Good Friday
Jesus' suffering, crucifixion and death.
Bibelsk grunnlag
The trial before Pilate, Barabbas is released, Jesus is scourged and mocked (Matt 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, John 18-19). The carrying of the cross to Golgotha. The crucifixion between two thieves. The seven words from the cross, including "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34) and "It is finished" (John 19:30). Darkness over the land from the sixth to the ninth hour. The temple curtain tears in two. Jesus dies and is buried in Joseph's tomb.
Betydning
The cross is the atoning sacrifice — God's Lamb who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). "God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself" (2 Cor 5:19). The torn curtain shows that the way to God is now open for all. Jesus' death is not a defeat but a voluntary surrender: "No one takes my life from me, I lay it down of my own accord" (John 10:18). Good Friday without Easter Sunday is meaningless — but Easter Sunday without Good Friday is cheap.
GT-forbindelser
Isaiah 53 about the Lord's suffering servant: "He was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities." Psalm 22: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" — Jesus' cry from the cross. The Passover lamb in Exodus 12 — "not a bone of it shall be broken" (John 19:36). The bronze serpent Moses lifted up in the wilderness (Num 21:8-9, cf. John 3:14). Abraham's offering of Isaac on Moriah (Gen 22). Psalm 69 about the suffering righteous one.
Liturgisk kontekst
Black or purple color — the only day without communion in many traditions. The church is stripped and bare. The Passion narrative is read in its entirety. The cross is venerated or honored. Silence characterizes the day. The bells are silent from Maundy Thursday until Easter night.
Historie
Good Friday has been celebrated in Jerusalem since the 4th century with a procession along the Via Dolorosa. Egeria describes services from the sixth to the ninth hour (when Jesus hung on the cross). The name "Good Friday" may come from the "long" service or the "long" Friday of sorrow. In English, "Good Friday" — because the good (salvation) happens through the evil (the cross).