Good Friday

Scripture Reading: Mark 15:24

And they crucified him…

In contrast to Mel Gibson’s film “The Passion of the Christ” which graphically pictured the crucifixion of Jesus, the gospel writers speak of it in plain, unadorned, words. They don’t write page after page full of descriptions of the wounds, blood, and gore. Instead, they say things like this verse from Mark’s gospel: And they crucified him.

This simple telling of what happened is not less engaging, but more. It causes us to pause, contemplate, and meditate on those words and all they imply.

THEY crucified him.

They CRUCIFIED him.

They crucified HIM.

It would serve us well if today we would carry that sentence with us and meditate on it throughout today, this Good Friday.

For centuries, Christians have referred to this day as “Good Friday.” The origin of that title is unclear, although many plausible theories have been proposed.

·       One common explanation is that it is a corruption of the German for “God’s Friday,” which is “Gottes Freitag.” The idea is that somewhere along the way people were mispronouncing the German for “God’s Friday” and it sounded like “Good Friday,” and that stuck.

·       Another suggestion is that the word “good” originally meant “holy” and so “Good Friday” originally meant “Holy Friday.”

·       Some Slavic languages have nuances to the term that suggest it could mean “Solemn Friday.”

However it came to be, the origins of the term “Good Friday” are lost to us today. In our modern English language, “good” can have a variety of meanings depending on the context in which it is used. But generally, the word means something beneficial and of high value.

When thought of that way, we can truly say that what happened on Good Friday was good. While the treachery of Judas, the political expediency of Pilate, the lust for power of the Sanhedrin, the mob mentality of the crowds, and the callous brutality of the Roman soldiers are all on display in the events of Good Friday, so too is the love, grace, and mercy of God in Jesus Christ.

When we think about that day in light of its outcomes, the salvation of sinners, and the eventual restoration of all things, we can say, “That was a Good Friday.”

The Best Friday ever.

good friday