Good Friday is observed on the Friday before Easter Sunday.
On this day Christians commemorate the passion, or suffering, and death on the cross of Jesus.
Many Christians spend this day in fasting, prayer, repentance, or meditation to remember the agony and suffering of Christ on the cross.
On Good Friday we remember the day Jesus willingly suffered and died by crucifixion as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins.
It is followed by Easter, the glorious celebration of the day Jesus was raised from the dead.
Still, why call the day of Jesus’ death “Good Friday” instead of “Bad Friday” or something similar?
Some Christian traditions do take this approach: in German, for example, the day is called Karfreitag, or “Sorrowful Friday”.
In English, in fact, the origin of the term “Good” is debated, some believe it developed from an older name “God’s Friday”.
Regardless of the origin, the name Good Friday is entirely appropriate to Christians because the suffering and death of Jesus, as terrible as it was, marked the dramatic culmination of God’s plan to save his people from their sins.
