Good Friday

Good Friday is traditionally understood as the day of Jesus’s crucifixion. Many hold that it may have been Friday, April 3, AD 33. But what is so good about it?

On this day, nearly 2,000 years ago, Jesus drank the cup of God’s wrath willingly so that we may be forgiven for our sins. God’s love for sinners was so great that He gave His only Son so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

At first, these two truths can seem contradictory: God’s wrath and God’s love. But at the cross, they are not opposed. God’s wrath reveals His holiness and justice against sin. God’s love is seen in that He gave His Son to bear that judgment in the place of sinners. The cross is where justice is upheld and mercy is poured out.

The universe and all of creation were made by God with order, purpose, and design. In the natural world, we recognize that just because we do not understand something fully does not mean there is no reason for it. Instead, we search, we study, and we try to better understand what has been made.

And yet when it comes to the things of God, we often question His ways while resisting His Word. We draw our own conclusions rather than humbly seeking to know Him as He has revealed Himself. But Good Friday reminds us that God is not arbitrary. The cross was not random. It was the holy and loving plan of God to save sinners through the sacrifice of His Son.

I once heard it explained this way:

There was a king known for his mercy and grace. He showed love to all who came to him. But he was also perfectly just. He was fair in every matter in his kingdom.

One day he learned that the treasury was short. Someone had been stealing from the crown, and the penalty for such betrayal was severe. He ordered a search, and at last the guards returned with the news: the thief had been found.

It was his daughter.

He loved her. He knew she had desired what belonged to the crown. Even though she could have asked, and though he was not cruel, she had still taken what was not hers.

With the whole kingdom watching, and his daughter laid bare for judgment, the king removed his royal robe and placed himself over her before commanding the punishment to begin.

No illustration is perfect, but it points us to something greater. On Good Friday, God did not set aside justice. He fulfilled it. And in love, He gave His Son for sinners.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Good Friday is good because Jesus stood in the place of the guilty. Good Friday is good because the sinless One was condemned so that the condemned might be forgiven. Good Friday is good because the wrath we deserved was borne by Christ, and the righteousness we could never earn is given by grace through faith.

Here is a possible timeline of how the events of that first Good Friday unfolded, with corresponding Scripture references. The times are approximate.

4:00 to 6:00 a.m.
Jesus is brought before Annas and Caiaphas.
(Matthew 26:57–68; Mark 14:53–65; Luke 22:66–70; John 18:12–28)

6:00 to 8:00 a.m.
Jesus appears before Pilate, is sent to Herod, and then returned to Pilate, where He is sentenced to be crucified.
(Matthew 27:1–26; Mark 15:1–15; Luke 23:1–25; John 18:28–19:16)

8:00 to 8:30 a.m.
Jesus carries His cross toward Golgotha, with Simon of Cyrene helping along the way.
(Matthew 27:27–32; Mark 15:16–22; Luke 23:26–33; John 19:16–17)

9:00 a.m.
Jesus is crucified. Mark says, “It was the third hour” when they crucified Him.
(Matthew 27:35; Mark 15:25; Luke 23:33; John 19:18–22)

9:00 to 9:30 a.m.
The soldiers divide His garments, and Jesus prays for those crucifying Him.
(Matthew 27:35; Mark 15:24; Luke 23:34; John 19:23–24)

9:30 to 11:00 a.m.
Jesus is mocked by the crowds, the rulers, and the soldiers.
(Matthew 27:36–43; Mark 15:29–32; Luke 23:35–38)

11:00 a.m. to Noon
Jesus speaks to the criminals beside Him. To the repentant thief He promises paradise. He also speaks to His mother and to John.
(Matthew 27:38–44; Luke 23:39–43; John 19:25–27)

Noon to 3:00 p.m.
Darkness falls over the land.
(Matthew 27:45; Mark 15:33; Luke 23:44)

Around 3:00 p.m.
Jesus cries out, yields up His spirit, and dies. The temple curtain is torn.
(Matthew 27:46–54; Mark 15:34–39; Luke 23:45–46; John 19:28–30)

Good Friday is not good because it was easy. It is good because Jesus finished what we could never do. It is good because the Lamb of God took away the sin of the world. It is good because on that dark day, the love of God and the justice of God met perfectly at the cross.

So today, do not rush past the weight of it. Sit with it. Read it slowly. Let the darkness of that day remind you of the depth of your sin, and let the Savior’s suffering remind you of the greatness of His love.

Because Friday was dreadful.
But Friday was necessary.
And Friday was good.