What’s so good about GOOD Friday?
First, why do they call it "good" Friday anyway? Years ago, Billy Graham answered this question in his syndicated newspaper column in this way: "Why is it called “Good Friday”? Because by His death, Jesus became the final and complete sacrifice for our sins. We cannot erase our guilt, nor can we overcome our sins by our good deeds. But Christ did what we could never do for ourselves, by dying for us on that first Good Friday."
However, my mind goes to the fact that our definition of "good" would exclude all of the horror of that day from the perspective of Jesus, His followers and especially the Father in Heaven. How could it be good if it involved betrayal, torture and death in a most ignominious fashion? And therein lies the disconnect between our definition of "good" and God's definition. For us "good" is always an upside with great benefits. But a careful reading of scripture reveals that "good" does not always imply immediate good. We often say of exercise, medications and proper diet that these things are "good" for us but I can testify after my workout with my trainer this afternoon that though it was good for me and in the long run it will produce good, I did not particularly enjoy the pain of exercise and the soreness that will inevitably follow in the next several days.
Many among us totally misquote Romans 8:28 as though everything that comes our way must be "good". The proper grammatical rendering of that verse should read, "In everything God is at work for our good" and I might add, "For His glory." The "all things" that are at work may initially not seem very pleasant but in the longer term they will produce good if we will continue to trust God and His sovereign providence.
That brings us back to the "good" in Good Friday. It was for our good and ultimately for His glory that God sent His only Son to die on that garbage heap outside Jerusalem on that Friday afternoon. It was very good for me, and you, that Jesus was willing to die in a manner that no one thought "good" at the time.
Which leads me to my second thought for this day. Why was it necessary for Jesus to die a suffering ignominious death on the cross.? It was a death that by law no Roman citizen could be forced to suffer. Passover Lambs and other sacrifices at the temple died quickly with a slit throat and exsanguination. Why could Jesus have not simply been assassinated by one of his enemies and that would satisfy the need for our Redemption from sin? It is simply this. The completion of his humbling or humiliation was part of the plan all along according to the prophecy of Isaiah 53.
“He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:3–6, NIV84)