So, tomorrow’s Easter, huh? And that means yesterday must’ve been Good Friday. I see.

This is me most years the day before Easter. I don’t know about you, but Easter’s a weird holiday to me. I mean, I enjoy the family time, and I really love the egg hunt (yes, of course we still do that in my family), but the whole premise of Easter…meh. Easter’s kind of like the bookend to Christmas. For the whole salvation thing, Jesus had to die and be resurrected, hooray. I think you get my point.

what is good about Good Friday?

I feel like denoting the day that Jesus was crucified as good is a little morbid. I mean, come on! We all know it’s referring to Jesus, so what the heck? No, Good Friday has never made much sense to me. I don’t know why anyone would want to celebrate that day, much less call it “good.”

the goodness of Good Friday

However, all that presupposes I have any perception of what is good. And therein lies the breakdown of my understanding. Jesus, I get that You had to die and be resurrected, but why is Your crucifixion good?

“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” — John 15:13

So this is good? No, this is love, but love is good. My reaction to this paramount act of love, the fact that I really don’t give a flaming turd about my own salvation and redemption, shows that without a doubt I do not know love so great as this. I do not understand it in the least. And this realization is both magnificent and terrifying all at once.

the great love of Good Friday

If any of you out there reading have lost a child, then maybe you will understand the kind of love it took for the Father to willingly send His Son to the cross. Friends, our salvation, your salvation, my salvation, all meant that much to God. As awesome as Christmas is, Easter is the crescendo of the redemption story that is the history of the universe. Good Friday is good because God showed us the ultimate act of love that was followed by the ultimate display of victory on Easter. Easter is not a bookend, no it is the climax of this great story. It’s about time I started treating it as such.

Friends, do you find yourself a little lackluster toward Easter? Don’t beat yourselves up. Instead, remind yourselves of what Easter truly means to you and for you. Think about the incredible love God showed you, the immeasurable value He placed on you, and the painstaking detail it took to ensure Jesus would indeed be your Savior and Redeemer. Once we begin to realize these things, Easter can be no less than the greatest day in history. No less.