Good Friday: What it is and why you should come

Good Friday happens the Friday before Easter Sunday and is the day in which the church remembers the Crucifixion of the Son of God.

The Goodness of Good Friday

So why do we call it “good”? Shouldn’t we call it “bad Friday"? Perhaps. But here are four reasons that it is completely appropriate and helpful to call Good Friday Good.

• • Irony. The name of the day reflects the irony of the cross of Christ — that the worst thing to happen in all of history is simultaneously the best thing to happen in all of history; God was murdered and God’s wrath was satisfied.

• • Identification. The whole creation is groaning in pain (Romans 8:22) and Jesus, in taking on flesh, living a sinless life, suffering tremendously, and ultimately dying as our substitute identified with us and all of creation such that we now have a High Priest in Christ who is able to sympathize with all of our pain and weakness (Hebrews 4:15).

• • Imputation. “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Christ absorbed all of the wrath that was due to us and we are now credited with his righteousness by faith (Phil 3:9, Rom 5:18, Romans 4:3); when God looks on us he how sees a blameless Son!

• Inauguration. The historical events of the gospel begin, or inaugurate, the Kingdom of God which will be finally and fully consummated at His return (if that is a confusing concept for you, watch this simple and excellent video). The death of Jesus on the cross plays a key role in the defeat of death and brokenness in this world. John Owen wrote a book in which the title on it’s own teaches us about the effect the cross of Christ had in securing the ultimate redemption of creation: “The Death of Death In the Death of Christ.”

Why should you come to one of our Good Friday services?

Here are four reasons.

• • History. The gospel is a historical reality, not an idea; formally observing days of historical significance reminds us that God is at work within history to redeem his creation. We aren’t Christians because the gospel is helpful, encouraging, or positive; we are Christians because we believe the gospel is true; the death of Christ on a cross in 33AD really happened.

• • Scripture. We will be reading straight out of the Gospel of John (chapters 18 and 19) about the events that took places the hours leading up to and during the death of our Lord. Reading the scriptures in community was how they were meant to be absorbed.

• • Eucharist. Most protestants call it “communion” or “The Lord’s Supper”, but the oldest name for the bread and wine is Eucharist which means thanksgiving. We will take the sacramental elements as a church in a powerful moment of thanksgiving and celebration of the fact that Christ died for our sin and the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2).

• Praise. We will spend time focusing on the sweetness of the work of Christ on our behalf by singing songs together in response to Scripture. In particular, there is one song that will set the theme for our Good Friday services this year: Nothing But the Blood. The chorus goes like this:

1. 1. Oh, precious is the flow

1. 1. That makes me white as snow!

1. 1. No other fount I know

1. Nothing but the blood of Jesus!

It is our hope that we see how precious the blood of Jesus was, is, and evermore shall be this coming Good Friday!

Our Good Friday Services

We would love for you to join us this Friday at 3:00pm, 4:30pm, and 6:00pm. Find more details about location and kids ministry here.