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Good Friday (March 29) is a solemn occasion for Christians. The day is one of remembrance, marking the crucifixion of Jesus Christ at the hands of the Romans. It is believed that Jesus rose from the dead the following Sunday, which is commemorated in the form of the joyous day of Easter.
Why does the holiday have the “Good” prefix despite its origins? What do legends say about the crucifixion and its fallout, and why does the date of Good change every year? We explain.
The story of Jesus Christ focuses on the ideals of sacrifice and forgiveness. Jesus of Nazareth (in present-day Israel) was believed to have lived a humble life as a carpenter more than 2,000 years ago. At the time, Judaism was the prevalent religion in the region and the Romans ruled the land.
Jesus began preaching messages of compassion and brotherhood. He gained a few followers in the process, but his criticism of the powerful classes for stifling the weak led the Roman authorities to arrest him. His preaching and questioning were also seen as a threat to the existing social, religious and political setup.
After a few years of spreading his ideas, Jesus went to Jerusalem for the Jewish holiday of Passover. He told his disciples during his final meal or The Last Supper that authorities would come after him soon. His disciple Judas Iscariot would betray his trust, leading the Romans to arrest him on charges of blasphemy and treason.
Jesus agonised on the cross for six hours and then gave up his spirit. In the evening, his body was taken down from the cross by a secret follower, who wrapped the body in a clean linen shroud, and placed it in his own new tomb that had been carved in the rock. The following Sunday, his tomb was found to be empty.
Since then, many people reported witnessing Jesus’s presence and these incidents were seen as proof of his divinity. This is why the Sunday that follows Good Friday is celebrated as Easter, marking the resurrection of Christ.
According to Harvard University’s Pluralism Project, “Those who have followed the path of Christ through the centuries have understood his life, death, and resurrection as a profound affirmation of God’s presence in the midst of humanity.”
Timothy Yonzon, a pastor at Triumphant Ministries in Kalimpong, West Bengal, says: “On this day, Jesus made a sacrifice for the sins of all of humankind. There is a universal flaw of guilt, which is a feeling all humans experience at one point in their lives. It comes from doing things one should not have, or not doing the things they should have. Forgiveness for such actions requires atonement.”
“Anyone can be forgiven easily, but to forgive someone has a price. For Jesus, to forgive the sins of all, he had to pay a price,” he added.
There are several theories as to why the word “Good” is associated with the day. Fiona MacPherson, senior editor at the Oxford English Dictionary, told the BBC earlier that in older times, it was thought the word simply “designates a day on (or sometimes a season in) which religious observance is held”. The report adds that The Oxford English Dictionary also explains “Good” in this context as referring to “a day or season observed as holy by the church”.
It also mentions a few other possible sources. The Baltimore Catechism, a US Catholic school text, says Good Friday is good because Christ “showed His great love for man, and purchased for him every blessing”.
The Catholic Encyclopedia suggests “God’s Friday” or Gottes Freitag in German as an origin. The report says further that the day was called “Long Friday by the Anglo-Saxons and is referred to as such in modern Danish”.
While the day of observance is fixed, the dates of Good Friday change every year depending on the full Moon. According to the Royal Museums Greenwich website, “The simple standard definition of Easter is that it is the first Sunday after the full Moon that occurs on or after the spring equinox.”
Based on the Earth’s position in its orbit around the Sun and the degree of its axis tilt, the spring equinox is the day when both the northern and southern hemispheres receive the same amount of light and darkness from the Sun.
But this is not an exact science. To set a date, March 21 is assumed to be the spring equinox every year, even though the “real” date may be a day early or later.
“The reasons for this are that the method is then independent of longitude on the Earth and is thus independent of time zone. It also allows the date of Easter to be calculated in advance regardless of the actual motion of the Earth around the Sun,” the website says.
Nevertheless, some denominations may follow different calendars. The Eastern Orthodox Church, dominant in countries such as Russia and Greece, sees Easter celebrated around late April or May, as they traditionally followed the Julian calendar.
Pastor Yonzon says that the day is observed through different traditions across geographies. In some places, a re-enactment of the crucifixion is done, or a Church service is held. “Essentially, Christ the Lord is remembered on the day, we pray and express our devotion through offerings, and feel gratitude for his sacrifice. His words and teachings are also recalled,” he says.
Several other days are also observed in this period. The first day of the Holy Week, the Sunday the week before Easter Sunday, is called Palm Sunday. It is when Jesus is believed to have entered Jerusalem, and where his followers heralded his presence with a procession of palm leaves.
