A Terribly Good Friday

“It was now about noon, and darkness covered the whole earth until about three o’clock, while the sun stopped shining.” Luke 23:44

Good Friday 2023 dawned gray, cool and wet. What dreary conditions in remembrance of our Savior’s death on the cross. As the hours passed the temperature dropped causing a swirling misty fog above the warmer water of the pond. The wind was blowing a bit so the fog was swept back and forth across the water’s surface. Such bleak conditions gave me pause. I thought about that day, that terrible but good Friday. The day Jesus gave us the greatest of all gifts – salvation, was a bleak and dreary day as well. I imagine that as the sun disappeared and the dark clouds began to cover the sky, temperatures cooled, I don’t think it would be a wrongful thought to imagine the crowd could have heard some thunder as the day got darker and darker.

Create that scene in your mind, and now hear Jesus’ voice as He gathers strength to raise His voice to cry out His final words this side of the cross. “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit!” This He did for you and me! The earth quaked and the rocks split. It was a good and bad Friday.

The veil in the temple was to separate the people from God’ presence. It was torn from top to bottom to signify from that moment in time the separation had been repaired; there was no need for the veil any longer, because man could now come to God directly in repentance. What a terribly good Friday!

I think of Good Friday as both terrible and good. The things Jesus suffered on my account are without a doubt, terrible actions that He was subjected to, down to the last strike of the hammer against the final stake driven into His flesh. BUT, God had plans for good in each and every step to the cross, thus making the day both good and terrible.

That Friday was a terribly good Friday, but then came Sunday! Hallelujah, the stone was rolled away and the tomb found empty!

Celebrating Easter brings believers together in worship, joy, and expectation. Death and sin have no power, and Jesus’ glory made that much clearer to those who put their faith in Him, then and now. The Gospels recount the miracle faithfully, passing on the promise of salvation for generations - the promise of Easter Sunday.