Good Friday
It’s a bit of a paradox, isn’t it? We call the day the Sinless Son of God was mocked, beaten, and nailed to a Roman cross "Good." If you were standing there two thousand years ago, watching the sky turn black and hearing the cries of a dying Man, "good" is probably the last word you’d use. It looked like a tragedy. It looked like a defeat of the highest order.
But as the old preachers used to say: "It’s Friday... but Sunday’s a-comin’!"
In the early church, this day was often referred to as simply "Holy Friday" or “Sorrowful Friday." It wasn’t until much later in church history that the name "Good Friday" became the standard.
Some historians suggest it evolved from "God’s Friday," but the theological truth remains: it is "Good" because of the good work that was finished there. Church history shows us that the martyrs and the reformers didn’t look at the cross merely as a funeral; they looked at it as a rescue mission. They understood that without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin. They saw the cross as the altar where the Great High Priest offered Himself to satisfy the requirements of a Holy God. I like the term “Good Friday” because it’s Biblical.
Why Was God "Pleased"?
When we turn to Colossians 1:19-20, we find a statement that cements the truth that Friday was indeed “good”:
"For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell. and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross."
We must be careful here. This does not mean the Father is a cosmic tyrant who takes "pleasure" in pain or finds joy in the physical agony of His Son in some cruel way. Our God is sovereign, and He is holy. To understand why He was pleased, we have to look at the reconciliation being birthed in that moment.
The Fullness of Deity: The "fullness" mentioned here confirms that Jesus wasn't just a martyr or a good man caught in a bad situation. He was—and is—fully God. God was pleased because the Person on that cross was the only One with the "weight" and the worth to balance the scales of divine justice. Only an infinite Sacrifice could pay an infinite debt.
The Wonder of Reconciliation: Verse 20 tells us He made "peace through the blood of His cross." This is the heart of the matter. Reconciliation means taking two parties who were at odds—who were in a state of active hostility—and bringing them into a state of perfect harmony.
Because of our sin, we were "alienated and enemies in our minds" (v. 21). We didn't just miss the mark; we were headed in the opposite direction of God. We couldn't bridge the gap, no matter how many good works we stacked up or how many "sorries" we whispered. But through the "blood of His cross," the bridge was built from the side of Heaven down to us. God was pleased because the barrier was finally being torn down. He was pleased because His love and His justice met perfectly in the middle, and His holiness was satisfied while His mercy was extended.
Your Response
As you go about your day, don't let the "Good" in Friday become a cliché or just another day off work.
The blood of the cross is not a distant theological concept; it is the currency of your freedom. It was the highest price ever paid for the lowest people. When Jesus cried out, "It is finished," the debt was settled, the war was over, and the way home was opened.
Friday is good because, for the first time since Eden, the Father looked at the work of the Son and saw a way to bring His wandering children back home. He did not look at the suffering and rejoice in the pain; He looked at the suffering and rejoiced in the result. He was pleased with the sacrifice so that He might forever be pleased with you.
He took the "sorrowful" Friday and made it "Good" so that we could take our "guilty" lives and find them "grace-filled." This is the wonder of the Gospel: that the worst thing man could do was used by God to accomplish the best thing He could give. And what could we call the day that pleased the Father and gave unfettered fellowship with Him? Well, I’d call that really good.