DEVOTION/ Fantastic Friday
Where did we get those names?
Did you know that the Bible never mentions the words “Christmas” and “Easter?” Those names were added many years after the Bible was finished. The word “Christmas” seems to have been made up of two words, “Christ” and “mas.” The word “mass” means a religious service, so a Christ-mass is a worship service about Christ. Now we call Jesus’ birthday “Christmas.”
The word “Easter” may have come from a pagan goddess who was worshiped in the springtime. Eventually it was adopted by the Christian church and today the word “Easter” means the day of Jesus’ resurrection.
Some church festival names are easy to understand like “Ascension” and “Palm Sunday.” “Lent” is the season before Easter. That word originally meant “spring,” which is when we observe Lent. The word “Advent” means “coming,” because we look back to the coming of Jesus in Bethlehem, and forward to the time when he will come again.
Why is Good Friday good?
There is another important church day on our calendars that might seem as if it was given a name by mistake, Good Friday! How can we possibly call the day when we sadly look back to the torture, crucifixion and death of Jesus “good?” If anything, shouldn’t we call it “Bad Friday?”
It’s true that some very terrible things happened on that first Good Friday. Jesus was arrested late Thursday night. Then he was moved from trial to trial while being beaten and tortured. On Friday morning he was taken to Calvary where he was nailed to a cross and left to die. The pain he felt was tremendous, but that wasn’t the worst of it. While Jesus hung on the cross, his Father turned his face away from his Son and left him to die alone. That’s why Jesus shouted, My God, my God, why have you left me? The punishment for each of our sins was tremendous. How can we call that good?
That’s how much Jesus loves us. He was willing to pay for each one of our sins. He knew his death was the only hope we had to enter heaven and live forever.
Perhaps we could look at the pain Jesus suffered on that day and call it “Bad Friday.” Yet since it was the day that freed us from Satan’s curse, we would also be right to call it “Good Friday.” The next time we hear the words “Good Friday,” we should remember the sacrifice Jesus made for us that special day on a hill outside Jerusalem. Maybe we could even call it “Fantastic Friday!”
by Reynold Kremer