Every year Christians around the world pause to remember the day Jesus Christ was crucified. The day is commonly called Good Friday, a name that seems almost contradictory. There was nothing humanly good about the suffering, injustice, and death that took place that day. Yet what God accomplished through the cross changed the course of human history forever. To understand why Christians speak of this day with reverence and gratitude, we must understand what the Bible says happened at the cross.
The Cross and the Meaning of Redemption
One of the central biblical words used to describe what happened at the crucifixion is redemption.
The word itself comes from the language of the marketplace. In the ancient world, redemption referred to the price paid to buy something back or to secure the release of a slave or captive. It described a transaction in which a payment was made so that someone who was bound could be set free.
The Bible uses that language deliberately to explain what Jesus accomplished at the cross.
Humanity is not merely flawed or misguided. Scripture describes us as enslaved to sin.
Jesus Himself said,
“Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.”
(John 8:34)
Sin is not simply a mistake—it is a bondage. It enslaves the human heart, corrupts our desires, and places us under the just and righteous judgment of God.
Because God is perfectly holy and just, sin carries a penalty. Romans 6:23 explains that the wages of sin is death. No amount of human effort, morality, or religious activity can erase that debt.
That is where redemption enters the story.
The Price That Was Paid
The Bible makes it clear that redemption always involves a price.
Peter writes,
“You were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold… but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”
(1 Peter 1:18–19)
The cross is where that price was paid.
Jesus did not simply die as a martyr or moral example. He died as a substitute. The punishment that justice demanded fell upon Him instead of upon those who would believe in Him.
The Apostle Paul explains it this way:
“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses.”
(Ephesians 1:7)
The blood of Christ—the giving of His life—became the payment that secures forgiveness.
Redemption Reveals Both Justice and Love
The cross shows that God does not ignore sin.
Justice had to be satisfied.
But the cross also reveals something even more remarkable: the one who paid the price was God Himself in the person of His Son.
Paul writes,
“God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
(Romans 5:8)
Redemption means that the debt we could never pay was paid by another.
What Redemption Accomplishes
Because of the cross, those who trust in Christ are no longer under the slavery of sin or the condemnation of the law.
Scripture says,
“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us.”
(Galatians 3:13)
The believer is forgiven, reconciled to God, and brought into a new relationship with Him.
Redemption is not merely the removal of guilt. It is the restoration of a person to God.
From the Cross to the Empty Tomb
The cross is where redemption was purchased.
The resurrection is where that redemption was publicly validated—the declaration that the payment had been made in full.
When Jesus rose from the dead, it demonstrated that the payment had been accepted and the power of death had been broken.
This is why the message of the gospel centers on both the cross and the resurrection.
The cross shows the price of redemption.
The empty tomb shows the victory of redemption.
And together they proclaim the good news: sinners can be forgiven, reconciled, and brought back to God through Jesus Christ.
The Irony of Good Friday
This is why the name Good Friday carries such profound irony. And remember, the scriptures do not refer to it as “Good Friday” – that is a man-made title that came centuries later. It’s thought that the original understanding of “Good” was “Holy” at that time, which is why some churches call the day of Christ’s crucifixion, “Holy Friday”.
In today’s context, good means something desirable, or righteous, or having sufficient qualities needed for a particular purpose or role. It has only a positive connotation. Thus, today, this is how it sounds when we say Good Friday. And there are certainly some ways in which it fits, however imperfectly it does so.
The goodness of that day is not found in what happened to Jesus. The events themselves were the darkest moments humanity has ever produced—betrayal, injustice, cruelty, and the execution of the only sinless man who has ever lived – God the Son in human flesh.
The goodness lies in what God accomplished through it.
At the cross, our redemption was purchased. The price required to rescue sinners from the bondage of sin was paid in full. But that price was not silver, gold, or any earthly treasure.
The price was the life of the Son of God, Jesus, Messiah.
Yet the cross does not only reveal the cost of redemption. It also reveals the depth of the love of God.
Scripture tells us,
“God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
(Romans 5:8)
This is the staggering reality of the cross: Christ did not die for friends who had been faithful to Him. He died for sinners who had rebelled against Him.
Humanity did not seek reconciliation with God. God Himself initiated it.
The cross shows us that redemption was not merely a legal transaction—it was an act of divine love beyond human comprehension.
And in that moment something occurred that had never happened in all eternity.
