The Goodness of Good Friday

Every year, the Church seems to go into an extremely pious mode on this day, Good Friday. We seem to go into this mode where we all feel so sorry for Jesus, our sweet Jesus, who is all good, but was cruelly and unjustly tortured, beaten, mocked, and finally killed in the most painful and shameful way possible; the cross. For some of us, we see little reason to celebrate. And yet, Good Friday is still called Good Friday. Why is it even Good? Is there any reason to celebrate?


The liturgy for Good Friday does seem to suggest a somber mode. The service begins with the Altar being bare. There are no decorations, the tabernacle is emptied, the cross and the various icons of saints are covered. The priests come in and prostrate themselves before the altar, while the rest of us kneel, and all this signifies that everything on this day has been given up to God. 

However, when we come to the reading of the passion narrative, we'd notice that the Church specifically chooses the passion from the Gospel of John every year for Good Friday, whereas on Palm Sunday, it rotates between Matthew, Mark and Luke from year to year. And in the Gospel of John, we find that Jesus is in control of the whole situation. 

In the Gospel of John, we don’t have Judas coming to kiss Jesus to give him away to the soldiers. Instead, Jesus is the one who came forward to give himself up by asking who they are looking for. And when they say they’re looking for him, he says "I AM", and they all fall back! And Jesus tells them to let the others go if it is him that they're after. 

We also don’t have Jesus yelling “My God, My God, why have you abandoned me?”. Instead, when Jesus knew that everything had been completed, he says “I Thirst” in order to fulfil the scriptures. He is thirsting for our love. He is thirsting for our hearts. 

Jesus also does not cry out in a loud voice, or shout “Father into your hands I commend my spirit” as he gives up his spirit. Instead, as he's about to give up his spirit, Jesus says “It is Accomplished”, and quietly bows in submission to the father's will as he gives up his spirit. His mission to pay the price for our sins is accomplished. His mission to give the world the one message of true love is accomplished.



Every year on Good Friday, the Church seems go into this pious mode where we all feel so sorry for Jesus, who was tortured, beaten, and killed. While it’s true that he suffered, and that we are called to be in solidarity with him, he did not have to go through it. Jesus allowed himself to do so. He was in control of it. He could have stopped it for himself if he had wanted to, but he chose to go on. And he did so to rescue us from sin and death. He did so to give us the message of true, pure and sacrificial love. 

And that is why Good Friday is called Good Friday. It is good because of the greatest love that was offered on the cross. It is good because of the mission to rescue us from slavery and sin. It is good because Jesus sacrificed himself for our sake out of his own free will. And that's why we gather as Church to celebrate the Good Friday liturgy, even though it may seem solemn, because of the goodness of his love for us. Even the fast that we observe today is part of a celebration, the great celebration of the Easter Triddum. Let us claim that wonderful love, even in the midst of COVID-19. 

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