7 Things You Didn't Know About Good Friday

Good Friday was planned

“When Jesus became the atonement, it was all done. All that was yet left undone, became done. His death was the trigger, the catalyst, for these cataclysmic events to come. The resurrection, pentecost, the Lord’s return. Once that death happened, everything else was done in God’s eyes. It began our call to Kingdom and to looking forward. He wanted us to look ahead to his resurrection. He wanted us to look ahead to his return. He made it all complete, and there was no need to feel incomplete ever again. Death no longer has victory over our souls, because it is finished. Sin no longer is what we are painted with when God looks at us, because it is finished.

Jesus was actually betrayed twice

First, Judas Iscariot accepted 30 pieces of silver to take Jesus’ enemies to the quiet place in the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus often prayed at night. Judas then changed his mind, but could not undo his betrayal. So, he hung himself. Only hours later, Peter the apostle was asked if he was a follower of Jesus. Scared, he denied it. Again he was asked, he proclaimed that he didn’t know Jesus. When asked a third time, he cursed aloud and shouted that he was not a follower of the arrested criminal suspect. As he shouted the words, Jesus was led through the courtroom and looked up at Peter, His face stricken by one of His most faithful followers’ denial.

Peter’s Good Friday betrayal transformed him

Horrified at his own cowardice, Peter wept bitter tears and repented. He was forgiven and went on to become one of the greatest evangelists in history and preached the first altar call – in such a powerful sermon on the Day of Pentecost that 3,000 people responded and were baptized. He then became one of the great leaders of the early church and, according to the Catholic church, was martyred in Rome. When the Romans began to nail him to a cross, Peter told them he was unworthy to die in the same way as Jesus. So, the soldiers mockingly crucified him upside down. For hundreds of years, persecuted Christians quietly tended his gravesite and when Christianity was finally legalized during the reign of Emperor Constantine, Peter’s bones were disinterred and the great cathedral, St. Peter’s Basilica, was built over them. Today, the Vatican has what they believe are his remains, found several years ago in a simple crypt deep below the great cathedral’s altar.

Don’t eat between noon and 3 p.m. on Good Friday

Fasting and abstinence are traditional on Good Friday, writes Akin. Why? Because this was a day when God Almighty living among us was betrayed, humiliated, tortured, repudiated by the crowds that had cheered him only days before, then killed as a common criminal. Tradition has it that Jesus hung on the cross from noon until 3 p.m. This was a terrible three hours during which mankind turned its back on the Savior of the World. This was humanity’s lowest moment in history. God sent us redemption. We shrugged it off. To remember those terrible three hours, many abstain from enjoyable things and do not eat anything. Why? To remember. To mourn. To be sorry for all the times we each have failed to stand up for what is right or to declare that we believe in Jesus and embrace Him as our Savior.

Good Friday services happen during these hours

In Catholic churches, writes Akin, since the mass is not celebrated, what does happen? In the ceremony known as the Celebration of the Lord's Passion, there is Bible reading, a time for members of the congregation to touch the cross and pray. Then, there is a communion service using bread and wine saved from a service the previous day. While some services take place after 3 p.m., the Catholic “Paschales Solemnitatis” notes: “The Celebration of the Lord's Passion is to take place in the afternoon, at about three o'clock.” The time will be chosen which seems most appropriate for pastoral reasons in order to allow the people to assemble more easily, for example shortly after midday, or in the late evening, however not later than nine o'clock.

Should the Church be OK with These Sins?

Are these sins destroying your church’s mission? Read next feature >