Introduction

What is Good Friday and why can we call Good Friday “good” when it’s such a dark and bleak event commemorating every day of suffering and death for Jesus?
Good Friday, the Friday before Easter, is the Christian religious holiday to commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus and His death at Calvary. It’s also called Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday, and Black Friday.

It is said that Jesus was crucified on good friday

For Christians, Good Friday could be a crucial day of the year because it celebrates what we believe to be the foremost momentous weekend within the history of the planet. Ever since Jesus died and had risen, Christians proclaimed that the cross and resurrection of Jesus were the decisive turning point for all creation.
Paul considered this to be “of first importance”. Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and was raised to life on the third day, by what God had promised right along within the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3).
On Christian holy day, we remember the day Jesus willingly suffered and died by crucifixion because of the ultimate sacrifice for our sins (1 John 1:10).
It’s followed by Easter, the wonderful celebration of the day when Jesus had risen from the dead, heralding his victory over sin and death and pointing ahead to a future resurrection for all people who are united to Him by faith (Romans 6:5).

What does “Good” Friday mean?

Still, why is the day of Jesus’ death called “Good Friday” rather than being called “Bad Friday” or something similar? Some Christian traditions do take this approach like in German, for example, the day is named Karfreitag, or “Sorrowful Friday.”
In English, however, the origin of the term “Good” is debated; some people believe that it was developed from an older name, “God’s Friday.”
No matter how it originated, the name “Christian holy day” is entirely appropriate because the suffering and death of Jesus, as terrible as it was, marked the dramatic culmination of God’s attempt to save his people from their sins.
For the nice news of the gospel to possess meaning for us, we first must understand the bad news of our condition as sinful people under condemnation.
The great news of deliverance only is smart once we see how we are enslaved. In our way of claiming, this can be that it’s importance to grasp and distinguish between law and gospel in Scripture.
We want the law first to point out to us how hopeless our condition is; then the gospel of Jesus’ grace comes and brings us relief and salvation.

The wrath of God against sin had to be poured out on Jesus, the right sacrificial substitute, so as for forgiveness and salvation to be poured on nations.

In the same way, Good Friday became “good” because as terrible as the day was, it was destined to happen to us so that we could enjoy Easter. The wrath of God against sin had to be poured out on Jesus, the right sacrificial substitute, so as for forgiveness and salvation to be poured on nations. Without experiencing the suffering and sorrow that happened at the time of the crucifixion, God couldn’t have become both “just and also the justifier” of those who trust in Jesus (Romans 3:26). Paradoxically, the day that was perceived to be the best triumph of evil was the death blow in God’s gloriously good commitment to redeem the planet from bondage.
The cross is where we see the converging of great suffering and God’s forgiveness. Psalms 85:10 sings of it every day when “righteousness and peace” will “kiss one another.”
The cross of Jesus is where that occurred, where God’s demands, his righteousness, coincided along with his mercy.
We receive divine forgiveness, mercy, and peace because Jesus willingly took our divine punishment, the results of God’s righteousness against sin.
“For the thrill set before him” (Hebrews 12:2), Jesus endured the cross on Good Friday, knowing it led to his resurrection, our salvation, and therefore the beginning of God’s reign of righteousness and peace.
Good Friday marks the time when the wrath of the Almighty met mercy at the cross. That’s why Good Friday is so dark and then Good.

How is a Good Friday celebrated?

Different ways of honouring the day have evolved, and plenty of traditions and popular devotions still are practised today.
In the Middle Ages, Francis of Assisi popularised a symbolic pilgrimage if you couldn’t make one to Jerusalem, referred to as Stations, or Way, of the Cross, says Morrill.
The devotion includes crosses spaced at intervals (both indoors and out) alongside art like paintings or sculptures depicting pivotal scenes from Jesus’s life.
People stop to hope, meditate, and browse or hear Biblical passages at each station. It’s most ordinarily prayed during Lent and particularly on Christian holy days.
Passion plays, which dramatise the ultimate days of Jesus’s life, also started within the Middle Ages.
Since the first play was held in Oberammergau, Germany, it has been performed every ten years and dates back to around 1634.

Attending a service that supported the seven last words has become a ritual

Others are held annually in various places across the country like the city of Texas; Southington, Connecticut and Eureka Springs, Arkansas.
Some faithful visit seven different churches on Good Friday, spending an instant of prayer at each. Others attended a service that supported the seven last words (or direct quotes) of Jesus with readings of Bible passages, a sermon, prayers and hymns.
Fasting and attending religious services are a part of the commemoration of several Christian holy days. As an example, for Roman Catholics, the service on Good Friday is the middle part of a three-day-long liturgy, or official rites called the Triduum.
Anglican, Orthodox, and lots of Protestant faiths also hold special services on Christian holy day to recollect the suffering of Jesus in preparation for the celebration of the resurrection on Easter Day.