The Christian holiday of Good Friday is known in both the Christian as well as the non-Christian world as the day when Jesus Christ was crucified and the day when he died on the cross at Calvary. Good Friday is one of the most important religious holidays in the Christian calendar and it marks the Friday before Easter Sunday when the forty0day long period of fasting, penance and prayer, i.e., Lent, officially ends. Even though the day is officially marked as a holiday in secular and Christian nations, some people are not too aware of the reason behind the celebration of the day itself. Here are a few reasons behind the celebration of Good Friday.
Marking the death of Christ
By most calculations, the day Jesus Christ was crucified fell on a Friday. By taking into account the “moon of blood” reference made by Apostle Peter in Acts 2:20 and using the eclipse and lunar Crucifixion darkness model that is based on an astronomical approach, the day of Christ’s crucifixion was Friday, the 3rd of April 33 A.D. Isaac Newton theorized that the crucifixion could be dated to 34 AD though most experts claim that the estimated year of the Crucifixion is accepted as AD 33.
To highlight and remember the sacrifice of Christ
Known as Black Friday, Great Friday, Holy Friday, the Friday in Easter Week, or Easter Friday, Good Friday primarily is remembered for being the day on which Jesus Christ was crucified and died on the cross. Since Christians believe that Christ knowingly suffered the torment and tortures so as to atone for the sins of mankind, the day of his death is seen as a day of immense sacrifice that the messiah made on behalf of his followers and all of mankind. The prayers that are offered on Good Friday also correspond to this sacrifice.
