Today is Good Friday, but what makes
this Friday that “good?” Does it make all other Fridays of the year not as
good? As a child this was one of the things I often wondered about. It was
never really explained to me. But as I grew older and my faith deepened, I
realized that my childlike trusting belief
in the truths of the church passed down by those I still hold in high esteem
cannot be false. So, rather than spending much energy in asking “why? “I spent
more time obeying what I was taught. In those days, Good Fridays were days of
silence, sorrow, mourning, penance, fasting and prayer.
Today is the commemoration of the
solemnity of another Good Friday, and the meaning has not changed for me. It
remains the day we remember that our Lord Jesus was betrayed, rejected and
crucified on the cross by those who were threatened by the goodness, holiness
and benevolence of God through Jesus whom they called a trouble maker, a rebel,
and one who incited others to disobey the law on Sabbath days. Yet, if Good
Friday is associated with pain, sorrow and death, why does the church still
call it “good?”
I think today should rightly be called
“good” because it is the sum and summit of our Christian faith. Good Friday is
not an end, but a continuum culminating to the resurrection of Jesus on Easter
Sunday. Perhaps this was the connection I did not understand clearly as a
child. I failed to realize that the crown of thorns was replaced with a scepter
of heavenly diadem which confirmed Jesus as God’s one, true and only begotten
son. This means that by his resurrection, Jesus effectively conquered death
forever and so has fortified us against eternal death. “O death where is your
victory” asked the prophet Isaiah (15:55). In addition to destroying death
forever, Jesus also procured the permanent forgiveness of all our sins. Now he
lives to bring us back to God, which was why he appeared to his disciples after
his resurrection.
Easter has many messages for us, I will
reflect on just two. The first is that all those who believe in the resurrected
Christ now have direct access to him. In John 14:20 Jesus assured his disciples
that he will rise and, when that happens, they will
know that He is in the Father, just as they are in him and He in them. Since
Jesus is in us, I suppose that everything associated with pain, sorrow,
betrayal and rejection and death are extinct forever. This means that our
burdens in life are not ours unless we choose not to open the door for Jesus. “
I am standing at the door and knocking. If anyone listens to my voice and opens
the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he will eat with me”
(Rev. 3:20). Secondly, Jesus was glorified through suffering and so suffering
is part and parcel of our journey today.
As an adult, I no
longer ask what makes Good Friday special because I know that Good Fridays are
not annual events but daily journeys which help me to continue to encounter the
resurrected Christ even in good and bad times. For I know that in all things
God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to
his purpose (Rom 8:28)