Why is it called "Good Friday"?

It is ironic to contemplate that the holiday that commemorates a bloody crucifixion is called “Good Friday”. Have you ever stopped and asked yourself why this would be a day characterized as good? What’s good about an unpleasant scene like a man being beaten, bloodied, stripped naked, and nailed to a wooden cross? Why celebrate perhaps the most violent, cruel, and humiliating death that has ever been devised by mankind? Why is it called “Good Friday”?

My answer is Good Friday is considered good because we are celebrating the Man who died on the cross for all of humanity. You see, this wasn’t a normal crucifixion. This Man, Jesus Christ, was an innocent man. Unlike every other crucifixion, Jesus didn’t die for His sins; the Bible makes it clear that Jesus was pure, spotless, and sinless (Hebrews 4:15; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:21-22).  Jesus died on the cross as an atoning sacrifice for the sins of humankind (1 John 2:2). The Bible says, “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God” (1 Peter 3:18).

Why did Jesus choose to die this kind of death? In a word: love.  Jesus modeled a selfless, genuine love when He died on the cross. He knew how difficult a path it would be to take the road to Calvary; He even prayed for God to spare Him from the cup of suffering that He was about to take, if there was any other way, but then ultimately submitted Himself afresh to God's will (Matthew 26:39,42).  After all, the cross wasn’t just torture physically, but also mentally and spiritually as well. But Jesus endured it all, out of a deep love for humanity.

1 John 3:16 declares, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.” 1 Timothy 2:5 says, “For there is one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men.” Because of Jesus’ sacrificial death, the price for mankind’s sin has been paid; that’s why it’s called Good Friday.

Kevin