I once asked some people whether they thought it was strange that today is called "Good Friday." I mean, I understand that Jesus was dying for our sins and all of that, but would it have been remarkable, would Christianity even exist had he not resurrected on Sunday? In that sense, what is so good about Friday -- your god was tortured to death. Jesus didn't even want to go through with it, he knew it would suck so much.
Wouldn't a name like "Sacrifice Friday" or something make more sense?
The people I asked were offended by this. I'm not sure why exactly, as I think it's a fair question. If this really is offensive, could someone explain why? I'm really just commenting on what seems to be a strange word to describe what happened that day (not 3 days later, which was obviously very good, indeed).
Re: s/o Good Friday
http://catholicism.about.com/od/Good-Friday/f/Why-Is-Good-Friday-Good.htm
This is one explanation.
"Good" means "holy" in this case.
Think about it the other way - you won't wanna call it "Shitty Friday" either because Jesus was still performing and important task on that day.
Too funny. Now I will think of this...
Thanks, although I guess I just agree with the Germans more. "Suffering Friday" seems more correct, and doesn't downplay what he did for everyone.
I just get caught up on the fact that while I know Friday led to Sunday, without Sunday happening and him resurrecting, Friday would just be some crazy guy say he was dying for your sins and then just dying. I guess knowing the whole story it makes more sense to name it retroactively, but that's just not how it felt to Jesus at the time.
ETA: Thanks for the answers, everyone!