He Is Risen · Stop 3
Why did Jesus die, and why do we call that Friday good?
It's the hardest day of the church year. Jesus was arrested, beaten, and nailed to a cross. He died. Christians call it Good Friday. Today you'll find out why the worst day became the best news.
Start this stopGood Friday
On Friday, the Roman governor Pontius Pilate sentenced Jesus to death on a cross. Crosses were how Rome executed people it wanted to shame. Most of Jesus' friends ran away. A few women stayed until the end.
For centuries, many Christians blamed Jewish people for Jesus' death. That is wrong, and it has led to terrible harm. The ELCA rejects it. Jesus was Jewish, and so were his friends. The creed names the Roman governor. And Christians confess that Jesus died for the sins of all of us.
Why did he die? The Bible uses many pictures. In The Freedom of a Christian, Luther pictured it like a wedding, a happy exchange: Jesus takes our sin and death, and gives us his goodness and life. Christians hear Jesus in Isaiah's words about a suffering servant: by his bruises we are healed.
Luther also said God is found in the places we least expect: in weakness, suffering, and a cross. So when you're hurting, you aren't far from God. Jesus died for us, and he stays with us in the hard places. That's why Christians call this day good.
Read it in your Bible
- Mark 15:33–39. Darkness covers the land at noon. Jesus cries out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” and dies. The curtain in the temple tears in two. A Roman soldier who watched says, “Truly this man was God's Son!”
- Isaiah 53:4–5. The prophet describes a servant who carries our pain and our sorrows. He was wounded for what we did wrong. His punishment brought us peace, and by his bruises we are healed.
The Second Article, from Luther's Small Catechism
I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord.
What does this mean? I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my Lord, who has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil, not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death, in order that I may be His own, and live under Him in His kingdom, and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, even as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity. This is most certainly true.
Words to know
- Cross. The wooden beam where Jesus died, now the main sign of Christian faith. A sign of shame became a sign of love. Lutherans wear it, sing it, and trace it at Baptism.
- Pilate. The Roman governor who sentenced Jesus to death, named in the creed. Naming him says this really happened, at a real time and place.
- Redeemed. Luther's word for what Jesus did for us: bought back and set free. Not with money, Luther said, but with his own life.