The GOOD in Good Friday - three days after

The GOOD in Good Friday – three days after

Apr 01, 2018 Countryman, Features / Columnists

By Dennis Nichols

Many years ago, during the heyday of C.N. Sharma’s ‘Justice for All’ television programme, the popular host sought to ridicule the use of the term ‘Good Friday’ to commemorate the crucifixion death of Jesus Christ. He observed what he felt was the irony of using the word ‘good’ to describe the torture and trauma of such an event, and even chuckled in amusement.

Many others, and I guess lots of non-Christians, have also wondered at the apparent incongruence. I know I have in the past, but using Occam’s razor, I have come up with what I think is the simplest explanation. It is good because of the life-saving implications for Christians, and furthermore for all human beings, according to the bible. But is that the truth?

There are a few theories. According to online sources, one is that Good Friday stems from a corruption of God’s Friday, which is self-explanatory, although Wikipedia claims that is an incorrect assumption. Another is that the word good is used in the context of being holy or pious. A similar one suggests that the adjective was used traditionally to designate a day or a season in which religious observance is held, and observed as holy by the church.

Wikipedia further states that according to the Baltimore Catechism, (a US Catholic school text for more than three-quarters of a century) the day is considered good because Jesus ‘showed His great love for man, and purchased for him every blessing.’ This one would no doubt resonate powerfully with Christians across denominations and sects.

Other titles for Good Friday include Mourning Friday, Silent Friday, High or Holy Friday, Great Friday, and Long Friday. Finally,, there’s Black Friday, with the word black being used pejoratively one would assume. Older Guyanese should be well-acquainted with this last one, signifying for us the horror of devastating fires and sometimes the accompanying lawlessness.

But as far as Jesus’ death is concerned, I would call it Golgotha or Calvary Friday; referring to the location just outside the walls of Jerusalem where the actual crucifixion occurred – maybe Calvary; Golgotha sounds too Gothic.

More than any other Christian holy day, Good Friday is central to Christianity and its theme of salvation through Jesus’ shed blood. For many, it is also associated with ritual, tradition and superstitions, many of which are found here in Guyana. Generally, there is a pronounced atmosphere of austerity and quietude. Church-going is regarded as mandatory. Many people who do not or hardly ever go to church, make sure they do so on the Good Friday holiday. Business places, shops and stores that remain open on some holidays will close on Good Friday.

Maybe because of misplaced reverence, some persons will not travel long distances or journey by water on this day. Hot cross buns have their day, and while some fast, others refrain only from drinking alcohol and eating meat; the latter being too carnally associated with Jesus’ blood-scourged body. In some churches, celebratory images and songs are downplayed, and services focus on Christ’s passion.

During my childhood, we were told that rain always falls on Good Friday, and that it was a good thing to catch the ‘holy’ water and drink it, which we often did. With Lent coming to an end, we children needed the divine liquid after listening with strained ears and fearful hearts for the devil’s rattling chain as he prowled the landscape looking for victims; at least that’s what my youngest sister and I believed.

In some cultures, people thought that a child born on Good Friday has a healing gift. Bread baked or eggs laid on this day will not go bad or get mouldy. On the unlucky side, fishermen tempt fate by going out to catch fish on Good Friday, while planting crops is also ill-advised. Over the years, several tragic occurrences have been associated locally with persons who ‘did their own thing’ on this holy day.

The bible paints a monstrously sad picture of Jesus’ suffering and death at the hands of the Roman authorities in AD 33, starting at Gethsemane and ending at Calvary. From that perspective, Good Friday is a day of unbelievable grief and disappointment, especially for those who thought Jesus as the Messiah would have overthrown the oppressors of the Jews.

And although the scene was a grim and frightening one (accompanying darkness, open tombs, and an earthquake), it foreshadowed Jesus’ miraculous resurrection, according to his own prediction, two days later, and the subsequent deliverance from sin it brought to believers. Indeed, no other event in world history and religion has elicited the kind of reverence and joy for Christians through the ages as that three-day weekend more than 2000 years ago.

The oxymoron of a ‘Good’ Friday crucifixion persists for many people, but so too does its eventual sublimity. Jesus’ death on the cross was not the end; for more than two billion Christians, it was the mother of all beginnings, manifest in changed lives and saved souls. It has withstood severe scrutiny and damning doubt.

Tomorrow, thousands of kites in open spaces throughout Guyana will soar in colourful unison with the symbolic ascension of the risen saviour. Joy and camaraderie will abound three days after the commemoration of grief. That is the deferred good some people miss in Good Friday. Happy Easter!