At the heart of history, on a hill called Golgotha outside the walls of Jerusalem, the greatest scene of divine love was written: Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, was crucified to redeem humanity from the bondage of sin and death. This is Good Friday — a day of sorrow, yes, but also a day of hope; a day of the Cross, yet in essence, a day of complete love.
The cross, once a tool of shame and torment, was transformed in Christ into a throne of the Kingdom and an altar of redemption. Jesus carried the cross not for any sin He had committed, but for the sins of the whole world. As the prophet Isaiah wrote: “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities…” (Isaiah 53:5).
In the cross we see the full revelation of divine love — a love without limits, one that moved Jesus to willingly offer Himself: “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:13). This is perfect sacrifice: God giving Himself on our behalf so that we may return to Him free and justified.
The Word Became Flesh: God With Us in Our Pain.
Good Friday is not just a commemoration of the crucifixion. It is also a proclamation of the mystery of the Incarnation. God did not remain distant in the heavens but “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). Jesus shared in everything human — in joy and sorrow, in hunger and fatigue, in cries and tears, even in death itself.
Christ’s suffering on the cross bears witness that God does not observe human suffering from afar — He enters into it. He is the God who understands human pain — not in theory, but through experience. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet He did not sin” (Hebrews 4:15).
In the peak of His agony, Christ forgave His executioners: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). From the cross, He opened the doors of forgiveness to all — to the thief on the right, to the soldiers, to all of humanity. This is the essence of Good Friday: love stronger than death, and forgiveness more powerful than hate.
Though Good Friday appears to be a day of grief, it is not the end of the story — it is its beginning. The cross is never separate from the resurrection. Christ’s death is the seed through which eternal life blossoms. Through His suffering, we passed from death to life, from darkness to light.
Good Friday calls us not only to weep for the crucified Christ but to open our hearts to the risen One — the One who loved us to the end and rose to give us life. It is a call to faith, to hope, and to walk with Jesus on the path of the cross, knowing that suffering is not the end, but the beginning of resurrection.
Let us carry our crosses each day with trust and hope, knowing that the One who died for us is alive, and that “the love of Christ compels us…” (2 Corinthians 5:14).
On Good Friday, we do not only see a raised cross — we hear the voice of divine love calling us: “Behold, I have loved you to the uttermost.”
