What’s “Good” About Good Friday?

The name “Good Friday” is more meaningful somehow this year to me than it has been in the past. What’s “good” about suffering?! What “goodness,” beauty, hope, or wellness is able to be engaged from the deepest moments of pain in our lives? Is it really possible to hold both at once? 

One of my all time favorite Scriptures comes for me with a “permission slip” from 2 Corinthians chapter four. That is the one with multiple famous lines within, “We have these treasures in jars of clay to show that this all surpassing glory is from God and not from us…” and “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;  persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” How epic! 

The line that seems to often get passed over is deeply profound: “We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.” For me, this was a permission slip to echo what Jesus told us, “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.” He reminds us here that it is normal to experience the “world” and all it has to offer…the suffering and pain, which is very much a part. Not only normal—it’s expected! Maybe we could even go ahead and call it “good” because it is producing for us something that far outweighs any other treasure…

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Cor 4:16-18).

So how can we separate the glory from our bed of suffering? How can we extricate hope of redemption and restoration from the deepest moments of pain? These authors suggest to us a higher, deeper reality that these things are all connected. Not only connected,but necessary: one is the birth place for the other. A seed must decompose before its genetics birth the tree within.

This year may we be “whole story people.” In our hardest moments, may we feel a deep connection to “the other parts of the story” that make it ultimately worth experiencing. May we be strengthened in knowing that even though we experience pain and trial, these things are yes, GOOD (and quickly passing away).

May we feel sweetness intermingled with the sadness. May pain carry a promise that refreshes our souls and rejuvenates our bodies. 

If we must feel physical pain, may it move us toward holy action. 

“Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure,because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay” (Psalm 16:19). 

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him,and He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your body and refreshment to your bones.” (Proverbs 3:5-7)

May we not lose heart. May our hearts be full this day, remembering just how good this part of the story is—because we know that this same God is the God who rose from the dead. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is living in you and me (Romans 8:11). 

The question is…just what WILL He do next?!