On some Friday, not quite two thousand years ago, Jesus was crucified. In the time of the Roman empire, crucifixion was a common capital punishment for convicted criminals. In Jesus’ time, his name, as it is written and pronounced in Hebrew, was a fairly common Jewish name, just like Joshua is a fairly common name in the United States today. Yet, you know exactly which Jesus I’m talking about, and exactly which crucifixion I mean. Why?
This Friday has come to be called “Good Friday,” but how can something so tragic and cruel be called good? The Friday in question held nothing but tears and pain. Jesus was completely innocent and yet he was condemned to death without evidence or a proper trial. He was betrayed with a kiss. He was flogged; whipped forty times with a multi pronged whip containing shards of glass and nails that ripped the flesh from his back. He was mocked and spit on by the guards. He carried his cross until he collapsed and a man was called to help him. He was nailed to the cross and left to die by asphyxiation. All but one of his disciples abandoned him at the very end. They ran and hid, and Peter denied three times that he even knew Jesus. The leading priests mocked him, telling Jesus to prove he was who he claimed to be and save himself. Jesus cried out to God asking God to forgive very people who were mocking him, and the very people who were nailing him to the cross. Yet, he felt abandoned even by God, for he cried out “Eloi Eloi lama sabachthani?” or “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34, Matthew 27:46 and Psalm 22:2). Around three in the afternoon he died. He proclaimed, “It is finished!” (Luke 23:46). It was a day of more anguish than I can even comprehend. Physically, Jesus was in excruciating pain, having been tortured beyond recognition. (Isaiah 52:14) Emotionally, socially, and spiritually it was no better. Yet, we call this Friday good.
I too call Good Friday good. Yes, it was a tragic Friday, but it was also very good. It’s good because Jesus didn’t save himself from the cross. He drank from the cup of suffering given to him. (John 18:11) He willingly took the cross, for our sake. (John 10:18). He said, “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13). The one who existed from the beginning took our suffering, he knows our pain, though he did nothing to deserve it. He endured the punishment of sin for us. He traded our death for his life. It’s good because the story didn’t end on Friday. He rose again! He conquered death, he won victory over the powers of hell, forever. As he rose he brought life from death, not just for himself, but for everyone. Good Friday is good because Jesus paid the highest price, to buy us a gift. It’s a gift we could never pay for. It’s freedom and deliverance from the shame we earned. All we have to to, all we can do, is take the gift. So now we no longer have to fear. We are reconciled to God, for Jesus made himself the first among many sons and daughters. (Romans 8). He endured the cross for “the joy set before him,” for he saw our deliverance as worth it (Hebrews 12:2). Good Friday is good because that’s the day God gave everything, to come after us and bring us back to Him, once and for all. (John 3:16).
This is why when I talk about the crucifixion, you know which one I mean. This is also why all over the world there’s a celebration on Easter Sunday. Why the symbol of Christianity is also a symbol of torture. Why the disciples who scattered at Jesus’s death, went to their own deaths proclaiming the resurrection and salvation of Jesus. This is why one of the most tragic Fridays became the good news, or the gospel, still told today, because we got what we didn’t deserve, and we didn’t get what we did.
