What’s So Good About Good Friday?

Good Friday is a great day. It is the day when we have a public holiday to celebrate the saving death of our Lord Jesus Christ.

People who don’t know of this salvation find the English name “Good Friday” strange. Its history is derived from the 13th century where the word ‘good’ meant ‘holy’. So it was ‘Holy Friday’ but as the word ‘good’ changed its meaning, Christians saw no reason to change the name. If anything the name became more appropriate to describe the rationale for the holiday. For there’s no better day than the one when our saviour died for our sins. In his death God’s love was demonstrated, Jesus was glorified, God’s just anger against us was turned aside, our sin was paid for, we were redeemed, Satan and his works were defeated – just to mention a few things that happened that day. Any day that is set aside to celebrate the saving death of our Lord deserves at least the title “Good”.

As people move away from the Christian understanding of the death of Jesus, their celebrations become distorted. For the religious, this day ceases to be a celebration of his saving death as they try to connect to God by their religious observances. For the irreligious, this day becomes like any other public holiday; time off to enjoy themselves.

To read more, click here.