What is Good Friday?

 

Good Friday, which is also known as Holy Friday is a Friday
which precedes Easter Sunday. Good Friday is celebrated traditionally as a
remembrance that Lord Jesus died on the cross for our sins. It was considered
holy because the Son of God shed the last drop of His blood to save us from the
pits of hell. On this day, Christians remember the sufferings of Jesus and
crucifixion which He made as to the greatest sacrifice for the sins of the world.
The Good Friday is followed by Easter Sunday or Resurrection Day, the glorious
celebration of the day, which is remembered that Jesus raised from the dead
Jesus on the third day defeating death and pointing towards a future
resurrection for all who are united to Him by faith as (Romans 6:5) says “For
if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be
united with him in a resurrection like his.”

 

What Happened on Good Friday?

The disobedience to the Word of God brought in the wages of sins
into humans as it was injected in everyone through Adam. Someone has to take
away the stains of sin permanently so that we can enjoy the fullness of God
and what He has for us. God the Father had no other choice other than to send
His only Son to die. This could be done only through the sacrifice of sinless
blood. In the Old Testament, people sacrificed birds and animals for their
sins, and that was temporary. Jesus had to step down from the Heavenly realms
into human form to die for us to get away the sins of the world. 

 

 Hebrews 9:22 says “And according to the Law, one may
almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood
there is no forgiveness”. In order to get forgiveness from our sins, God’s
judgment needs to be satisfied, and that demanded the shedding of blood. By
shedding His blood through crucifixion on the cross, Jesus paid the penalty
which we deserved and gave us His righteousness. When we believe in Jesus
Christ as the savior for our salvation, we are into a trade. Through faith, we
trade our sins and receive His grace, life, and righteousness. 

 

Luke 23:44–46:

It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the
whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain
of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice,
“Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this,
he breathed his last.

 

 

Why Is Good Friday Called “Good?”

It is called “Good” because it was good news for all
of us that we are set free from sin through his blood. However, what Jewish and
Roman authorities did to Jesus was not good from our point of view. It was a
divine plan of God, and because of Jesus’ death, we are made right before God
through his blood which is good news for all. 1 Peter 3:18 tells us, “For
Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring
you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit.”

 
Why we need to remember Jesus Sacrifice on Good Friday

 

The death of Jesus was so painful apart from the physical pain
which came through the cross. He also had to go through emotional pain. He was
left out by all the disciples whom He invested His life for more than three
years. He faced every form of humiliation, spitted, beaten, and finally
naked. 

While He was on the cross, every sin of the world was poured
over God’s Son. During which He was separated from His Father. God the Father
turned away His face because it was against the character of God to face sin,
so God withdrew Himself from communication with His Son while Jesus bore the
guilt of the world’s sin. It was an unbearable moment in the life of the Son

 

1 John 5:11-12 says “And the testimony is this, that God
has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has
the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life” God
has given us life through His death, and it is we who need to believe in
Him to have eternal life.

 

Many Christian churches around the world celebrate Good Friday
with a subdued service, in which the death of Jesus and his holy sacrifices are
remembers through solemn hymns, prayers of thanksgiving, a sermon focused on
God’s love and His sufferings, and observance of the Lord’s Supper. No matter
whether believers of Christ opt to celebrate the Good Friday event, that day
has to be on our minds since the death of Christ on the cross— and his
resurrection on the 3rd day (Easter Sunday)—is the paramount event of the
Christian faith.