I know why it is called "Good"

 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)