The Darkest, Most Beautiful Day: Reflections on Good Friday

All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
he opened not his mouth.

By oppression and judgement he was taken away,
and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people?

And they made his grave with the wicked,
and with the rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.

Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring, he shall prolong his days;
the will of the Lord shall prosper his hand.


Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.

Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he poured out his soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.

Isaiah 53:4-12

I have mixed feelings about Good Friday. Good Friday is the day on which the perfectly innocent, amazingly worthy, God Incarnate, was killed unjustly by the people He had been faithful to in covenant for two thousand years. More than that, He was abused, mocked, beaten, spit upon, and then tortured to death by the humanity he had created from mere dust. I am not exaggerating, and this is no hyperbole: Good Friday is the worst day in history. No day will eclipse its horror. No day will exceed its darkness. And yet, it is Good.

In nine verses of beautiful and gut-wrenching poetry, Isaiah teaches us exactly what is so good about Good Friday. Isaiah 53 is a chapter of tears: tears of joy and tears of grief. For the rest of this article, my goal isn’t any kind of deep analysis or clever observations; it is simply to reflect on the darkest, most beautiful day in history as Isaiah 53:4-12 reveals it. If you skipped the verses at the beginning, go back and read them now.

When I read this passage today, I found myself emotional. Not some sweet joy at the love of God but a riled-up frustration at the unfairness of the whole event. To quote a friend: “fairness means you get what you deserve” to which I would add “fairness means you immediately get what you deserve.”

When we read of Good Friday and the crucifixion of Jesus, we see the ultimate blow to fairness: “All we like sheep have gone astray” and yet in some horrific tragedy “the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” On the cross, there is no sign of you getting what you deserve. Christ died a sinner’s death, the worst sinners death. And the worst part is that it should’ve been me.

Why doesn’t this innocent lamb speak up? “He was oppressed and afflicted yet he opened not his mouth.” If only he had taken up a defense before the Sanhedrin, before Pilate, before the vicious crowds. If only he had shown them his innocence, his deity, his power. And yet, he declines to speak and in doing so is “led like a lamb to the slaughter.”

This injustice is brought further as the Servant of the Lord is given a grave amidst the wicked. Christ, crucified between two men whose crimes put them on the cross, dies an innocent man among monsters. “Although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth” the perfect Son of God had nails driven through his flesh and tendons and succumbed to the excruciating and perversely intricate death of crucifixion.

Why is Good Friday so dark to me? Because in a matter of hours the perfect, innocent, most compassionate, most loving, most powerful, most beautiful, most gracious, and most merciful person to ever walk upon the earth died a death while cruel haters of God lived long lives and died in their sleep.

When we remember Good Friday today, every year, and every time we take communion, we should be horrified at the cross and ask the most important question we foolish mortals could ask: “God, why?”

This is the right question because Jesus’ death was not some tragic accident or some victory of Satan; “It was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief.”

The answer to this question is why the worst day in history is also the greatest and most beautiful. We see that God was pleased to crush Jesus and Jesus saw and was satisfied by the work of the cross to reconcile sinners to God.

Jesus didn’t simply die, “he was stricken for the transgression of my people” and became “and offering for guilt”. Jesus didn’t die to make a point. He didn’t die to encourage us to live good lives. He didn’t die as a mere example or figurehead or any other creative explanation we can come up with.

Jesus died so that you can know your Creator. So you can rejoice in salvation. So that you can pursue that infinite Treasure. He died so you can live. The view from the cross then is one of victory.

“Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied” by justification. That is, while he bore our sin, he gave us his righteousness. He has made “many accounted righteous” and he has “borne the sin of many.”

Good Friday is so good because God accomplished His purpose on the earth and took broken, God-hating sinners like you and I, and drew us to Him through atonement, punishing Christ for our guilt by receiving the just reward of wrath, and through justification, reckoning or declaring us righteous in our unity with Christ.

On Friday, God took our place as sinners in the hands of a justly angry God.
On Friday, God was killed to satisfy the justice of God.
On Friday, God’s love for us was proven beyond any shade of doubt.
On Friday, God died that we might live with Him.

And on Sunday, He trampled upon death and rose from the grave as the King who had achieved the death of death and the victory over Satan and the conquest of the world.

Good Friday is a day of tears, both joyful and sorrowful, that gives way to a bright and beautiful Sunday among the justified.