EXPRESSIONS OF FAITH
Finding goodness in Good Friday

By Susan Champion

I remember when my two daughters were little, they used to ask me, "Why is it called Good Friday, Mom? How can it be a good day if Jesus died?"

Today my daughters are grown up, but now, as chaplain at St. Andrew's Priory School, I have the opportunity to answer that question for hundreds of new daughters.

Let me consider for them and for all of us why Good Friday is good.

I have to start by considering why this question comes up so frequently. It emerges because the image of Jesus Christ hanging on the cross is shocking. His pain is obvious, and the barbarism of the crucifixion is abhorrent.

It is definitely not a "feel-good" image.

To think of someone having nails pounded through his hands and his feet.

Let's face it. We live in a "feel-good" society.

For those who see Jesus as merely a great human being or a human prophet, who understood God and shared God's teachings with others, Good Friday is not a good day. How could the loss of a great teacher be good? How could such cruel treatment of any human being be good?

So how does this horrible event become good?

It is transformed into goodness for those who believe that Jesus is more than a great human being. It becomes good only for those who believe that Jesus is the son of God and that his death on the cross served a necessary purpose in the salvation of humankind.

Quite simply, Jesus had to die on the cross because of human sin.

Good Friday should make us sad because we know that it is our sin which caused and made necessary Christ's death on the cross.

But, in the midst of our sorrow, we should also feel gratitude and a sense of being loved more than we will ever be capable of loving.

Jesus died on the cross so our sins could be forgiven. He loved us so much that he was willing to do even this, make the ultimate sacrifice, for our sake.

So what is it that makes Good Friday good?

It is good because it can become the source of your salvation.

Jesus is looking down from the cross with sadness in his eyes, not only because he is hurting so much himself, but also because he is hurting for you.

He wants you to tell him you are sorry for your sins, to ask for his forgiveness, and to ask him to be your Lord.

Jesus already made his choice for you when he hung on the cross. Now the choice is yours. It's only when you make that choice that Good Friday will truly become good for you.

Susan Champion is the chaplain at St. Andrew's Priory School.

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