. For those of you who do not know, Good Friday is the Friday before the celebration of Easter (in Christianity); it is the day when Jesus was crucified. With Easter Sunday being the day (3 days later) when he was resurrected ("he rose again from the dead" as we recite in The Apostle's Creed). So, how could the idea of Jesus’ death be considered good? Let’s take a look.
When examining the English language it can be discovered that the word “good” used to have the secondary meaning of “holy”. Also there are a number of cases where the words “God” and “good” became switched around due to their similarity. One example of this that we use all of the time without knowing it, is “Good-bye”, which used to be “God be with you.” So perhaps in early English Good Friday was simply Holy Friday or God’s Friday, pointing to the Godly significance of the day. However, it could have also received the name “Good” because of the fact that Christ’s sacrifice on this day was in fact the “greatest good” that could have ever been done. So in a sense it is a “good day”, as in celebration for Christians, as they are thankful for Christ’s ultimate sacrifice and death. His death led into his resurrection and this should be celebrated again. Therefore, the day is “Good”.
The day of the Crucifixion is not known as Good Friday in other languages. For example, in Germany this day is called Karfreitag which translates into “Mourning Friday”, which is what the disciples did on this day, as they thought all was lost.
Whether it is called “Mourning Friday” or “Good Friday” both have a special meaning for Christians. Mourning Friday could point to the fact that the Christian walk is not easy. While Good Friday can point to the hope that not even a tragedy such as death can overcome God’s grace and love.
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