(Salvador Dali’s Christ of Saint John of the Cross)

I think I ask this question every year:  Why is the day Jesus got crucified considered “good”?  This year I actually did a little research on the topic.

There are quite a few different ideas out there as to where the term “Good Friday” comes from, but this article in Christianity Today points to an etymological evolution of the term “God’s Friday”.  What was more interesting to me was that the article also exposes our modern, Western bias that equates good with “happy”.   The author suggests that throughout the history of the church there has been an understanding that true good can be present in the midst of extreme sadness and sorrow.

Yet, despite—indeed because of—its sadness, Good Friday is truly good. Its sorrow is a godly sorrow. It is like the sadness of the Corinthians who wept over the sharp letter from their dear teacher, Paul, convicted of the sin in their midst. Hearing of their distress, Paul said, “My joy was greater than ever.” Why? Because such godly sorrow “brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret” (2 Cor. 7:10)…

I like to think the linguistic accident that made “God’s Friday” into “Good Friday” was no accident at all. It was God’s own doing—a sharp, prophetic jab at a time and a culture obsessed by happiness.  In the midst of consumerism’s Western playground, Good Friday calls to a jarring [criticism of] the sacred “pursuit of happiness.” The cross reveals this pursuit for what it is: a secondary thing.

This commemoration of Christ’s death reminds us of the human sin that caused this death. And we see again that salvation comes only through godly sorrow—both God’s and, in repentance, ours. To pursue happiness, we must first experience sorrow. He who goes forth sowing tears returns in joy.

So, I hope each of you (and I) can embrace that necessary sorrow today, so that the coming joy of the resurrection can penetrate our hearts and minds more fully.  God’s Friday, defined by mourning, is a good day.