My dear ones, “Good Friday”, which we Christians also call Holy Friday, is a very special and important day for us and for all mankind. It is like the soul of the whole Christian religion. It comes on the Friday before Easter Sunday (the day of Lord Jesus’ resurrection) and reminds us of the day when our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified by the Romans out of hatred at the request of the Jews.
Perhaps the name “Good Friday” may sound a little strange to a non-Christian – because what can be “good” on the day of someone’s such painful death? But “good” here does not mean being happy or joyful. It means being filled with holiness, justice, salvation and finally the hope that we will get when Christ returns because the death of Lord Jesus achieved something for all of us humans on that day that cannot be described in words.
Good Friday is about the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ. One of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, betrayed Him for a mere greed of 30 coins and had Him arrested, falsely accused, flogged, and finally crucified. Our Lord Jesus suffered greatly physically and emotionally - mocked by the crowds, abandoned by friends, and also felt the silence of His loving Father that day. His final words on the cross, "It is finished," (John 19:30) were not words of defeat. They meant that His work of redeeming mankind was complete. The price of sin had been fully paid. Through His death, the way has now been opened for us humans to return to a relationship with God.
Good Friday began with the early Christian church. From the very beginning, we believers wanted to honor and remember the day our Lord Jesus gave His life. The purpose was never to celebrate the pain, but to recognize the love and purpose behind it and to remember Him according to His command and live a holy life by abandoning sin. Without Good Friday, there would be no Easter Sunday. Without the cross, there would be no resurrection and without the resurrection our work of salvation would not be complete. That is why we Christians celebrate this day as holy and good.
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