Why Is Good Friday Called Good Friday?

Summary

What is Good Friday?Good Friday is an annual commemoration on the Friday before Easter Sunday to mark the day when Jesus Christ was crucified.Having been arrested and sentenced to death by Pontius Pilate, the governor of the Roman province of Judaea, Christ was flogged, had a crown of thorns placed on his head – to ridicule his title as ‘king of the Jews’ – and made to carry the cross to the place of crucifixion outside the walls of Jerusalem.Here he was nailed to the cross and crucified. Before his death after hours of torment, he cried out, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” (“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”) Afterwards, he was removed from the cross, wrapped in linen and placed in a tomb, with a large stone rolled across to block the entrance.This series of events is often depicted in churches with images or statues. These 14 events, from Christ’s sentence to death to being laid in the tomb, are called the Stations of the Cross.Why is Good Friday called Good Friday?Although it might seem incongruous to refer to the day of Christ’s crucifixion as ‘good’, the meaning of the name Good Friday can be understood as historically meaning ‘holy’. The use of ‘good’ denotes that this is a day of religious observance, and since this Friday is one of the most important in Christianity it is also one of the holiest.The earliest-known use of “goude friday” comes from c1300, according to the Oxford English Dictionary.It is not a day of celebration, like Easter Sunday, but a solemn time of reflection. In Germany, the day is known as Karfreitag (Sorrowful Friday).In Christianity, however, the meaning of ‘good’ has been reinterpreted so that Good Friday can indeed be held as a good day. It was when Christ made his ultimate sacrifice for all people, dying for their sins so that they can achieve forgiveness and find eternal peace in Heaven.The sorrow of Good Friday is also short-lived, with Christ’s victory over death on Easter Sunday. The day of the crucifixion can therefore s...