Why good?

We call it Good Friday. Why good? As far as the original reason is concerned, a definitive
explanation seems lost in the mists of the past. The day has borne the name for
centuries and no-one can be quite sure who bestowed it and why.
Of this at least we can be certain: it is well-named. Good Friday is absolutely the best of
days. Let me tell you why.

On the face of it, the first Good Friday was about as bad a day as it’s possible to
conceive. Imagine crucifying the one only man in all of human history who had done no
wrong! Worse still, imagine executing our loving Creator who had assumed our nature
for no other purpose than to do us good! From the standpoint of human behaviour,
Good Friday is far and away the wickedest of all days.

And yet, still the best. Why? Because from the standpoint of God the crucifixion of Jesus
was no tragedy, an event he would have prevented if he had been able to. It was rather
the culmination of the most amazing of plans. Here is his own explanation of it, given to
us through the Apostle Paul: “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ” (2
Cor.5:19). We might very well call it, World Peace-making Day.

Do note carefully who it is who’s doing the peacemaking: the very God whom we, both
as a race and as individuals, had offended by our sins. Isn’t that great love? The fault for
the disruption of relations between us was one hundred percent ours. Yet God was the
one who effected the reconciliation. And at such enormous personal cost as well. In the
crucifixion of Jesus, it was none other than God himself who was suffering and dying –
taking the place of the guilty and bearing our sin so that we might be freely forgiven and
forever enjoy his friendship.

It is only too possible to be rebuffed when seeking reconciliation with a fellow human
being. That ever happened to you? It will never happen if you seek to be right with God!
Because of the wonders of Good Friday, World Peace-making Day, God only ever gives
one response to the heart-cry of a sinner for a restored relationship with himself: Yes!