Why Good Friday?

Why Good Friday?

When my friends wish me Happy Good Friday!  And they ask me what special today, I reply “No”, this day is not a happy day for us and the reply to what special - We do fasting and not feasting since it’s mourning for us. Yes, it’s mourning since this day we commemorate Jesus Christ's crucifixion. Then, the next question comes up, Why Good Friday? Why is it called good?  Why? Well, even I had this question since childhood, in Malayalam (my mother tongue), it’s called Dhukhah Velli, Dhukhah means sad, in almost all south Indian languages it is the same meaning. And, Velli means Friday, so when translated to English it means Sad Friday! Now, this makes sense, but why Good Friday?

Some sources suggest the day is called “Good” since it is holy, some say its derived from “God’s Friday”, some say Jesus is an Asian (Bethlehem is in Asia), so for us Indians, it is Sad Friday since we commemorate His crucifixion and for the Jews who crucified Him, it’s a “Good Friday”, some preachers say it is “Good” since Jesus was crucified for our sins. Wait, what? Still confused? Yes, nobody got a proper answer to this. Now, I remember a scene from PK movie, where Aamir Khan enters a church while mass is going on to find God and ask about his lost remote control, he was confused and the people inside church too were confused looking at him since he was holding an incense stick (agarbatti) instead of candle and coconut on his hand and when he was about to break it, two people from the church asks him to leave thinking he is drunk (PK)  and tells him  that Jesus was crucified 2000 years ago for your sins, he then replies to them what did I do, I was not even born that time, then, how is it possible? They had no answer; they threw him out of the church. Roger that! What did I do? When did I sin? Why was Jesus crucified 2000 years ago?

Let’s see if we can get an answer from the Bible for this. In the Gospel according to Mathew and Mark, the death of Jesus was during midday 12PM to 3PM; but the whole country was surrounded with darkness and the last words of Jesus – “Eli, Eli, lema sabachathani?” which means “My God, My God, why did you abandon me?” – From this we can see that, there was darkness during midday, which means the sun did not shine, God, the Father, was not happy, Jesus is asking God, why did you abandon me? Even after so much of suffering, God remained silent, there was no answer. Why?  In gospel according to Luke, Jesus cried out in a loud voice,”Father!, In Your hands I place my spirit!” He said and died. Again here, Jesus was talking to God before he died. Now, in gospel according to John, the death of Jesus is described bit different from others, maybe because John was there till the end and he was one of the most loved disciples of Jesus. It is mentioned that Jesus knew that by now everything had been completed; and in order to make the scripture come true, He said, “I am thirsty.”  Now, what does “in order to make the scripture come true” mean? It was God, the Father’s will, till the end Jesus was talking to Him. But, why Jesus had to undergo this suffering? It’s so easy for us to tell its God’s will, but imagine the pain and suffering Jesus had to go through till the end. Why? When the world was filled with sinners, God was angry, he wanted to destroy what he created, but His love did not allow Him to do so. Hence he sacrificed His only son Jesus who did His will accordingly to save this world. The Good son obeyed the Good Father so that we could live in this world.  Hence this Friday is good for us – The Good Friday!