Why is Good Friday good?

Christmas is important but Easter is crucial!

Christmas is important.  But Easter is crucial!  We won’t be helped by the world’s approach to these two festivals in realising that!  Christmas decorations, presents, lights, overloaded tables of food, family jamborees, the Queen reminding us she knows who the true King is.  But nothing like that aids us at Easter.  What we make of Easter will depend entirely on ourselves.  We will try and help as a church – a reflective service on Good Friday, a celebration on Easter Sunday – but ultimately the weight we give the week leading up to Easter will depend on us.

To help a little I wanted to write a longer article on Good Friday specifically, and follow that with a little reading pattern I plan to follow for the week leading into Easter.

Why is Good Friday good?

For non-Christians Good Friday is a good day.  It’s a day off work, and a day to relax, spend time with family, and perhaps even have good enough weather to enjoy a stroll or a wrestle in the park. 

For Christians, Good Friday is a great day. It is the day we celebrate the saving death of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Is that odd?  A day when we ‘celebrate’ the slaughter of Jesus!?  The day to recall the massacre of God is called good!?  “Good Friday” at best sounds strange for a day to remember a murder; at worst vile irony. But its history is derived from the 13^th century where the word ‘good’ meant ‘holy’.  As the word ‘good’ changed its meaning from holy to something positive Christians saw no reason to change the name. If anything the name became more appropriate to describe the rationale for the holiday: there’s no better day than the one when Jesus died in our place and for our sins. In his death God’s love was demonstrated, Jesus was glorified, God’s just anger against us was turned aside, our sin was paid for, we were brought back to belong to God, Satan and his works were defeated – just to mention a few things that happened that day. Any day that is set aside to celebrate the saving death of Jesus deserves at least the title “Good”.

Good Friday distorted

As people move away from the biblical understanding of the death of Jesus, their celebrations become distorted. For those of us who have become overly religious this day ceases to be a celebration of Jesus’ saving death as the means of knowing God and becomes a day to try and connect to God by religious observances.  Instead of trusting that Jesus’ death is sufficient to bring us forgiveness, religious people try to gain the benefits of his death by their actions. Now I am all for symbols and rituals and signs and actions that remind us of the true gospel and the glory of Jesus.  But let’s be wary.  Let’s not focus on the ritual reminders and fail to accept the spiritual reality of the day, a focus on Jesus.  From medieval times the risk of such things as the “Veneration of the Cross” has turned the events of history into idolatry.  Those Reformers of the 16^th century, who we gladly stand in the line off, continued to celebrate Good Friday but dispensed with the medieval practices and proclaimed the death of Jesus for our sins as the only way and the only means of our reconciliation with God.

Good Friday forgotten

On the other hand many if not most in our day have not distorted the meaning of Good Friday but simply forgotten it (or never known it in the first place).  In our day many would struggle to know its significance – unless we tell them.  If you know nothing of the death of Jesus then it’s understandable that you would use your free time to pursue whatever made you happy, be it a family meal or a fishing trip, a game of football or an opportunity to get into the garden.  After all it’s a bank holiday!

Christians know that we don’t need a holiday to mark the day our salvation was won. Yet, if society grants us a day in which to celebrate Jesus’ victorious death we should use it to the full. Good Friday is the day when nobody can complain if we proclaim our Lord’s all conquering death. Family, presents, Santa and children may dominate Christmas Day, while chocolate and bunny rabbits are taking over Easter day.  But Good Friday has only buns with the cross on them. This is the day to spend time remembering our Lord’s death, pondering with thankfulness its significance and implications for our lives, educating our children on its great meaning. It’s a day to rescue from works related religion and from empty leisure and lie-ins.  It’s the day to let our friends and neighbours hear what Jesus did when he died. Most people think that Christ’s message is about being nice and kind and good. If they could only find out the wonderful news of sins forgiven, of pardon and rescue and adoption! But how will they find out unless we who know the truth, love it and love them enough, tell them. And what better than the day set aside to celebrate this death?  How will you use it?

Preparing for Easter

There’s nothing special about this reading plan.  I just sat down the other night and spent a few minutes thinking about how I would use the week leading up to Easter; how would I give it weight and significance and preparation for the family and I in the lead up to Easter?  At least in part through reading God’s Word the Bible, so here’s my plan to read.

Monday: Isaiah 52:13-53:12

Tuesday: Isaiah 52:13-53:12 again

Wednesday: John 17

Thursday: Mark 14:1-31; Luke 22:14-23

Good Friday: Matthew 27; John 18 & 19

Saturday: No reading for Jesus, the Word of God has died.  There is only distress and sadness and emptiness.  The Word, Jesus, has gone.

Easter Sunday: Luke 24; John 20 & 21