What’s So Good About Good Friday? – April 18, 2025

Read: John 19:17-30

Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
John 19:30

What’s So Good About Good Friday?

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

What’s so good about Good Friday?

Think about it. On Good Friday, Jesus went through so much pain. The soldiers spit on him. They beat him. They whipped him. They nailed his hands and feet to the cross.

On Good Friday, Jesus died.

On Good Friday, God the Father punished Jesus, his Son, for all the bad and hurtful things we do. On Good Friday, God the Father punished Jesus for all of the lies you’ve told your parents, for all the arguments you’ve had with your brothers and sisters, for all the bad things you’ve done at school or when nobody else was looking.

In that sense, we have to admit that what happened on Good Friday was our fault. It was our sins he carried. It was our punishment he took. On Good Friday, we have to face the scary truth about how much we’ve messed up—the bad stuff we deserve.

The day Jesus died was a dark Friday, a sad Friday—a really bad Friday.

So, why do we call it “Good” Friday? We call it Good Friday because Jesus wanted to do it. He didn’t have to, but he chose to do it because he loves you and me so much.

We call it Good Friday because when he died, Jesus won forgiveness for us. Our sins were nailed to that cross forever. God will never punish you because Jesus took your punishment instead. No matter how much you mess up, no matter how bad you think you are, God will always forgive you because of Jesus.

We call it Good Friday because we know the story doesn’t end there. Jesus died, but he didn’t stay dead. He came back to life on Easter Sunday. Jesus is alive! That means Jesus’ story had a happy ending.

And so does ours. Because Jesus died and came back to life, we will live too, even though we die. Because he died and rose again for us, we get to go to heaven!

Even though it’s hard to think about all the painful things Jesus went through on that dark Friday, we can be happy because of it. Because of what he did, we are forgiven. Because of what he did, we get to go to heaven.

That’s what’s so good about Good Friday.

Closing Prayer:

Dear Jesus, thank you for all that you suffered and sacrificed for us on that dark Friday 2,000 years ago. You are truly good. Amen.

The questions below are to help families discuss this devotion. The questions are divided by age group as suggestions, but anyone could reflect on any of the questions as they desire.

Questions for Younger Children

• What were some of the bad, painful things that people did to Jesus on the day he died?
• Jesus is God. He could have stopped them from hurting him. Why do you think he didn’t stop it?

Questions for Elementary Age Children

• When you hear about all the mean things people did to Jesus and how much he suffered, how does it make you feel?
• Why does it make you feel that way?

Questions for Middle School and Above

• Jesus said, “It is finished” before he died. What do you think he meant by “It is finished”?
• Think about this: Just like the day Jesus died, we can say that the day any Christian dies is a “good” day. Why do you think that is true?