Good Friday represents the moment when they also mocked Him, the chief priests, and the scribes and elders, saying: He saved¹ others, but Himself He cannot save! Indeed, He is the King of Israel! Let Him come down from the Cross, and we will believe in Him! He trusted in God; let God directly deliver Him if He will! What happened on Good Friday? In the ninth hour, Jesus cried loudly: ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACTHANI, which means: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
On Good Friday, according to the Bible, God suffered greatly because Jesus, His Son, was subjected to the most terrible torments, and God turned His face away from Him because He could not see Him suffering so much for a world full of sin and wickedness. Also, on this day, Jesus’ feet and hands were nailed for the salvation of humankind. This day is called Good Friday, even though Jesus was crucified, and it symbolizes pain because, through His wounds, we have received salvation, which turns the agony and anguish of the Holy One into our joy.
Good Friday is also the day of the promise of Heaven: Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in Heaven. Therefore the promise made to the thief on the Cross is the concrete promise of Heaven for every Christian who repents and prays with solid faith in his heart.
What does Good Friday represent?
On Good and Great Friday morning, Mass is not celebrated because the Lamb of God Himself indeed is now sacrificed; it is a time of total fasting because the Bridegroom has taken Himself from us. The Imparted Hours again set before us the unutterable lowliness and humility of the Lord, the fear and trembling of the whole fact.
Good Friday, also called Black Friday, represents the Day of the Crucifixion of Jesus and His supreme sacrifice.
On Good Friday happened, the day on which, exhausted by so much torment and ungratefulness, in terrible pain and without any consolation, He finds in Himself the power to give us one last gift before death, making us sons of Heaven. He left us in the care of the Lord, who took care of us and gave us good news.
Was Jesus crucified on Friday or Wednesday?
The Savior’s holy, saving, and fearful Passion is remembered on Good Friday. The Jews did not practice the crucifixion. From Scripture, we learn that Pilate, washing his hands, pronounced sentence after Christ was scourged. The Saviour Christ is sent to the place of crucifixion, bearing His Cross. His dead body could have been thrown into a mass grave. Along with the instruments of execution, it could have been entrusted to anyone who would have had the mercy to bury him. But according to the Holy Gospels, we know that Joseph of Arimathea took the Lord down from the Cross. And buried him with Nicodemus in his tomb in a garden near the crucifixion.
It is an aliturgical day because the Liturgy represents the unbloody sacrifice of Christ in the form of bread and wine, and the two sacrifices cannot be offered on the same day. On the evening of this day, the denial of the Lord’s Supper is celebrated.
Key Verse related to Good Friday
At that moment, the temple curtain was torn from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split, and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the graves after Jesus’ resurrection, went into the holy city, and appeared to many people.
What happened on Good Friday in the Bible?
The last week of Jesus’ life on earth took place in Jerusalem. Several important events marked it: the plot against Him, His weeping for the cleansing of the temple, the last supper, the agony in Gethsemane, the mock trial, the crucifixion, and his resurrection. Never before or since has Jerusalem or whatever city of the world witnessed such a dramatic part of history. Only Jesus and God understood the significance of what was happening.
On Good Friday, Jesus Christ was given as a sacrifice for the world’s sins through crucifixion.
Death entered into creation by separating man from God. Out of love for man, the Son of God became incarnate and willingly accepted death. He took it not out of curiosity but to overcome it. For Christ, death was not inevitable because, being a stranger to sin, He did not carry the seeds of death in Himself even before He was born.
What happened to Jesus between Friday and Sunday?
Why is crucifixion called Good Friday?
The Cross of Christ was a living testimony of divine forgiveness. Jesus asked for no curse or vengeance on the soldiers, priests, and Pharisees who murdered Him. The Cross on Calvary was the final confrontation between Christ and Satan. Jesus became incarnate in human flesh; He took upon Himself our nature. The physical pain caused by the blows, the scourging, the nails driven into his hands and feet. And the weight of his body, hanging on the Cross, further widened His wounds, tearing His flesh.
Crucifixion is called Good Friday because it brings the news of salvation and the new bond between God and us.
According to the Bible, it is the best news that Jesus gave Himself as a sacrifice for us. Christ’s Cross and His sufferings signify the fulfillment of many Old Testament prophecies: He gave Himself to death and was numbered with the transgressors because He bore the sins of many and prayed for the guilty. They pierced my hands and feet, divided my garments, and cast lots for my shirt. They put gall in my food, and they give me vinegar to drink when I am thirsty.
Primary Takeaways
- The activity of the Saviour Jesus Christ took place on many planes: heavenly, as the pre-existent Logos; earthly, from the incarnation to the crucifixion and burial; in hell, under the earth as Lord and Deliverer of the Gospel and lost souls.
- God cried because His Son had to suffer so much physical pain.
- God cannot be circumscribed in a particular space and is everywhere.
Conclusion
Good Friday happened when Jesus was flogged, spit upon, and crucified between two robbers and died for the world’s salvation. Together with the Church, on Holy and Great Friday, we commemorate⁴ the crucifixion and death on the Cross of the Saviour Jesus Christ. Therefore, this is one of those aliturgical days when no Holy Mass is celebrated, and it is one of the liturgical days.
