I never liked that Good Friday was called Good Friday. Even as a kid it didn't make sense to me, every time I heard the story in Sunday School I imagined it with a different ending. A good ending where Judas didn't betray Jesus, where He didn't have to die, and God's kingdom on earth was established. Instead the story always ended the same and I couldn't figure it out, what was good about the crucifixion? I would hear people explain that it wasn't really good on Friday, but it was good that on Sunday that Jesus rose from the grave, so the crucifixion was good, we just had to wait three days to realize it. I was pacified for a while, and then as I grew in faith, I had more questions.
Later, I questioned "good" again because I really didn't like Romans 8:28, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." I would hear this verse in testimonies where it often had the formula of A (I was unsure and afraid of something terrible) + B (I prayed and handed everything over to God) = C (everything was fine/the test came back clear/happiness) in other words - good. Only it wasn't always good, for every testimony following this formula, there was one where the 'good' never came.
If you know me, when I have a question, I want an answer, and if I have to, I'll ask it again, and again, and again. It is a blessing and a curse.
One day I was talking with a friend who had studied the Bible extensively regarding my question of what does good really mean. Good in the context of the verse was never to mean happiness or what I want or favor or easy living. They told me it meant righteousness, redemption, justification, glorification, knowing God more fully, etc. And then good made sense. The proper definition of good made the seeming contraction between life and the Bible disappear.
I like good now, good is great. Good is difficult to get through because often those "in all things" can encompass some pretty unpleasant life experiences. While I don't like those things, the good is even better than I thought it could be, even better than great.
So, Good Friday, the event that made my righteousness, redemption, justification, glorification, ability to know God possible. I find it aptly named, and I praise the One who in the garden poured out His heart to the Father and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” (Matt. 26:39) In His obedience, even unto death (Phil. 2:8), the Father worked out Jesus' "in all things" for the good of the world.
I found this video recently which really explains things well, so for more on the meaning of good, please hear what John Piper has to say.
Romans 8:28, Part 1 // All Things Work Together for Good from Desiring God on Vimeo.
© 2015 Stacy Rapp
