what's good about good friday?

good friday. i've always wondered how it came to be called such. i mean, who coined the term "good friday" anyway?! i doubt that it was anyone who actually witnessed Jesus' crucifixion. because i could not imagine how anybody at that time could ever call that day "good."

imagine this. you are born into a loving family. you are brought up well by your parents. you grow up to be a God-fearing person. you are not wealthy, but you have devoted friends and followers. you earn the respect men and a lot of people look up to you. you spread God's Word to your community. you heal the sick, you give comfort to those who are hurting. you serve your Father and do His will. you spend time with your friends.. allowing them to know more about God and His Kingdom. you break bread with them. you share your secrets with them. you love them unconditionally.

then one day, after dinner, soldiers come to arrest you. you've been set up. you are taken into custody under false charges. your friends are not able to help you. and to make matters worse, it was someone whom you considered your friend.. someone you loved.. who sold you out for 30 pieces of silver. out of all the people in the world, you would be led to your death by someone whom you fully trusted.

if you were Jesus hanging on the cross on that friday some 2000 years ago..

.. fully aware that you have done nothing wrong

.. knowing that you are being tortured to death because of petty politics

.. still stinging from the jeers and taunts of the very same crowd whom you healed

.. betrayed and abandoned by those whom you loved the most

if you were Jesus hanging on the cross.. would you have done as He did?

because if it were me, i know what i would have done. i would have cursed all those who were looking up at me. i would have shouted invectives at all of them - my enemies for plotting against me, the onlookers for being hypocrites and fence-sitters, and yes, even my friends for lacking the courage to stand by me. i would have scanned the crowd for my betrayer. i would have given him my most scathing look and if i had the power, i probably would switch places with him. let him suffer on the cross instead! he deserved it, after all, not i.

thank God that it was Jesus up on that cross on that fateful friday. because i know that if it were me.. or anyone else on this earth, for that matter.. then the world would have been doomed. there would have been no forgiveness.. no salvation.. no hope.

what's "good" about good friday? the fact that our Lord Jesus died for us. all of us. not just His friends. not just those who stood by Him. He died for the pharisees and the tax collectors. He died for the man who pounded the nails into His hands and feet. He died for the crowd who taunted Him and blasphemed His name. He died for the man who betrayed Him. He died for you.. for me.. for all of us who, at different times in our lives, betrayed Him.

the blood of Jesus.. willingly poured out on the cross. it was good. and more than 2000 years after His death and resurrection, it still is. yes, we have so much to be grateful for.. not just on good friday.. but everyday.

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Father, thank You for the gift of Your Son, Jesus Christ. We thank You for His saving blood. We thank You that through His death, we have life. Teach us to live life to the fullest.. becoming more and more like You each day. Amen.