Good Friday holds significant importance for Christians, marking the day Jesus Christ was crucified and died at Calvary. The name “Good Friday” might seem paradoxical because it commemorates the suffering and death of Jesus Christ.
How can Christians call it “Good” when their Savior was killed?
The answer lies in Christ’s obedience to His Father’s will in becoming the sacrifice for mankind. Calling it “Good” reflects the belief among Christians that the death of Jesus was a sacrifice for the sins of humanity, offering the promise of reconciliation with God and securing the hope of resurrection.
This sacrificial act is seen as the ultimate demonstration of God’s love for humanity. It’s a day of solemn reflection and gratitude for the sacrifice Jesus made, leading to the celebration of Easter Sunday, which commemorates his resurrection and victory over death.
Come worship with us this coming Friday 29th March at 7pm for a Good Friday service where we will look at the passage in the Bible that tells us about Jesus’s death:
Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.
Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: jesus of nazareth, the king of the jews. Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek. The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.”
Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”
When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.
“Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.”
This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said,
“They divided my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.”
So this is what the soldiers did.
Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.
Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
-John 19: 17-30 (New International Version)