What’s “good” about Good Friday? To the casual observer it seems odd. The adjective “good” hardly seems fitting to describe a day full of injustice, beatings, whippings, abuse, scorn, and the torture of crucifixion.

On Good Friday, Christians around the world remember Jesus’ brutal death on a Roman cross. Our familiarity with this event makes it easy to forget its horror. In the ancient world, crucifixion was the “equivalent, all in one, of the hangman’s noose, the electric chair, the thumbscrew, and the rack.”[1] Crucifixion was a shameful, humiliating, and painful way to die. Rome reserved it for the worst criminals as a deterrent to crime. The slow agony of the cross was so extreme that it was considered inappropriate to mention in polite civil society.

And yet, every year we remember this event. And we call it “good”.

What’s good about Good Friday?

Good Friday was Jesus’ darkest day. On it, he performed no miracles. Neither did he experience any visible assistance or relief from God.[2] Japanese author, Shusaku Endo, writes, “The most striking feature in the text of the passion narrative is the way it dares, without hesitation, to spotlight in front and center stage the feeble and helpless figure of Jesus.”[3]

Jesus’ ministry – which held such promise – abruptly came to a tragic and miserable end. He had devoted his entire life to God. And now, his reward was betrayal, abandonment, rejection, humiliation, torture.

What’s good about Good Friday?

In spite of its negative qualities, there are good reasons why Christians throughout the centuries have remembered the cruel cross with adoration, worship, and gratitude.

On the cross, Jesus bears the full weight of human sin. He experiences the complete spectrum of human evil, the full extent of the consequences of the Fall – betrayal, rejection, loneliness, abandonment, injustice, cruelty, intolerance, religious and political oppression, anger, abuse, and scorn (among others). The entire expression of human sin comes to a head at the cross as Jesus fully identifies with humanity’s plight. Catholic author, Herbert McCabe, puts it like this:

In the crucifixion of Jesus it is finally manifested that the maladjustment of man amounts to a rejection of God's love. The sin of the world, if you like, comes to a head in the crucifixion, shows itself fully for what it is. And, of course, in coming to a head it is simultaneously conquered.[4]

Sin is, once and for all, completely embraced, absorbed, and conquered. Through the cross, Jesus makes a way for reconciliation with God. The Lamb of God takes away the sin of the world! Our sins can no longer separate us from God, for the evil powers of sin and death have been conquered.

The cross not only reveals the weight of human sin; it also displays the unfathomable depths of God’s love for the world. The consistent testimony of the New Testament is that the cruel cross is the place where God’s love is most completely revealed.

• “In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (1 John 4:10)
• “God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
• “I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Gal. 2:20)

At the cross, God in Christ says to us, “I love you so much! Can’t you see? You can betray me, reject me, abuse me, scorn me, torture me, pin me like an insect – and I still love you! Why do you fear me? Why do you turn away? What more can I do to make it plain to you? What greater gift can I offer than the sacrifice of myself for you?”

At the cross, we see the ultimate power of God is not found in fiery demonstrations, huge spectacles, or the ferocious wielding of mind-boggling power. Instead, we see that the ultimate power of God is love – the self-giving love of God in Christ that conquers sin, death, and evil, and makes new creation possible.

Good Friday is “good” because sin is fully dealt with by love beyond belief! The suffering love of Christ on the cross is for us! God gives his life for ours!

Hidden in the carnage and cruelty of the cross is God’s greatest gift to the world. It is the most powerful event in human history – reversing the curse and bringing restoration to all. Who would ever expect that the “hinge of history” – the end of death and the beginning of life – would take place on trash-heap on a torture device by a betrayed, rejected, and abandoned Messiah crushed by nationalism, religious extremism, and oppressive political powers? In The Crucified God, theologian Jurgen Moltmann says it well:

On the cross, God is non-God. Here is the triumph of death, the enemy, the nonchurch, the lawless state, the blasphemer, the soldiers. Here Satan triumphs over God. Our faith begins at the point where atheists suppose that it must be at an end. Our faith begins with the bleakness and power which is the night of the cross, abandonment, temptation and doubt about everything that exists!

The glory of Good Friday is hidden. Good Friday is only “good” to those who have eyes to see and ears to hear. In other words, to those who look upon the cruel cross with childlike faith – for only faith can look upon a torture device and see glory. The presence of God in Christ brings light into the darkness and transforms the suffering of sin into salvation.

And, if God can bring new creation from a cross, God can bring new life into our circumstances, no matter how dark or dismal.

© Richard J. Vincent, 2006