Good Friday

Today is Good Friday, and alot of my non-Christian friends always want to know "what's so Good about a day when someone was crucified?" Well...there are lots of theories on what the "Good" means. Some people say that its an etymological switch from once being called "God's Friday". Others say that it's about the GOOD that God did from a tragedy in the reconciliation of the world to God.

Here is an article written by Ken Collins that discusses the differences. Wikipedia also has a good article.

So, what *Is* so good about "Good Friday" and why do we celebrate it? Well, first I'm not so sure it's a "celebration". It's not really a "holiday" but rather it's an observation. It's a day to observe and remember the crucifixion of Jesus and the things that occured on that day. We recall the death of Jesus and the painful events of that day. This is not supposed to be a happy day...but we aren't supposed to spend the whole day "wallowing" in the sorrow of the crucifixion either.

See, we are a Resurrection People. We KNOW what happens. We KNOW the end of the story. We know that Easter means that Jesus did not stay in the tomb. On Good Friday, we don't have to pretend that Easter hasn't happened yet. We remember Good Friday so that we can more joyfully celebrate Easter.

I don't really know if we should call it "Good Friday" or if we should call it "Black Friday" or "Authentic Friday". I don't know how to feel about the fact that someone who preached a message of love, tolerance, and forgiveness was executed so cruelly. All I know is that one man's life was so brilliant and so powerful that he inspired fear and confusion in those who had power. They couldn't allow him to live.

On the original "Good Friday"
people made it bad
3 days later
GOD made it Good.

Good Friday Services today are at noon in the chapel at CSUMC. Please join us as we remember Jesus's life and death.