What's So Good About Good Friday?

Friday, 10th April 2009

When I was a younger Christian, I used to wonder why Good Friday was called such. Should it not be called Bad Friday? After all, it was supposed to be the darkest day in history. An innocent man who knew no sin was being put to death in the cruelist of ways -- crucifixion.

I remember attending church service and recalling the sombre atmostphere, not unlike what one would see at a funeral wake. We were also supposed to wear either black or grey; red was definitely a no-no. Even the liturgical colours worn by the choir and at the pulpit rostrum would be black (for only that one day in the entire year).

Well, it was only recently that I understand what is so good about Good Friday. And there are even Scriptural passages to support this.

If we look at Lev 1-5, we note that there were altogether 5 types of offerings:
(1) Burnt offering
(2) Grain offering
(3) Fellowship offering
(4) Sin offering
(5) Guilt offering

The burnt, sin and guilt offerings were restitutional in nature in that they were offered in the place of a person for his wrongdoing. These offerings could also not be eaten by anyone because the persons sin would have been "transferred" onto the sacrifice.

But the grain and fellowship offerings were acts of worship and thanksgiving. Incence and oil was added to the former so that it gave out a sweet aroma. The latter could be eaten because unlike the burnt, sin and guilt offerings, the purpose of such offerings was not to "transfer" sin onto the sacrifice.

The author of Hebrews tells us that the Old Testament contains types and shadows, but the real substance is Christ. In other words, Christ fulfilled all 5 types of offerings by His single act on the cross. He is our burnt, grain, fellowship, sin and trespass offering.

So while it was a "bad" Friday in that He was beaten, mocked, spat at and finally crucified, it was "good" because He fulfilled all of God's requirements. As a grain offering unto God the Father, He was a sweet-smelling aroma and frangrance that was pleasing to His Father. In fact, Isa 53:10 even tells us "the LORD was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief".

It is also a "good" Friday because a divine exchange took place in history. Jesus took upon Himself our sin so that in exchange, we could take on His robes of righteousness. Jesus took upon Himself our sicknesses so that in exchange, we could walk in divine health and wholeness. Jesus took upon Himself our poverty by being totally naked on the cross, so that in exchange, we can be rich and prosperous. Jesus, the second Adam, sweat drops of blood in the Garden of Gethsamane to reverse the curse that the first Adam brought upon us when He was told by God in another Garden (the Garden of Eden) that by the sweat of his brow, he will eat bread (ie. he had to toil and labour), so that we now just need to rest in His finished work.

I also used to wonder why Paul said in 1 Cor 11:26 that we "proclaim the Lord's death" when we take Holy Communion. Should we not be proclaiming Jesus' resurrection rather than His death? It was only recently after listening to the sermons on Health and Wholeness Through the Holy Communion* that I realised that when we partake of the Lord's Supper, we are declaring to the devil and the kingdom of darkness that because Jesus' body was broken, our do not need to be.

We are telling Satan, "Look here, devil. Jesus paid the price already. Therefore, I do not have to. None of the diseases of Egypt can be put upon me because Jesus took them upon His own body in my place."

* Check out excepts of that sermon series here.

And that my friend, is what is so good about Good Friday. It is God's answer and solution to all of mankind's questions and problems. Amen?