squashed:

Before criticising something, it is worth making an honest effort to understand it.  (The hating what you don’t understand schtick is a long human tradition, but not a particularly noble one.)  And if you want to mock Christians (and doesn’t everybody once in a while?) that means understanding understanding Good Friday.  It’s unquestionably one three most important Christian Holidays—and that should concern people, or at least make them wonder.

Christmas makes sense.  Baby Jesus.  Yay!

Easter makes sense.  Resurrection.  Triumph over death.  Yay!

But Good Friday?  The torture and slow death of our divine savior.  Um…yay?

Those who are not Christians often engage in Christian-patting.  Sure, they can believe whatever they want to believe—and we won’t try to dissuade them because first, it feels impolite, and secondly, what’s the harm?  The harm, of course, is crucifixion.  They strip your, drive blunt nails through your wrists and feet,  and hang you up on a pole to die.  And it can take days.  And yet Christianity doesn’t choose a bunny or something as a symbol, it chooses a cross, the symbol of suffering and death.  And this isn’t called “sad Friday” or “bad Friday,” It’s Good Friday.  Shouldn’t this be a bit disturbing?  Is this a religion or a death cult?

In fair disclosure, I’m a Christian—and I think Good Friday raises a lot of questions worth investigating.  I may share a few thoughts on the matter later, but for now, I wanted to throw open the discussion.

Good Friday is good from a Christian perspective because our place on the cross was taken, his death a substitute for ours. Torture and death is not good but the everlasting life that came as a result is. I believe that Good Friday is supposed to be a time of reflection - the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus’ death, symbolism of the blood covering over our sins and making us whole in Christ, and the fact that we are able to come before God’s throne in prayer because Jesus is our intercessory. Good Friday is about the grief and suffering of Jesus as he died on the cross, carrying the burdens of the world. But it is also about the possiblity that brought and the beauty of change and hope. Good Friday and Easter aren’t just two separate holidays close together on the calendar - they are connected. There wouldn’t be hope (Easter) without Death (Good Friday).