This day is a day of remembrance, which according to Jewish custom began at the Passover meal the evening before. As often as we eat the bread and drink the cup we remember, and we celebrate, and we give thanks for our Lord’s death on the cross (1 Cor. 11:25-26). We will not be as those who, like Pilate, try to excuse ourselves from any responsibility. “It was my sin that held him there until it was accomplished,” and I will glory in the cross of Christ by whom the world is crucified unto me with all of its sin and suffering and sabotage (Gal. 6:14).
This “Good Friday” is good because of the gospel of Jesus Christ. On the surface it may seem grim, and we are no allusions, it was ugly and awful, and Jesus endured it all for the joy set before him (Heb. 12:2), but in the end it is the most wonderful and beautiful story of love ever known in the world. Yes, God so loved this world that he crucified his son by the fierce hands and angry hearts of the world who hated him so.