Why Call It “Good” Friday

Apr 2

An Easter Reflection

Life is full of language oddities:

Why do we park in a driveway, but drive on a parkway?
Why does your nose run and your feet smell?
Why is it called a building if it’s already been built?
Why isn’t 11 pronounced onety-one?

Easter week gives us another one: why do we call the day Jesus died “good”?

What is good about Good Friday? Jesus was literally God himself, in the flesh…and we killed him. Doesn’t that make it the worst Friday ever?

Growing up I knew the gist of the Easter story: that Jesus was God’s Son, he lived as a human, he died on a cross, and rose from the dead on the third day. And every year we celebrate…with fuzzy bunnies, hidden eggs, and pastel colors!

I knew the details and believed it happened. (Duh! That was like Christianity 101)

But it didn’t seem to have much to do with living the Christian life. Instead, what I heard emphasized was following the rules, not doing anything bad, and trying to “be a good person”.

But if our role is just to “be good,” what does Jesus’ death have to do with anything?

GOOD PERSON
If you ask any person on the street, “What does it take to get to Heaven?”, the majority of the answers you’ll hear will be some version of being a good person. Good morals, good intentions, and if the good outweighs the bad…you get in.

That sounds nice, but how good is good enough? What’s the standard? Who defines “good”? Most of the time, we do that by pointing to nice things we’ve done, our good intentions, and how we haven’t murdered anyone. So couldn’t God just tell us to “be good”, “try your best”, and then punish the really bad people? I mean that’s what a good, all-powerful God should do right?

But if we want God to punish bad people and stop evil, do we want Him to stop it all or just a little bit? How bad is bad enough? Where do you stop, the murder level, the lying level, or the thinking level?

If we want Him to stop evil, we have to be consistent, we can't just pick and choose. In God’s perfect justice system, sin has to be paid for (Hebrews 9:22) and the “wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). And we all know the unflattering truth, “If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves” (1 John 1:8). That means you and I deserve death.

When we see God’s standard, it’s blatantly clear that simply being “a good person” isn’t safe ground.

Now, we’re ready for the good news of the gospel!

GOOD NEWS
But thanks be to God that Jesus stepped in to save us from our sin! Christ died for us!

That’s why Jesus died: He was the perfect sacrifice. Since He had done nothing wrong, He wasn’t due the punishment of death. But He took on that punishment in our place. Only an eternal, infinite God could take on an eternal punishment for everyone. God is love, and there’s nothing more loving you can do than willingly dying to save someone else (John 15:13).

The clues have been there the whole time: The angel says of Mary, “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). Jesus himself said it plainly, “I have come to give my life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). It’s the refrain of the rest of the New Testament, “Christ died for our sins” (1 Corinthians 15:3). Jesus was “delivered up for our trespasses” (Romans 4:25).

So it’s not about being good enough. You and I can never be good enough. If you think you can, then you’re trusting in yourself—not in Jesus. On the contrary, the salvation Jesus is offering is completely FREE (Romans 3:22-25) and it’s all GRACE! (Ephesians 2:8–9). A relationship with God is available for everyone through Jesus. Once and for all, perfectly and fully, we have been reconciled to God.

Like the name “Good Friday”, the grace of God’s gospel is completely counter-intuitive.

GOOD FRIDAY
Good Friday is ‘good’ because:
…Jesus willingly died so that I may live.
…Jesus was condemned that I might be pardoned.
…Jesus was abandoned that I might be accepted.
…Jesus wore the crown of thorns that I might wear the crown of life.
…Jesus purchased eternal redemption through his eternal sacrifice to pay my eternal debt

“Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us…Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.” Romans 5:1-2

THIS EASTER
Across the country, millions of people will attend worship services this Easter. For many, Easter may be the first and only visit to church all year.

They may be coming out of tradition, to be with family, or for a host of other reasons. But my prayer is that God softens their heart to respond to his invitation of eternal life.

I’m praying they will have a “Wait – what?” moment in church this week.

I’m praying this will be the year they hear the counter-intuitive, grace-filled call to repentance and faith through Christ alone.

I’m praying that, in sermons across America, the scandalous flood of God’s grace will be preached boldly.

Here’s hoping that this Easter, thousands of people will hear that salvation isn’t because we’ve been good for God, but because God’s been extravagantly good to us.

PS: People are more likely to attend a church service on Easter or Christmas than at any other time of the year. In my personal experience of inviting friends, family, or neighbors, they are always honored that I’d take the time to personally invite them…and most of the time they say yes!

So be encouraged this year to invite someone to come and hear the good news of the gospel!

Details are here at southland.church/easter