Good Friday – the most important reason for mourning? What the Bible says

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Good Friday is considered the “most important occasion for mourning” in Christian communities. Jesus Christ was crucified. However, a closer look at the Bible shows a “slightly” different picture of how it should have been.

Good Friday – The Christian day of mourning

DThe crucifixion of Jesus Christ was a shock to the disciples of that time. Completely horrified and without hope for a good ending, they all had to watch the suffering and death of the Messiah. Today these moments are “recreated” every Good Friday. Is this justified? After all, there would have been no reason for surprise or hopeless sadness. Jesus Christ Himself confirmed this several times, because He repeatedly announced His death and resurrection and called on the disciples to rejoice.

The first announcement of Jesus

Mark 8:31-32:
“And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he spake that saying openly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him.”
(Parallels in Matthew 16:21-23 and Luke 9:22)

The second announcement of Jesus

Mark 9:30-32:
“And they departed thence, and passed through Galilee; and he would not that any man should know it. For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day. But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him.”
(Parallels in Matthew 17:22-23 and Luke 9:43-45)

The third announcement of Jesus

Mark 10:32-34:
“And they were in the way going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus went before them: and they were amazed; and as they followed, they were afraid. And he took again the twelve, and began to tell them what things should happen unto him, Saying, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes; and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles: And they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him: and the third day he shall rise again.”
(Parallels in Matthew 20:17-19 and Luke 18:31-34)

Actually no surprise

Jesus Christ announced to His disciples three times His impending death and His equally impending resurrection on the third day. Peter, in his still “lively temperament”, wanted to ward off this danger and Jesus Christ even complained that the voice (intention) of Satan was working through him. At first glance it is completely incomprehensible, but if you consider that the substitutionary atoning death of Jesus and His resurrection not only brought about the possible path of salvation to eternal life for people, but also meant the final defeat of Satan, then this is an attempted prevention of the work of salvation Jesus even understandable.

Did Jesus’ death come as a complete surprise to the disciples? Apparently yes. For they slept peacefully in Gethsemane after the supper, while Jesus Christ prayed desperately in their presence. When Jesus Christ was arrested, the disciples ran away and Peter (as announced) denied Jesus Christ three times. After Jesus’ execution, the disciples hid and were shocked and desperate. Even the news of the two women who first met Jesus after His resurrection did not make the disciples elated. They didn’t believe it.

Completely unexpectedly, Jesus Christ reappeared in one of the disciples’ hiding places. Their look must have resembled that of an eagle owl in headlights. Jesus was given a piece of bread and some fish and ate them so that they could see that He was not a spirit but of flesh and blood. And Thomas could not believe Jesus’ resurrection until he came face to face with Jesus Christ. In this sense, the “unbelieving Thomas” is being wronged because not a single disciple tried to reassure the others because Jesus Christ would ultimately rise again on the third day. Nobody had this on their radar.

Even a “wave with the fence post”

Although Peter already understood in advance who Jesus Christ actually was, he apparently still did not realize or internalize it. Peter recognized Him as Christ, Matthew 16:16-17:
“And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.“

Even the “wave with the fence post” wasn’t sorted correctly by the disciples. Before the crucifixion, Jesus Christ said according to John 14:28-29:
“Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe.“

Disciples: Lack of understanding and unbelief

Nevertheless, the disciples were completely taken by surprise and assumed a total, irreversible defeat with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ before the hoped-for salvation could even come to Israel. This is despite the fact that the disciples could actually have known that Jesus Christ would rise again on the third day. He had announced this three times in three different places and also taken a position on it. So there is not a lack of information here, but a lack of understanding and faith on the part of the disciples.

Lack of faith, because regardless of Jesus’ true quality, the resurrection on the third day was announced several times. Lack of understanding, since the Judeans certainly expected a Messiah according to the promise, but one who would free the people from the slavery of the Romans, establish the kingdom and let the people rule over all other peoples on earth. But that was a traditional error on the part of the scribes and their teachings.

Clarification only at the end

The final penny did not drop for the disciples until another 40 days after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Shortly before His ascension, Jesus declares according to Luke 24:45-48:
“Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things.“

“Finally, plain text,” one could now object. But apparently the plan of salvation, which had already been laid down since the foundation stone of this world was laid, could only be fulfilled in this way. This was followed by the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on the disciples (Pentecost) and with that they no longer had any doubts and were no longer subject to their previous errors.

Today “we” actually know better

Today we know far more about the actual plan of salvation fulfilled through Jesus Christ than did the disciples who walked alongside Him back then. They groped in relative ignorance until Jesus’ ascension. The Savior Himself said before His crucifixion, “If you had loved Me, you would rejoice.” One of His last words on the cross was, “It is finished!” (Info).

“Joy! And not sadness!” is Jesus’ call. This is exactly the opposite of what has been celebrated for some time now in the “miserable funeral processions” on every so-called Good Friday. For this purpose, Jesus Christ’s resurrection is nailed down on “Sunday morning” at sunrise. Completely arbitrary, because the first day of the week started on Saturday late in the evening (after sunset). But the association “sunrise” on the “venerable day of the sun” seems more appropriate to the churches (Ecumenism – Info).

“He who loves me rejoices,” said Jesus Christ. But the pastors and priests of the churches regularly “howl” from the pulpit on the occasion of “Good Friday”. This takes place on a Gregorian date set by the Pope. But hardly any of these pastors and priests come up with the idea of ​​admonishing the congregation to recognize the reason for Jesus’ self-sacrifice, to repent, to turn around and to avoid it in the future.

Sadness and horror are appropriate

Not “whining and crying”, banning dancing and mourning music on the annual Good Friday, but “wearing ashes on the head and wearing sackcloth” after any sin for the genuine remorse and repentance shown! And this, if necessary, every day of the year. But no trace of this. Instead, these perpetrators in gowns, cassocks, surplices and stoles each preach their own understanding of the gospel. Either they talk about an “all-forgiving, tolerant God” or about the confessional, absolution, the rosary, indulgences and purgatory.

By the way: The words on the cross, “it is finished,” will be repeated by Jesus Christ (“it is done”) in Revelation 16:17 and Revelation 21:6. But then it will be too late for those who did not answer the final call to come out of Babylon (Info).

The sadness shown on Good Friday should therefore not primarily be directed at the component of God’s plan of salvation, but rather at one’s own inability and, in addition, a “healthy bit” of horror at one’s own transgression of one of God’s commandments. The people of the ancient people of Israel were required to kill the innocent, one-year-old sacrificial lamb with their own hands in order to internalize what sin actually means.

Bible verses from King James Version