sunday is simply the proof that what Jesus did on Friday actually meant something – that he accomplished what He’d come to do.

Good Friday is like the wedding ceremony;
Easter Sunday is the reception.

On Good Friday, we remember the greatest act of love in history – the day when Jesus willingly paid the penalty of our sins and rescued us from eternal separation from our Creator. Because Jesus was willing to walk into the jaws of death and use his own body to steal the venom from it, we have the hope that the pain of this broken world (and this current crisis) won’t get the last word. That’s why we call today Good, even though it was incredibly painful for him.

I’ll be honest, it’s painful for me as well. I don’t know about you, but when I read the gospel narratives and I get to Jesus’ crucifixion, I tend to read through it rather quickly; it’s like I’m subconsciously rushing through his suffering on Friday so that I can get to his resurrection on Sunday. However, from an eternal perspective, this is the climax of the entire Bible. From Genesis 3 on, everything has been building to this monumental moment when Jesus would do for us what we couldn’t do for ourselves. And everything that follows throughout scripture, from Acts through Revelation, is viewed in light of what happened on Golgotha that first Good Friday.

So don’t rush past this day. I suspect we need to sit in the discomfort of it more than ever given what we’re currently walking through. Here are a couple ways you could journey through Good Friday with Jesus:

·  Slowly read Mark’s account of Good Friday, imagining yourself there: Mark 15:1-19

·  Meditate on Psalm 22, which is profoundly prophetic regarding what Jesus endured on the cross. Keep in mind that when David wrote this psalm of lament, crucifixion hadn’t even been invented yet.

·  Join me online at 4PM tonight for Lighthouse’s Good Friday communion service. Just go to lighthousecommunity.com to join us. This is a BYOC communion service, so make sure to gather your communion elements beforehand (a piece of bread and a cup of juice or wine).