Jesus Christ was made to wear a crown of thorns, he was flogged and made to carry a cross on his shoulders all the way up to a mountaintop where he was crucified. All this on the Friday that preceded Easter Sunday,
It is marked as a solemn day which constitutes fasting and abstinence for most Christians.
So why do we commemorate the day as ‘Good Friday’?
There are two plausible explanations for the same.
The first one has to do with the Catholic Encyclopedia. According to an article published in 1907, the term originates from its German counterpart Gottes Freitag, which translates to God’s Friday. Apparently, the English term has since been corrupted to its present day form, which is Good Friday.
But this theory may not be true. Because the common German name for the day is Karfreitag which means Sorrowful Friday.
Which brings us to the second explanation which is widely accepted as the real reason behind the term.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, “good” in this context means “a day or season observed as holy by the church”.
The Friday that Jesus died led to Easter Sunday which marks the resurrection of Christ. Jesus gave up his own life so that Christians the world over may be saved from sin.
This is why the fateful Friday is referred to as ‘Good Friday’.
H/T – BBC