Every Christian knows the tale: Jesus Christ died and rose again for the forgiveness of his followers’ sins, promising them eternal life in heaven. Christians typically celebrate Jesus’s resurrection each spring on Easter Sunday. But Good Friday, which falls three days before Easter, doesn’t get the same attention: Only 12 states consider Good Friday an official holiday, and many people don’t know why they observe it to begin with. So what’s up with Good Friday?
Simply put, Good Friday is set aside for Christians to remember and mourn Jesus’s death. It was on this day that religious leaders arrested Jesus for claiming to be the son of God and King of the Jews, as the biblical story goes. The leaders sentenced Jesus to crucifixion, the highest form of criminal punishment at the time, for his teachings. Jesus was then beaten, forced to carry a heavy wooden cross through jeering crowds, and finally nailed to the cross by his wrists and feet where he hung until he died.
Given its grim origins, calling this holiday “Good Friday” probably sounds counterintuitive. But the word “good” has a different meaning here. In this context, it “designates a day on (or sometimes a season in) which religious observance is held,”. Put another way, the term refers to “a day or season observed as holy by the church,” per the OED.
So despite its name, Good Friday is a day for somber reflection. Each Friday before Easter, Christians solemnly honor the way Jesus suffered and died for their sins. They might attend a service that recounts Jesus’s painful crucifixion, and some even refrain from eating to show their sorrow. Churches strip their altars bare and muffle their bells as a sign of mourning.
