Good Friday is the Friday immediately preceding Easter Sunday. It is traditionally the day on which Jesus was crucified. Assuming that Jesus was crucified and died on a Friday, should Christians remember by celebrating Good Friday?
The Bible does not instruct Christians to remember Christ’s death by honoring a certain day. The Bible does give us freedom in these matters, however. Romans 14:5 tells us, “One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.” The Bible instructs us to remember Christ’s death by observing the Lord’s Supper. First Corinthians 11:26 declares, “For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”
Why is Good Friday referred to as “good”? What the Jewish authorities and Romans did to Jesus was definitely not good (see Matthew chapters 26-27). However, the results of Christ’s death are very good! Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” 1 Peter 3:18, “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit.”
Many Christian churches celebrate Good Friday with a subdued service, usually in the evening, when Christ’s death is remembered with solemn hymns, prayers of thanksgiving, a message centered on the Messiah’s suffering for our sakes, and communion. Whether or not Christians choose to “celebrate” Good Friday, the events of that day should be ever on our minds because the death of Christ on the cross is the paramount event of the Christian faith.
Dr. Robert Jastrow, world-renowned astrophysicist, Died last month, he described the astronomical discoveries of recent years and the theological implications of the new insights afforded by science into mankind’s place in the cosmos. He explained the chain of events that forced astronomers, despite their initial reluctance (“Irritating,” said Einstein; “Repugnant,” said the great British astronomer Eddington; “I would like to reject it,” said MIT physicist Philip Morrison) to accept the validity of the Big Bang and the fact that the universe began in a moment of creation. His Great quote
“For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries.
