When I was a kid, Good Friday was super confusing to me.
I regularly got my significant Fridays mixed up and would end up calling it “Black Friday.” (You know, like—the sky went dark. You wear black at funerals. That kind of thing.)
I can’t be the only one who got this twisted, right?
My parents would explain it to me yet again, but I would still protest that it would make much more sense if Good Friday was when there were good sales at stores and Black Friday was when we were sad about Jesus dying.
Anyone else? Just me? Okay.
See, when you’re a kid, the math goes like this: Sad = Bad. Happy = Good.
In one sense, that math works. God never designed this world for sadness and grief. And He wants us to be happy in the deepest sense of the word.
Yet, sadness and grief are not bad in and of themselves. In fact, they are often incredibly appropriate responses to evil in our world.
So, the math gets a little more complicated. More like: Bad = Sad.
And then, of course, the kicker is that, sometimes, Good = Sad too.
As we grow older, we begin to learn that joy and grief can be mingled. And that heroic and beautiful endeavors can come at great expense.
Think back to your favorite story—I would bet that there is some moment in the narrative where everything hinges on a great risk or sacrifice.
And yet, these are the stories that matter most to us. These are the stories we call “good.”
When we humans brought sin and darkness into this world, sadness was a given. Since then, it’s never required a genius to look around and realize that things are not as they should be.
Injustice. Lust. Greed. Murder. Selfishness. To add to the list, we can each just look inside our own hearts.
God was not content with this arrangement.
So, in a turn of events that could only have been orchestrated by our King, evil was turned against itself.
On Golgotha, the cycle of sin and violence was doing what it always does best and filling the world with its byproducts of gloom.
But then it encountered a “victim” unlike any it had met before.
This time, a variable was added to the equation.
Jesus.
Friday-Sunday was a dark time. Many doubted and evil smugly celebrated.
But then, Sunday came.
The stone rolled away from the tomb and right into the gears of darkness that had been humming along since the fall of mankind.
It’s beautifully chaotic when redemption interrupts the cycle of evil.
Because now, the equation has become alarmingly unstable for the powers of darkness.
Evil is still good at producing sadness. But redemption can take that sadness and transform it into a story of victory and hope.
Because of Jesus.
Because He defeated evil and removed its power to define our story. He rose again and is alive forever. And He wants to share that resurrection life with us.
So, yes.
While we celebrate the big reveal on Sunday, we can sincerely call this Friday, “Good.”
Daniel Heffington grew up in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Pro-life advocacy caused him to become active in state politics as a young homeschooler. Now in his role as Communications Manager for Generation Joshua, Daniel leads publications, marketing, and messaging efforts for a national nonprofit. His background in small business, grassroots politics, and ministry has prepared him to tackle multifaceted challenges and opportunities for the organization. Daniel has a passion for ministry and healthy leadership and has a heart for equipping young people to change the world. He loves meeting new people and helping to create life-giving cultures for teams accomplishing great missions. Daniel is also a worship leader, recording artist, and coffee enthusiast. He lives in Berryville, Virginia with his wife, Abigail, and their daughters: Ellie and Piper. Follow Daniel on Facebook, Twitter, Spotify, and Instagram.