Why Is It Called Good Friday?

Wednesday night I as was tucking my youngest two daughters into bed. We said our prayers and in those prayers, we prayed that we’d finally get together with their cousins.

We’ve been trying to get my wife’s side of the family together for Christmas since the day after Christmas. The flu, stomach bugs, surgery, and snow kept us apart. But today, we are getting together with them to celebrate Christmas and Easter.

My youngest asked me why we call it Good Friday when it’s the day Jesus died. What was good about that she asked.

I smiled and thought “truly wonderful the mind of a child is”.

I did my best to explain to her why. How to would you explain the substitutionary death of Christ to an 8 year old?

I asked her if she had $10,000. She laughed and said “no”. I said what would happen if you owed someone that much money. She shrugged her shoulders and didn’t have an answer. I then asked her, how she’d feel if I paid all $10,000 of her debt.

She said she’d feel good. And she said she’d want to try and repay me.

I smiled.

There is no way my 8-year-old could ever repay me $10,000. I told her that we owed God a debt even bigger.

The only way to pay that debt was to live a perfect life. She quickly told me that it was impossible.

I agreed.

The only person that could live a perfect life and therefore die a perfect death was Jesus.

I told her that it was great that we could gather as a family this Good Friday to celebrate the miracle of Jesus’ birth at Christmas, remember His perfect death on the cross, and look forward to His resurrection on Sunday.

I hope you all have come to the point in your life where you’ve accepted that you aren’t perfect and need a savior. Jesus stands at the door and knocks, wanting to come into your life and save you. He also comes to bring you life to the full.

It is a good Friday since our debt has been paid in full if we are willing to accept it.

This was originally published on March 25, 2016.