Why Is Good Friday Called "Good"?

As a kid, I always wondered why they called Good Friday, well, good. I vividly remember a sermon by our pastor one Easter. He went into medical detail about the pain and suffering Jesus went through, being whipped by the “cat of nine tails,” carrying the cross, and being nailed upon it. He made sure to express how this was all done because of his love for us, for our forgiveness and salvation.

Learning more as I grew, we could add the spiritual pain Jesus endured. God’s forgiveness meant placing upon his son the sins of the world and separation from his Father, however brief.

No human ever suffered more.

And we call this day Good Friday. Perhaps if we look into the depth of God’s work through the cross and his Son, we can see the goodness beyond even the benefits to ourselves. Despite the suffering, maybe God considers it good, too.

What Is Good Friday?

On Good Friday, Christians remember the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ. It happens the Friday before Easter Sunday, one of the most sacred days in Christianity. Traditionally, the name “Good” refers to how Christ’s suffering and death brought salvation to humanity.

The Jewish religious council arrested Jesus late Thursday night in the Garden of Gethsemane, after the Last Supper with the disciples. Christ then stood trial before Jewish and Roman leaders. Though the Roman governor found him technically innocent, the crowd wanted Jesus’ execution. Roman soldiers mocked, beat, and forced Jesus to carry his cross outside of Jerusalem, to Golgotha. Once there, they nailed him to the cross between two criminals. After severe agony, darkness covered the land. Jesus cried out and died.

By the second century, early Christians started observing this day with fasting, prayer, and reflection. Since Good Friday and Easter occurred during Passover, the early Jews likely celebrated Jesus' death and resurrection along with their own traditions. Into the second and third centuries, as the Church became more Gentile, Christianity started developing its own observances. Christians didn’t call it “Good Friday” at first, but they did set aside the Friday before Easter as a solemn time to remember Jesus’s death.

Christianity spread across the Roman Empire, even being legalized and formalized, leading church leaders to develop the whole Holy Week, obviously focusing on the cross as central to God’s redemptive plan and the narrative of the week.

Over the centuries, Christians developed different traditions around Good Friday, but the core reason remained—remembering Jesus willingly sacrificing for the sins of the world and our salvation. As such, Good Friday becomes a day of both sorrow and hope, as the cross ultimately leads to the resurrection.

What Happened on Good Friday?

The gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John give us details of what happened the day of the crucifixion.

After the Last Supper, Jesus led his disciples into the Garden of Gethsemane late Thursday night. Judas had betrayed Christ to the Jewish council, who had been looking for a way to arrest or kill Jesus. The council guards showed up in the garden and arrested Jesus.

Jesus first appeared before the Jewish leaders, who included Annas, Caiaphas, and the Sanhedrin. They accused and interrogated him, ultimately condemning him for blasphemy. Under Roman law, however, they couldn’t execute Jesus, so they brought him to the Roman governor, to get Pilate to kill him on their behalf. Pilate also interviewed Jesus but found no fault or guilt with him, so he sent him to Herod, the King of Judea at the time, who was really a Roman puppet. Herod also found him innocent, sending him back to Pilate.

Pilate gives in to the religious manipulation and the crowd’s demands to “crucify!” Jesus. Rome would release a local hero on Passover to placate the local religion, but the people wanted Barabbas (a zealot and murderer) instead of Jesus. Wanting to avoid another Jewish riot, Pilate “washes his hands” of the matter and sentences Jesus to be crucified.

The Roman soldiers beat him, whipped him almost to death, and put a crown of thorns upon Jesus’ head, mocking his claim of kingship. They forced him to carry the object of his own crucifixion, the cross, to the Place of the Skull, also called Golgotha. This was part of the public humiliation with crucifixion, to deter other rebels and criminals. Along the way, Jesus stumbled and was exhausted from a day of beatings, so a Roman soldier made Simon of Cyrene carry the cross. Around 9 a.m., the Roman soldiers nailed Jesus to a cross between two other condemned criminals. The soldiers divided his clothes, casting lots (or gambling) for them, fulfilling Psalm 22:18. Pilate had them put a sign over Jesus’ head, meant to be his “crime,” but it said, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.”

Jesus spoke from the cross several times. He asked the Father to forgive his executioners, promised paradise to the thief who repented, and placed his mother in the apostle John’s personal care. Around noon, darkness covered the land for three hours. At about 3 p.m., Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” which also refers to Psalm 22. Then he said, “It is finished,” and gave up his spirit, willingly dying.

Jesus last words infographic, seven last things Jesus said on the cross

At his death, the Temple curtain tore from top to bottom, the separation between God and humanity now symbolically removed, allowing direct access to God through Christ. An earthquake shook the land, tombs broke open, and a Roman soldier said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!” To make sure he was dead, Roman soldiers pierced him with a spear, and water and blood poured out.

Followers of Jesus took his body down before sunset, wrapped him in a burial cloth, and laid him in a new tomb.

What Does the Bible Say about the Cross?

While many amazing events transpired on Good Friday, all related to God’s redemption, the cross shines more than any other. Crucifixion wasn’t practiced or even known in most of the Old Testament era, but the Hebrew scriptures predicted and prophesied the cross.

In one way, the Old Testament sacrificial system prophesied the cross, first with Passover and the lamb’s blood which saved a people from the Angel of Death. The Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16) details how the high priest offered blood for the forgiveness of sins. Isaiah 53 gives a direct prophecy of the suffering servant who would be “pierced for our transgressions” and “crushed for our iniquities.” Psalm 22 expressly describes the suffering of a righteous man, mocked and pierced on hands and feet, revealing a type of crucifixion centuries before Rome would use it.

