What is Good about 'Good Friday' and why do we eat Fish?

Why is it called Good Friday and why do we eat hot cross buns and fish?

Good Friday is the day Christians remember when Jesus was crucified on the cross. It is an important day in the Christian calendar.

When is Good Friday?

Good Friday is the Friday before Easter Sunday (Easter Day). The date of Good Friday changes every year.

The Anglo-Saxon name for Good Friday was Long Friday, due to the long fast imposed upon this day.

Good Friday was not celebrated as the day Christ died until the 4th century AD.

Why is it called Good Friday?

The name may be derived from 'God's Friday' in the same way that goodbye is derived from 'God be with ye'.

Jesus was arrested and handed over to the Roman soldiers to be beaten and flogged with whips. A crown of long, sharp thorns was put upon his head and he was forced to carry his own cross outside the city to Skull Hill. He was so weak after the beating that a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene, was pulled from the crowd and forced to carry Jesus' cross the rest of the way.

One there, Jesus was nailed to the cross. Two other criminals were crucified with him, their crosses were on either side of him. A sign above Jesus read "The King of the Jews."

Christians believe that Jesus stood in our place. His death paid the penalty not for his own wrong doings but for ours.

What happens on Good Friday today?

Since the early 19th century, before the introduction of bank holidays, Good Friday and Christmas Day were the only two days of leisure which were almost universally granted to working people. Good Friday today is still a public holiday and many businesses close.

Many Christians stage Walks of Witness, spreading the Good word as they carry a cross through streets.

Some Christians fast on Good Friday. This helps them remember the sacrifice Jesus made for them on the day of crucifixion. In the same way, fish is often eaten as a substitute for meat.

It is also traditional to eat warm hot cross buns on Good Friday. Hot Cross Buns with their combination of spicy, sweet and fruity flavours have long been an Easter tradition, with the pastry cross on top of the buns symbolising and reminding Christians of the cross that Jesus was killed on.

They were once sold by street vendors who sang a little song about them.

"Hot cross buns, Hot cross buns, One a penny, two a penny, Hot cross buns."

What happens on Easter Sunday?

Christians often gather on Easter Sunday for a service at sunrise to mark the resurrection from the dead of Jesus three days after his execution.

The traditional Easter gift is a chocolate egg, a symbol of rebirth and new life, as Jesus.

The first eggs given at Easter were birds eggs. These eggs were painted in bright colours to give them further meaning as a gift. As chocolate became more wide spread in the 20th Century, a chocolate version of the traditional painted egg was developed. The size of the chocolate egg has grown over the years and is now more likely to be the size of an ostrich egg rather than a small birds egg.

Another foodstuff eaten at Easter is the Simnel cake.

It is a rich fruitcake covered with a thick layer of almond paste (marzipan). A layer of marzipan is also traditionally baked into the middle of the cake. Eleven balls of marzipan are placed around the top to represent the 11 true disciples (excluding Judas who betrayed Jesus).

Originally, though, the Simnel cake was a gift to mothers on Mothering Sunday in mid Lent.

Whats Good about Good Friday?

Why do we call Good Friday “good,” when it is such a dark and bleak event commemorating a day of suffering and death for Jesus?

For Christians, Good Friday is a crucial day of the year because it celebrates what we believe to be the most momentous weekend in the history of the world. Ever since Jesus died and was raised, Christians have proclaimed the cross and resurrection of Jesus to be the decisive turning point for all creation. Paul considered it to be “of first importance” that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and was raised to life on the third day, all in accordance with what God had promised all along in the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3).

On Good Friday we remember the day Jesus willingly suffered and died by crucifixion as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins (1 John 1:10). It is followed by Easter, the glorious celebration of the day Jesus was raised from the dead, heralding his victory over sin and death and pointing ahead to a future resurrection for all who are united to him by faith (Romans 6:5).

Still, why call the day of Jesus’ death “Good Friday” instead of “Bad Friday” or something similar? Some Christian traditions do take this approach: in German, for example, the day is called Karfreitag, or “Sorrowful Friday.” In English, in fact, the origin of the term “Good” is debated: some believe it developed from an older name, “God’s Friday.” Regardless of the origin, the name Good Friday is entirely appropriate because the suffering and death of Jesus, as terrible as it was, marked the dramatic culmination of God’s plan to save his people from their sins.

In order for the good news of the gospel to have meaning for us, we first have to understand the bad news of our condition as sinful people under condemnation. The good news of deliverance only makes sense once we see how we are enslaved. Another way of saying this is that it is important to understand and distinguish between law and gospel in Scripture. We need the law first to show us how hopeless our condition is; then the gospel of Jesus’ grace comes and brings us relief andsalvation.

In the same way, Good Friday is “good” because as terrible as that day was, it had to happen for us to receive the joy of Easter. The wrath of God against sin had to be poured out on Jesus, the perfect sacrificial substitute, in order for forgiveness and salvation to be poured out to the nations. Without that awful day of suffering, sorrow, and shed blood at the cross, God could not be both “just and the justifier” of those who trust in Jesus (Romans 3:26). Paradoxically, the day that seemed to be the greatest triumph of evil was actually the deathblow in God’s gloriously good plan to redeem the world from bondage.

The cross is where we see the convergence of great suffering and God’s forgiveness. Psalms 85:10 sings of a day when “righteousness and peace” will “kiss each other.” The cross of Jesus is where that occurred, where God’s demands, his righteousness, coincided with his mercy. We receive divine forgiveness, mercy, and peace because Jesus willingly took our divine punishment, the result of God’s righteousness against sin. “For the joy set before him” (Hebrews 12:2) Jesus endured the cross on Good Friday, knowing it led to his resurrection, our salvation, and the beginning of God’s reign of righteousness and peace.

This story is from Christianity.com