Pupils at school, when learning about Easter, almost always ask the question, “Why is it called ‘Good Friday’ when it’s the day Jesus died? What’s good about that?”
English is one of the few languages that calls this day ‘Good’ and apparently in Middle English, the word ‘good’ had the sense of ‘holy’, which is what some other languages call the day (for example, in French, it’s ‘Vendredi Saint’ – Holy Friday.) In German, it’s called ‘Karfreitag’, with ‘Kar’ having the meaning of ‘crying out’ or ‘lamenting’ – again, given the circumstances of the agony of the Crucifixion, this seems a reasonable name to give to the day when we remember the death of Jesus.
Yet I’m very glad that the day is called ‘Good Friday’, because it reminds us that victory can come out of tragedy and that what we see isn’t usually the whole story. What’s good about the day is that Jesus died not because of the whims of men or because of injustice or cruelty (though these may well have been factors), but because it was part of God’s great plan of salvation. Because of His death, we can know forgiveness and peace with God. Our sins were taken by Him and He took the punishment that should have been ours. He became sin for us. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.” (2 Cor 5:17-19)
Hebrews tells us that for the joy set before Him, Jesus endured the cross. (Heb 12:2) Though the day was one of great pain, sorrow, lament and agony for Jesus, He looked beyond that to know that His sacrifice would bring about redemption. As Isaiah prophesied, “After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.” (Is 53:11)
Good Friday is remembered by Christians each year as the day when God’s plan of salvation was finally revealed. Though we have to wait until Easter Sunday to understand the full scope of that plan, though the day was one of unimaginable sorrow and grief, we can call it a good day because of the work Christ accomplished on the cross, work that is indeed finished.
Have a good day!