Do you ever wonder why we refer to this day as Good Friday when it is marked by so much suffering and pain?
Jesus is what’s good about Good Friday. It is clear Jesus wasn’t taken by force. He gave himself intentionally. He showed us His love has no limits. It shows us His love is determined to break down all barriers between Him and us.
This is the day that God’s wrath and His mercy met at the cross. Jesus bore the weight of our sin. Yet at the cross, He looked down and said, “Father, forgive them; they know not what they do.” Such limitless love, compassion, and mercy.
What do we do with this kind of love?
We see how people sometimes wonder if God loves them. They are looking for evidence of His love in their own circumstances, but they are looking in the wrong place—Jesus demonstrated His love for you and for me personally on the cross. He gives Himself so we can be spared, He surrendered Himself so we could be released from sin and restored to our Father.
The Apostle Paul knew this. He wrote about it in Galatians 2:20: “I live by faith in the One who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
The love of Jesus is meant to break our heart. We look at the cross and see our sin and the punishment our sin deserved. The cross humbles us and captures us and binds us to Jesus. That is what it is meant to do.
Without Good Friday, there would be no Easter, no rejoicing over our salvation, and no gratitude for the One who laid down His life for us.
Jesus is what is good about Good Friday.