Good Friday, Godly Sorrow

Good Friday, the low point of Easter weekend, is a time to remember the sacrifice that Jesus gave and our absolute need for him to do so. “Of course, the church has always understood that the day commemorated on Good Friday was anything but happy. Sadness, mourning, fasting, and prayer have been its focus since the early centuries of the church. … Many Christians have historically kept their churches unlit or draped in dark cloths. Processions of penitents have walked in black robes or carried black-robed statues of Christ and the Virgin Mary. … Yet, despite—indeed because of­—its sadness, Good Friday is truly good. Its sorrow is a godly sorrow” (Chris Armstrong, “The Goodness of Good Friday,” Christianity Today, August 8, 2008, https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/2008/august/goodness-of-good-friday.html).