Holy Week and Good Friday: Two Questions

Next week, churches around the world will remember Jesus’ death and resurrection in a variety of ways during what’s become known as Holy Week. What is Holy Week and how did it begin?

In the first few centuries after Jesus’ death and resurrection, Christianity spread rapidly throughout the Roman empire and beyond, but it was marginalized at best and sometimes ruthlessly persecuted and attacked. However, when Constantine became emperor and professed faith in Christ in AD 312, things began to change. Christianity was, for the first time, tolerated as an acceptable religious practice.

This resulted in the church having more freedom to worship Jesus openly. During this time, Christians began to expand the celebration of Christ’s resurrection on Easter Sunday to celebrate the week leading up to Easter. That week has become known as Holy Week. Palm Sunday celebrates Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem on the Sunday before Easter. Maundy Thursday commemorates Jesus’ last supper with his disciples. Good Friday remembers Jesus’ betrayal, rejection, and death on a cross. And, of course, Easter celebrates the empty tomb and the resurrection of Christ.

Our church focuses on the last two of these, Good Friday and Easter Sunday. And Good Friday holds an extra special place in the heart of our church. It was sharing Good Friday services together over several years that helped Sojourn Church, and Redeeming Grace church get to know one another and discover that we really liked each other! God providentially used these shared services in the process of bringing us together to become one new church.  

There’s a bit about Holy Week. Our second question is, What’s so good about Good Friday? I find myself surprised that Good Friday ended up with that name. I would have expected Evil Friday or Dark Friday. Why is Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) a day to go shopping and Good Friday a day to remember that an innocent man was unjustly executed?

I am quite certain that, as the events of Jesus’ crucifixion transpired, none of his disciples thought of that day as a good one. Perhaps Good Friday got its name after Easter when the unimaginable became a reality, and Jesus rose from the dead, conquering sin and death. Because he lives, all of his disciples can have hope of a new life in the Father’s house, in the city whose builder and maker is God. Because he lives, we are not defined by our sins and failures but by the good gift of Christ’s righteousness, which covers us like a robe. Because he lives, we’ve been filled with the Spirit of the Living God, given new hearts with new desires and new power to live for God’s glory and our neighbor’s good. Because he lives, we’ve been brought into the family of God and get to live out our lives as fellow members of the body of Christ. And, as God said after the sixth day of creation (Gen. 1:31), that is all very good!

If you can, I hope you’ll join us for our Good Friday service, on Friday, April 7, at 7:00 p.m. And let’s be praying about who we might be able to invite to our Easter service to hear the good news about Jesus.

Grace,

Mark Mullery

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