Why is it Good?

Growing up I never really celebrated any part of the resurrection other than Easter Sunday.  My parents would have hidden Easter baskets for us to find, and we would do that as soon as we awoke.  We sometimes have a special breakfast, and then we would head to church.  After church we would head to my grandmother’s house for a big family dinner.  It wasn’t until college that I realized that some people celebrated Christ’s resurrection much differently.  Many people I went to school with celebrated much more than just one day.  In fact, some people were observing lent and other such traditions that brought the resurrection to the forefront of their minds for over a month.  The first question I had, upon learning of these traditions, was, “Why do they call it GOOD Friday?  Why is it Good?

Traditionally, the “Passion Week” is the term given for the week between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday.  “Good Friday” is the term for the Friday before Easter Sunday.  While I don’t usually observe lent, I do see the value in remembering and studying the various days in the Passion Week.  It gives us a chance to take an in-depth look at the Gospel itself.  Good Friday was necessary for our salvation.  It was good for us that part of God’s plan included Christ dying on the cross.  Without his death and resurrection, there is no salvation!  John 3:14-18 tells us, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”

As you consider what Christ went through, not only on the cross, but in the events leading up to that point, it gives you a somber realization of the weight of your sin.  Jesus had to endure betrayal, false accusations, hatred, and tourture.  These were part of the penalty he faced as he bore the sin of his people.  He was punished for sins he never committed but willingly paid for.  All of this was necessary for our salvation.  “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  (Romans 6:23)  God could not simply ignore our sin; the price had to be paid.  Jesus went to the cross to pay that price.  Being fully man, Jesus was an acceptable sacrifice in a way that the animals never could be.  He completely fulfilled the law’s sacrifice requirements.    Being fully God, Jesus’s sacrifice was eternal.  He paid it all.  He could take it all, and there was never too much sin for him to bear.  There is nothing left for me to do.  It is finished.  Salvation is accomplished.  

It is good to read through the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) on a regular basis.  Looking at the life and teachings of Christ is more than just an example to follow or a checklist.  We can more fully grasp the depth of our sin and the greatness of God when we consider all that Christ did: how he humbled himself to become human, how he lived a perfect life fulfilling the law and resisted temptation, how he willingly submitted himself to tourtue and death, and how he defeated sin and death.  We can rejoice in his resurrection only because of the Friday before when he chose to die.  We do not mourn a murder.  We gaze in awe at the love displayed by our Savior who willingly laid down his life for us.   

I would encourage you to take some time today to consider the work of Christ.  “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:5-11)  It is a Good Friday!