Good Friday is a somber day, remembering Jesus’ death by crucifixion. I remember trying to explain it to a former co-worker several years ago, something like this: “It is a time to remember and honor the death of Jesus, so Good Friday services are usually like a funeral.” But that doesn’t seem quite right, because I haven’t been to a lot of funerals as persistently somber and dark as Good Friday. Perhaps the mood of a typical Good Friday service isn’t like a funeral so much as it’s like a funeral would have been if Jesus had stayed in the tomb. In Good Friday and the day following, we acknowledge the despair of the time between the certainty of Jesus’ death and the hope-giving miracle of his resurrection.
I am grateful for Good Friday because life still includes times when everything seems to be turned upside down, hopes dashed, outcome uncertain, salvation not yet apparent. We celebrate the joy of Christ’s birth at Christmas, and his resurrection on Easter – these are absolutely foundational to Christian hope. It is good, too, to respect the in-between times.
