Why is Good Friday Good?

When I was a youngster (farther ago than I would care to admit), I always wondered why they called Good Friday good.  It is easy to understand why they might call Resurrection Sunday good. The resurrection after all seems to be the best news for Christians ever.   Good Friday seemed to me to be the means used to get to the good stuff - the resurrection.  But the more that I grew in Christ and read Scripture, the more that I began to understand that while the resurrection indeed in many respects the moment that all of the life of Christ was verified to be all that Christ said it was, there was still value in the moment that Christ died. 

There is no better text to exemplify this than Hebrews 10:19-25.  I will suffice for the purposes of this blog to quote only verse 19.

"Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus. . . " (NASB)

The sacrifice of the life of Christ on Good Friday gives you and I something that we would not have otherwise.  Something even the resurrection by itself could not give us.  It gives us confidence to approach God.  It is quite significant that in the narrative on the crucifixion that the veil of the temple was torn in two.  (Luke 23:45).  The death of Christ on the cross was the moment that the barrier caused by sin between God and man was eliminated.  ELIMINATED.  But only through the blood of Christ.

You and I and all of our friends and neighbors and co-workers and family can all have unmitigated access to God through the blood of Christ.  But here is the "catch".  The unmitigated access only happens through the blood of Christ.  You cannot earn it through good works.  You cannot earn it by going to church every day.  You cannot earn access by being a genuine person who tries to do your best.  It only is granted by and through the blood of Christ. 

May I encourage you today to remember this weekend is truly a good weekend because of the death and the life of Christ.  Do not rush past the cross to get to Easter, for it is the cross that earns us the access to God that we desperately need and desire.  In the words of the song, "Thank you for the Cross Lord, thank you for the life you gave."