Is Good Friday Really ‘Good’?
By Chuck E. Tate
According to the dictionary, the word oxymoron is defined as a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction. Here are a few examples: jumbo shrimp, seriously funny, Hell’s Angels, deafening silence, freezer burn, bittersweet, false truth, and awfully good. And speaking of good, what about Good Friday?
Is Good Friday really “good”???
Some would say, “It can’t be good because that is the day Jesus died on the cross.” But the reality is, without the death of Christ there would be no resurrection. I like the way pastor and author Joshua Ryan Butler lays it out:
“We often think of Good Friday as defeat and Easter Sunday as victory. But the gospels present Friday as victory and Sunday as vindication.”
Boom.
For Jesus, Friday was the day He followed-through after He prayed this prayer the previous night while sweating drops of blood:
“Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” (Luke 22:42)
Friday was the day Jesus was mocked and spit upon.
Friday was the day Jesus was punched and beaten.
Friday was the day Jesus was whipped beyond recognition.
Friday was the day Jesus had a crown of thorns thrust into His brow.
Friday was the day Jesus was nailed to a cross.
Friday was the day a thief was invited to join Him in paradise.
Friday was the day Jesus said, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
Friday was the day Jesus said, “It is finished.”
Friday was the day that Jesus bowed his head and died.
Friday was the day Jesus was stabbed in His side.
Friday was the day His blood and water flowed.
Friday was the day a soldier declared, “Surely, this was the Son of God.”
Friday was the day an earthquake opened graves.
Friday was the day the veil inside the temple was torn from top to bottom.
Friday was the day our redemption was launched into motion.
Friday was the day prophecies were fulfilled.
Friday was the day God’s will was accomplished.
Friday was the day obedience delivered victory.
Friday was the day humanity was saved.
So, let me ask again? Is Good Friday really good? Unmistakably … unequivocally … positively … YES!
From heartache to hope.
From darkness to light.
From death to life.
Dr. Tony Evans reminds us that when the Son of God hung on the cross on that Friday afternoon:
“Jesus didn't say, ‘I am finished.’ He said, ‘It is finished.’ He was just getting started.”
More than 2,000 years later, what He started is still going … and He can’t be stopped. And the same Spirit that ripped Him from the grave lives inside of you … which means you can’t be stopped.
Get ready! It might be Friday, but Sunday’s coming!
Chuck E. Tate is a pastor, podcaster (Revival Town Podcast), and author of ‘41 Will Come.’