The New Testament explores the cross’s full meaning. Jesus predicted it as part of his mission. “The Son of Man must suffer many things … and be killed.” (Luke 9:22) He chose to embrace the cross to fulfill his Father’s will. At the crucifixion, Jesus bore the wrath of God against sin, making full atonement with his own blood, the perfect High Priest (Hebrews 9:12). The cross allowed for God’s justice against sin and rebellion while offering forgiveness to sinners (Romans 3:25). The apostle Paul preached the cross, a message of foolishness to the spiritually dying but the power of God to those being saved (1 Corinthians 1:18). In Colossians 2:14-15, Paul declares how Jesus not only nailed our sin debt to the cross but also disarmed the powers of darkness at the same time.

In Roman times, the cross symbolized oppression, shame, guilt, and death. But Christ changed the nature of the image. It became the place where he won the victory. He reconciled believers to the Father (2 Corinthians 5:19), established a complete and eternal peace (Ephesians 2:16), and opened the way for all people to approach God with confidence (Hebrews 10:19-22).

Therefore, Christians around the world observe Good Friday.

How Do Christians Observe Good Friday?

For the Roman Catholic tradition, Good Friday becomes a day of fasting and prayer, usually attending the Celebration of the Lord’s Passion, which includes reading Jesus’ Passion from John’s gospel, a veneration of the cross, and distributing Communion. Many Catholics also walk through the Stations of the Cross, a devotional walk through 14 moments of events on Good Friday.

Eastern Orthodox Christians call it Holy or Great Friday, and they have multiple services on the day—the Royal Hours (Scripture readings), the Vespers of the Taking Down from the Cross, and the Lamentations at the Tomb service held Friday evening. Worshippers sing old hymns, have a procession with the epitaphios (a cloth representing Christ’s burial shroud), and participate in meditations on his death and burial.

Protestant traditions include a wide variety of practices. The mainline churches (Lutheran, Anglican, and Methodist) hold a Good Friday service featuring Scripture readings, hymns, and meditation on the cross. Some follow the Seven Last Words of Christ, which reflect on Jesus’ final sayings from the cross. Silence, darkness, and bare altars are used to show the sorrow of the day.

Evangelical churches might have a special worship night with communion or reenact the crucifixion. Most evangelical fellowships focus more on Easter Sunday, but many take time on Good Friday for some type of observance.

What Are Prayers for Good Friday?

Along with reading the Passion narratives from the gospels, prayer can be a great way to enter into the cross’s meaning.

We could use this prayer for confession:

Lord Jesus, we confess our sin and my need for your grace and forgiveness. You bore our punishment and suffered in our place. We repent, turn to you, and submit to your ways. Thank you for your mercy and love. Amen.

We should be thankful for the cross:

Jesus, thank you for willingly enduring the cross to save us. You remained faithful and committed through pain and rejection. You gave your life so us could live. Help us remember your sacrifice not only through Easter but every day. Amen.

We can use Good Friday to pray for others:

Lord, as you paved the way for our salvation, draw all people to yourself. Heal the broken, comfort the forgotten, and help others to see your love and salvation. May your compassion reach the lost and empower the weary. Amen.

While a dark day, we can pray on Good Friday with hope:

Father, even in the shadow of the cross, we trust your plan. We know the story doesn’t end in death and darkness but life and light. Strengthen our faith as we wait for your deliverance and redemption. Let the cross teach our hearts to hope, leading us to new life. Amen.

How is Good Friday Good?

In many ways, Good Friday was a dark day. Jesus suffered every pain and betrayal possible. It seemed like evil had one. Yet, even in death, God worked out the greatest good. The cross wasn’t the end; it was a new beginning. By raising Jesus from the grave, God proved to us that no darkness and evil can defeat his good purposes.

Good Friday teaches us further to trust God in our darkest moments. We still endure our own cross, willingly taking it up as Christ (Luke 9:23), giving God our life to find a greater one (Matthew 16:25). Yet in our lives, pain and betrayal won’t have the final word, either. God brought redemption from the darkest day, and he will bring purpose from our trials, too. Romans 8:28 promises how God will work all things together for good for those who love him and are called by his purpose. Good Friday becomes a divine promise of hope.

Good Friday is even good for God. Not diminishing the pain or dismissing the tragedy of the day, Jesus endured the cross “for the joy set before him.” (Hebrews 12:2) Christ looked beyond the pain and ahead to the restored relationship between God and those who would believe, an eternal joy. Jesus and the Father knew this would bring sons and daughters into the family and even renew all creation. The cross brought glory to the Father and enacted his plan of love. God sent his Son, and Jesus willingly went to the cross for a greater joy of reconciliation.

Good Friday reminds us of salvation, gives us hope today, and reveals the loving heart of God. It shows us God wastes no pain, no suffering too great, and no sacrifice happens in vain if God is involved.

Peace.

Britt Mooney Britt Mooney lives and tells great stories. As an author of fiction and non-fiction, he is passionate about teaching ministries and nonprofits the power of storytelling to inspire and spread truth. Mooney has a podcast called Kingdom Over Coffee and is a published author of We Were Reborn for This: The Jesus Model for Living Heaven on Earth as well as Say Yes: How God-Sized Dreams Take Flight.