This week we will mostly be focused on Easter, and that’s important—without Christ’s resurrection we would have no hope! In addition, I hope we can carve out time to celebrate Good Friday. Since at least the third century, Christians have been celebrating Good Friday as a time to commemorate the death of Jesus Christ. While some have suggested that the “Good” in “Good Friday” (an English phrase coined more than six hundred years ago), is related to the fact that what happened on that day was “good” for humanity, or that “Good” is related to the word “God,” these explanations are likely historically incorrect.
The “Good” in “Good Friday” comes from an archaic meaning of the word “Good”—“Holy.” In Spanish, “Good Friday” is called “Viernes Santo” and in French, “Le Vendredi saint,” both of which translate into English as “Holy Friday.” Thus when we think of Good Friday, we can think of “Holy Friday,” or, as Elder Jeffrey R. Holland phrased it, “atoning Friday with its cross.” It is the day that Jesus died for our sins.
Jesus Christ said, “I [was] lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me” (3 Nephi 27:14). Some people think to themselves, “Why did the Savior have to die such a terrible death?”
Jesus answered that question—to bring us closer to him. That’s why we celebrate Good Friday.
For ideas about how to celebrate Good Friday, visit https://johnhiltoniii.com/celebrating-good-friday/
