Good Friday is Friday just before Easter Sunday. It is traditionally celebrated as the day on which Jesus was crucified. If you are interested in a study of the subject, consult our article that discusses the different positions on the day Jesus was crucified. Assuming that Jesus was crucified and died on Friday, should Christians remember the death of Jesus through the celebration of Good Friday?
The Bible does not instruct Christians to honor a certain day in memory of the death of Christ. However, the Bible gives us the freedom to make decisions about these matters. Romans 14: 5 tells us: "One makes a difference between day and day, another judge equals every day, each has a well-defined opinion in his own mind." Instead of reminding us of the death of Christ on a given day, once a year, the Bible teaches us to celebrate the death of Christ through the Lord's Supper. 1 Corinthians 11: 24-26 declares: "... do this in memory of me ... For as often as you eat this Bread and drink the cup, proclaim the death of the Lord, until he comes.
Why is Good Friday known as "of the Passion"? What the Jewish and Roman authorities did with Jesus was definitely not a good thing (see Matthew chapters 26-27). However, the results of Christ's death are very good and demonstrate the great Passion of God for us. Romans 5: 8 says: "But God tests his own love for us because of the fact that Christ died for us, while we are still sinners." I Peter 3:18 tells us: "For Christ also died once for sins, the just for the unrighteous, to lead you to God, dead, yes, in the flesh, but quickened in the spirit.
Some Christian churches celebrate Good Friday with some special events, while others make their services simpler than usual through solemn hymns, prayers of thanksgiving, messages that have as theme the suffering of Christ for our cause and through observance of the Lord's Supper. If Christians choose to "celebrate" Good Friday, the events of that day must always be in our minds because the death of Christ on the cross is the fundamental event of the Christian faith.