“Thank God it’s a Friday”! Friday generally marks the end of official working days, as we look forward to the weekend break (sabbatical). It is associated with begging. According to the Book of Genesis and the Koran, God created human beings on Friday. Muslims also believe that God is more likely to forgive and bless on Fridays, so they worship on that day.
Good Friday According to Christians, Friday is the day God made good of His promise to redeem mankind from sin; hence the name Good Friday, from which Good Friday is said to have been derived. All human beings, regardless of status, suffer in one form or another from the sin and its consequences. Today, we are scared by the condition of the world, the destruction of human lives, scandals in religious institutions, the breakdown of marriage and family life, the rising cost of living, etc.
We must face the fact that we are powerless to overcome our inadequacies, and there is no way for us to save ourselves from our rebellion against the love and mercy of God. Counselling and medicine are good but fall short of offering lasting solutions. The only solution lies in God, the creator. The entire Bible reveals that Jesus is the only one person, sent by God, who has lived and suffered like us, despite His innocence. Jesus was voluntarily chastened and scourged. On the Cross, He was pierced and crushed. There, He died a brutal and painful death in our place. He endured all this not only for our sins but for our wholeness and healing. It was precisely for this purpose that He possessed a human body.
Sorrow mingled with joy Christians observe Good Friday as a day of sorrow mingled with joy. It is a time to grieve over the sin of man and to meditate and rejoice upon God's merciful love in giving His only Son for the redemption from sin. Good Friday sorrow is called Godly sorrow, because it inspires change and hope and leaves no regret (2 Corinthians 7:10). It contrasts with worldly sorrow. The latter pulls us down, extinguishes hope, and persuades us to give in to further temptation. To pursue salvation and happiness, we must first experience Godly sorrow. Christians appreciate Good Friday as the moment of testing. The first time Adam was tempted to eat from a forbidden tree. His disobedience brought death to all. Jesus, in His perfect holiness, obeyed God and faced a shameful death on His tree (cross). Jesus died naked, thus revealing the ugliness of sin.
Symbol of salvation That suffering and death Jesus willingly entered into makes the cross much more than an instrument of execution; it makes it the perfect symbol of our salvation. The crucifix is the greatest display of God’s love that ever was or ever will be (Romans 5:8). The sacrifice Jesus offered once and for all time is perpetuated in history through the ordained minister at Mass. Every Mass effects God’s merciful love and healing. Jesus came to heal all, the physically and the spiritually sick. But He only heals those who believe in Him, who trust Him, who want to be healed. Christians are expected to be more committed to Jesus than ever before. In Him, their crosses also become healing. Christians are known to endure sickness and other challenges in life because they gaze on the crucifix with hope.
Victory over sin and death Jesus’ healing power on the cross is linked to the Biblical story of the brazen serpent during the Exodus to the Promised Land. The deadly bite of the serpent could be healed only by looking on the brass serpent. The crucifix has a power to heal all those who gaze upon it in faith, because it is not only a horrific and brutal murder, it is, first and foremost, the complete victory over sin and death. It is a fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah 53:5, “By His wounds we are healed”. Gazing upon the Crucifixion of our Lord transforms us as it opens the doors of the Mercy won by this selfless act of love. We are each called to embrace that cross and die with Christ, giving ourselves to others.
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According to Christians, Friday is the day God made good of His promise to redeem mankind from sin; hence the name Good Friday, from which Good Friday is said to have been derived.
