Apologetics

Good FRIDAY

by Jide Oboise
04/14/17
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Commemoration of a day in the history of mankind, come to think of it; On a day that our Lord Jesus Christ was horribly assaulted, humiliated and crucified, you’d expect it to be named ‘ sombre day’  in remembrance of the horrific act of man’s INHUMANITY to man(?).

When God personally declared that “the heart of man is desperately wicked, who can know it”, this was no ordinary statement as we continue to see and experience in the world

There are many theories and speculations about the history and origin of the word GOOD in this particular Friday that precedes Easter. Pagan origins linked the word to the Druids and rituals,whenever they awaited sunrise to celebrate the spring equinox at Stonehenge in England. On Hilaria festival(linked with APRIL FOOLS day), the Romans honoured and worshipped their mother goddess, Cybele and son/lover (Attis) on March equinox. Many gods and goddesses in various traditional religions were deified after their death as humans, thereby they are worshipped for blessings and all sorts of provisions in man’s attempt to have extra help from the supernatural(great beyond) to succeed and always have an edge in the physical.

The Jewish Passover occurs at almost the same time as Easter celebrations, yearly; Passover is a celebration of the children of Israel’s deliverance by God from bondage in the land of Egypt, where they were slaves to the Egyptians. 
As instructed by God through an Angel of the Lord, the children of Israel put the blood of a lamb upon the doorposts of their houses.  The Old Testament states: "Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: you shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: and you shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.  And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door posts of the houses, wherein they shall eat it".  The lamb was to be roasted with fire, with bitter herbs and unleavened bread, and the household was to eat the lamb.  The people were to eat the lamb with haste and to be ready to leave Egypt that night.

At midnight that evening, death passed through the land.  Every house that did not have the blood on the doorpost suffered the judgement of God.  Passover literally means to "pass over".  Death passed over the doorposts covered with blood. Every Passover the Jewish people eat a meal called the Passover Seder.  The purpose of this meal is to remember their freedom from slavery in Egypt. 

The night before Jesus was crucified; He ate the Last Supper with His disciples.  This was actually a Passover Seder.  During the meal, Jesus instructed them to eat the bread and drink the wine in remembrance of Him.  The bread He said would be a symbol of His body, and the wine, His blood.

This is the purpose of Communion in the body- of- Christ, His church. 

Another Jewish holiday called the Feast of Unleavened Bread begins the day after Passover. This is a seven day festival where the Jews are to eat unleavened bread, called matzah. Unleavened bread is made without yeast.  On the night the Jews left Egypt, they ate unleavened bread.  Three days after the Passover is the Feast of First Fruits.  In the Old Testament, God commanded the people to bring in a sheaf of the harvest. This was called the sheaf of the first fruits, and the priest would take it and wave it before the Lord.  This is known as an agricultural harvest festival.  The nation of Israel was familiar with the concept of first fruits.  The first fruits were the choicest or the best of all that was to follow.  Everything was to be presented before the Lord as first fruits to Him. 

Christian tradition holds that Jesus Christ died on Good Friday and rose from the dead three days later on Resurrection Sunday, or Easter.

If Jesus died on the Passover and became the Passover Lamb, what happened three days later?  He resurrected from the dead.  The Feast of First Fruits is prophetic of the resurrection of Jesus.  Jesus said that He would rise three days after He was slain, which was on the day of the Feast of First Fruits.  Jesus is called the first fruits of those who rise from the dead.  The New Testament records: "But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept.  For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 

A holy Friday, a day that catapults THE event which led to the opportunity of a second chance to be saved from eternal damnation (redemption) Hebrews 9:22, (Leviticus 6:7; 17:11).

... When sin came into the world everything began to change - the very nature of creation was modified.  Man was now subject to death (Genesis 3:19). 

KARfreitag in German... sorrowful Friday and a couple of languages that translate to the meaning ‘sombre or solemn ’

Old English use of the word was interchangeable for, HOLY (1 Peter 1:16; Psalm 33:21; Mark 10:18)

This day in reality should be a day of sober reflections for the TRUE Christian. A day to visualise the horror meted out to and GREAT sacrifice of, the most HIGH God for mankind; to save those WHO CHOOSE from a certain damnable death because of the certain reward of sin that had separated us from God thereby robbing us off the initial natural life of bliss in eternity with our maker.