What is Good Friday / Holy Friday?

Good Friday, also called “Holy Friday,” is the Friday immediately preceding Easter Sunday. It is traditionally celebrated as the day of Jesus’ crucifixion.


Many Christians celebrate Good Friday with a subdued service, usually in the evening. The singing of solemn hymns, the offering of prayers, Scripture readings, and a message on Christ’s suffering on our behalf are often part of a Good Friday service. Also, Christ’s death is remembered with the observance of the Lord’s Supper, or communion. Some Christian traditions enforce a strict fast on Good Friday, and worshipers wear black and cease from work, treating Good Friday as a day of mourning. In some countries, people bake hot cross buns and serve them to friends and family. However Christians choose to observe Good Friday, the great sacrifice of Christ should be the focus.

The death of Christ, commemorated on Good Friday, was unlike any other death. Jesus’ death was truly a sacrifice for sin: “For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus” (Romans 3:25–26, NLT).

The Bible does not instruct Christians to observe Good Friday; neither does it forbid such an observance. The Bible gives us freedom in these matters. Romans 14:5 says, “One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind.” Believers are to remember Christ’s death every time they observe the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper. Jesus’ words at the Last Supper are recorded in 1 Corinthians 11:24, 26: “Do this in remembrance of me. . . . For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”

What is “good” about Good Friday? What the Jewish authorities and Romans did to Jesus was definitely not good—it was evil (see Matthew chapters 26—27). The answer lies in the etymology of the English word good. In Middle English, the adjective gọ̄d held the sense of being “holy” or “sacred.” Before standardized spelling, the word also appeared as gode, goed, gude, goid, and good (Middle English Dictionary, Regents of the University of Michigan, 2025). The connotation of being “holy” is carried through in modern observances of “Good” Friday.

Beyond etymology, Good Friday can be called “good” because of the results of Christ’s death on the cross. Jesus’ sacrifice was a demonstration of God’s love for us (Romans 5:8). Through Jesus’ death, we can have peace with God: “While we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son” (Romans 5:10). As 1 Peter 3:18 says, “Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God” (NLT).

That first Good Friday, it seemed that evil was in control, but it was only a temporary arrangement. In fact, Jesus was clear that the powers of darkness were given divine permission to act against Him (Luke 22:53; cf. John 10:18). Jesus told Pilate, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above” (John 19:11). God allowed the hatred, the conspiracy, the false accusations, the sham trials, and the murder of His Son on Good Friday. Through the crucifixion of Christ, God used the basest desires of evil men to accomplish the greatest good: the provision of salvation for mankind. The result was glorious: “He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:12).

To learn more about the meaning of Good Friday and why Jesus’ death on the cross is so important to you, please see our article What does it mean to accept Jesus as your personal Savior?

Good Friday Calendar:
2025 — April 18
2026 — April 3