“Excuse me,” my Post Office delivery lady said, “But why do they call it “Good Friday?” She explained her fellow postal workers had discussed the matter but couldn’t come up with the answer. Maybe she asked me because I received Christianity Today regularly. I decided not to engage in extraneous matters, and said, “Because Christ died for our sin.” “Oh,” she said, nodded understandingly, then drove off.
It seems such a simple question, but people today, especially in the state where I live, miss out on basic information, specially about Christianity. Many deliberately avoid the Christian message; some oppose it The vacuum quickly fills with secularism and with values of other religions.
Through calling today Good Friday, through special worship services, and, where appropriate, through sharing basic information, we remember Christ died for our sins. In Mel Gibson’s movie, The Passion of the Christ, the author appears in only one scene. Do you recall seeing Jesus, laid out on the cross, when the Roman Centurion strikes the spike through Jesus’ palm?
“That was my hand,” Mel said, “driving the spike.”
Although our fist also drove the spike, Jesus nevertheless bore our sin. That makes this Friday Good.
