Why Is It "Good" Friday?

Today is GOOD Friday.

Why do we call this day "good"?

What's so good about it? Let's first take a look at the definition of the word good.

good n. ~ moral righteousness, excellent; adj. ~ virtuous, righteous, pure, untainted, unspoiled, reliable, sufficient.

Nearly 2,000 years ago, our Lord and Savior was brutally beaten, his beard was ripped off his face, He was spit on, utterly rejected; a murderer was considered better than Him; Jesus was mocked, stripped naked before the world, nailed to a cross of shame between two thieves, died and was buried.

To give us a better understanding, let's read Psalm 22, which is where King David, by the power of the Holy Spirit, prophesies what our precious Jesus was feeling on this very day nearly 2,000 years ago:


Psalm 22

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,
and by night, but I find no rest.

Yet you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
In you our fathers trusted;
they trusted, and you delivered them.
To you they cried and were rescued;
in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by mankind and despised by the people.
All who see me mock me;
they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;
“He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him;
let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”

Yet you are he who took me from the womb;
you made me trust you at my mother's breasts.
On you was I cast from my birth,
and from my mother's womb you have been my God.
Be not far from me,
for trouble is near,
and there is none to help.

Many bulls encompass me;
strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
they open wide their mouths at me,
like a ravening and roaring lion.

I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
it is melted within my breast;
my strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
you lay me in the dust of death.

For dogs encompass me;
a company of evildoers encircles me;
they have pierced my hands and feet—
I can count all my bones—
they stare and gloat over me;
they divide my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.

But you, O Lord, do not be far off!
O you my help, come quickly to my aid!
Deliver my soul from the sword,
my precious life from the power of the dog!
Save me from the mouth of the lion!
You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen!

I will tell of your name to my brothers;
in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
You who fear the Lord, praise him!
All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him,
and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
For he has not despised or abhorred
the affliction of the afflicted,
and he has not hidden his face from him,
but has heard, when he cried to him.

From you comes my praise in the great congregation;
my vows I will perform before those who fear him.
The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied;
those who seek him shall praise the Lord!
May your hearts live forever!

All the ends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
shall worship before you.
For kingship belongs to the Lord,
and he rules over the nations.

All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship;
before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,
even the one who could not keep himself alive.
Posterity shall serve him;
it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation;
they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn,
that he has done it.
I don't know about you, but this day doesn't sound like a very "good" day. So why do those of us who have repented and trusted our lives to Jesus Christ celebrate calling this day "good"? We do this because on this day, nearly 2,000 years ago, the greatest battle in all creation was won! On this very day, those of us who have sinned and were once enemies of God (which is all of us [Romans 5:12]) were given HOPE.


hope v. ~ to look forward to with desire and reasonable confidence; trust


"For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we are saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience."
~ Romans 8:22-25

This day, in which the Son of God suffered and died, was the day that Jesus defeated the sting of death; crushed the penalty of sin (eternity in Hell) and set the captives free. On this very day, Jesus the Christ, who knew no sin, became sin for us so that we might be the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:20-21).

For those who witnessed the Lamb of God, drinking the full cup of God's wrath, this day seemed to be the worst day ever recorded in history. But then...Sunday came!

Therefore those of us who are in Christ Jesus celebrate this day calling it "Good Friday" because we know that Sunday's a comin' and.....

Christ has risen from the dead!

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