Shouldn't it be called Sad Friday?

Good Friday.

It’s the day when we remember and give thanks for what Jesus accomplished on the cross. There was torture and tears, blood and pain, nails and mockery, devils and death, and a sky eerily shrouded in darkness.

In light of all that, a few years ago a child at church asked me, ‘Shouldn’t it be called Sad Friday?’ Good question. That’s when I tried to articulate that Good Friday is good—not because of what happened to Jesus, but because of what happened for us.

It was a fulfilment of the prophecy from the book of Isaiah from over 700 years before Jesus walked the earth: “he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” He did that for you and me. And it is very good news.

Let’s get serious about sin for a moment. According to the Bible, sin is lawlessness (1 John 3:4); it is going against God’s law. Sin is the monster within—a viper, polluting our character, trailing us like a shadow that never fades, clinging to our thoughts, and seeping into the things we do. Think of God’s law, of the teachings of Christ. Embarrassing is too mild a word for our neglect. And most of the time, we’re not even embarrassed.

We are casual toward worship, ready to dismiss God’s Word when we come across something which doesn’t agree with what we already think. We choose comfort over the cross. We would rather be right than neighbourly. We neglect the poor, the hungry, the outcast.

Think of the dishonouring and harsh works, the disregard for creation, the selfishness that seems so innocent but which can be a wrecking ball in our relationships, our quickness to judge and our reluctance to listen.

Shall I go on?

Good Friday is the day Jesus took upon himself the sins of the world, including yours and mine. He took the place on the cross that we deserved, paying the price for our sin (not his), to restore us to peace with God. The word is reconciliation. In 1 Peter 3:18 the apostle said it like this: “Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God…”

According to Colossians 2:15 he also disarmed the demonic rulers and authorities, putting them to open shame. This is a part of the victory he gives to us, his people.

All of this makes me think about the woman who was preparing to get baptized and was being quizzed about the faith. She was asked whether Jesus had any sin. Of course, Jesus was sinless so it was a test. But she still answered “Yes!” “What do you mean?” the pastor asked. She replied: “He had mine.”[1]

Ah…

Theologian Don Carson rightly points out that all of this flows from the loving heart of God. He writes: “he came to pay a debt he did not owe, because we owed a debt we could not pay.” He continues: “The most staggering commission the Father gives to the Son is that he go to the cross to redeem a race of rebels.”[2]

A race of rebels. That’s us. But we’re not only rebels. We’re adopted children. Children worth dying for.

Shouldn’t it be called Sad Friday? Well, Good Friday is good—not because of what happened to Jesus, be because of what happened for us.

“…by his wounds we are healed.”

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[1] As told in: Max Lucado, 3:16—The Numbers of Hope (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2007), 48.

[2] D.A. Carson, Basics for Believers: The Core of Christian Faith and Life (BakerBooks: Grand Rapids, 1996), 51, 47.