The Father and the Son—who had existed in perfect eternal fellowship — experienced the terrible reality of separation as Christ bore the sins of the world.
When Jesus cried,
“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
He was experiencing the judgment that sin deserves.
The separation we created through our rebellion fell upon Him.
The only time the Godhead would ever experience such separation happened there—because the Son was bearing the sins of humanity.
This is why Good Friday is both good and unbearably sobering.
Good, because redemption was secured. Love was demonstrated perfectly.
Sobering, because the cost was beyond anything we could ever repay or even fully comprehend.
The goodness of God shines through the cross—but it shines through the greatest sacrifice imaginable.
And that sacrifice reveals the immeasurable love of God. The cross tells us that God did not merely love humanity in word. He loved us in action, at the highest cost possible.
And that sacrifice is what makes the hope of Resurrection Sunday possible.
Because the price of redemption was paid on Friday, the victory of new life could be declared on Sunday.
The cross shows us how serious our sin truly is.
The cross also shows us how deep God’s love truly goes.
And the empty tomb declares that this love has triumphed over sin and death forever.
But pause for a moment and consider the staggering weight of what happened at the cross. The Creator entered His own creation and allowed the very people He formed from the dust to nail Him to a cross. The One who gave life to humanity endured death at human hands. The Holy One bore the sin of the guilty. The Judge of all the earth stood in the place of the condemned. At the cross, justice and mercy met in a way the world had never seen before. The wrath that should have fallen upon sinners fell upon the Savior instead. And the love that moved Him to endure it all was not drawn out by our goodness, but by God’s own grace and mercy. The cross therefore stands as both the darkest expression of human sin and the brightest revelation of divine love.
The cross shows us what our sin deserved—and what God’s love was willing to pay.
The Right Response to Redemption
The right response to our redemption is multifaceted…
Relief, we were saved from certain suffering and death.
Gratitude, we could not save ourselves, and the very one whom we sinned against, the very one who rightly sentenced us to death, is also the very one who paid that price for us and bought us with his life.
Worship, Jesus alone is worthy to pay our debt. God the Father accepted his sacrifice in our place. God the Spirit convicted us of our sin and our need for the sacrifice of Christ
Solemnity, the cost was so great. It cost Jesus His very life. It cost the Father his own beloved son. It was a horrible mistreatment of God the Son. From gory to glory.
Somber Reflection, realizing the cost Jesus paid to purchase us from the grip of death and hell. Understanding the pain the Father and the Son and the Spirit experienced as Jesus took on our sin, experiencing relational separation from the Father until payment was made. The cross involved unimaginable suffering—physical agony, emotional torment, public humiliation. Yet the deepest suffering was spiritual. There, the wrath of God against sin was poured out upon the innocent Savior. All because of our sins.
Joy, we belong to God now. Our future is secure. Sin is no longer our master. We belong to God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We will live forever in the presence of God, in the place He has prepared for His people—a place perfectly suited for those He created and redeemed. It is prepared by the One who made us and knows us perfectly.. That knows us perfectly. It will be perfectly made to engage every part of our existence without end to God’s glory which we will constantly proclaim and worship.
Life Service – we literally owe God our lives, amen?
12 Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, [a]acceptable to God, which is your [b]spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this [c]world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may [d]prove what the will of God is, that which is good and [e]acceptable and perfect.
(Romans 12:1-2)
So such as we are, which isn’t a lot, which is why it must be by His mercies, we offer ourselves to God for His use and purposes and to His glory.
How? By resisting this world, and letting God transform us by redeeming, by fixing, by changing our damaged minds so that we will be able to show the world the will of God. Those things that are good and acceptable to God, and perfect, meaning complete.
What an amazing change to our lives, conducting our spiritual service of worship not just by what we say, sing or celebrate, but by everything we think and do as God transforms us.
In the end, the cross leaves no room for indifference. It reveals the depth of our sin, the cost of our redemption, and the immeasurable love of God. The Son of God was crucified so that sinners could be forgiven, redeemed, and brought back to the God who made them. Good Friday reminds us what our sin required. Resurrection Sunday reminds us that the payment was accepted. And together they proclaim the greatest news the world has ever heard: Jesus Christ died for sinners and rose again, and all who turn to Him will have eternal life.
And it is all possible because of what happened on that “Good” Friday.
Perhaps a more fitting name would have been Redemption Friday, because on that day the price of our salvation was paid in full.
God bless,
Pastor Dean
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