Good Friday is a religious holiday that is celebrated by Christians around the world. Although this holiday is not directly derived from scripture, it coincides with the Jewish Passover and takes place during the Holy Week. In Christianity, the Holy Week marks the week when Jesus entered Jerusalem in the scriptures. This is the last week of Lent and the beginning of Easter, based on the Paschal Triduum (the three days marking the passion, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus).
The first congregation of Christians consisted of native Jews, Jewish Proselytes, and pagans from different countries and sects. Each of these groups brought to the church some of their old beliefs, prejudices, and practices. The groups sought to incorporate their practices into Christian worship and the doctrine of Christianity. Although the Apostles were against such unions, it is possible that after their death some of the practices seeped into the church. Good Friday anThe first congregation of Christians consisted of native Jews, Jewish Proselytes, and pagans from different countries and sects. Each of these groups brought to the church some of their old beliefs, prejudices, and practices. The groups sought to incorporate their practices into Christian worship and the doctrine of Christianity. Although the Apostles were against such unions, it is possible that after their death some of the practices seeped into the church. Good Friday and other church holidays were set years after the death of the apostles. There are no mentions of Easter until in the 2nd century. During this time, different regions celebrated Easter and Good Friday at different times. Jesus was crucified during the Jewish Passover week. Based on this knowledge, Christians in Asia would celebrate the holiday on the fourteenth day of the moon based on the law of Moses or on whatever date the full moon was seen. The Christians upheld the celebration of Easter by spreading the tradition that St. John and St. Paul also observed the holiday. As a result, Western churches would observe Good Sunday on the fourteenth day of the full moon in March.
Around the 190th year in Rome, the bishop of the time, Victor I excommunicated the Christians who celebrated Easter on the fourteenth day of the full moon. However, these Christians were defiant and continued to adhere to these dates. In the year 314, the church leaders held a meeting and decreed that all churches should celebrate Easter on the Sunday after the fourteenth day of the moon in March. Eleven years after this council’s meeting in Nice, Emperor Constantine enforced the holiday by law that Easter should be celebrated on the Sunday after the fourteenth day after both the full moon and the equinox. However, uniformity on the exact dates to celebrate the holiday was still an issue as the Christians in the East and the Christians in the West still celebrated the holiday at different times, as a result of the different appearances of the full moon.
In the 17th century, the King of England finally ended the case for Easter Sunday. The king was raised by Scotch Monks. As a result, he celebrated Easter Sunday based on the Asian calendar. The king’s wife, on the other hand, would celebrate Easter Sunday based on the Western calendar. This difference resulted in confusion. When the King was celebrating Easter, his queen would be fasting in honour of the crucifixion of Jesus. To end this confusion, the King held a meeting with the clergy of the churches. The church was divided based on differing views with one group basing their argument on the traditions derived from St. John and another group basing their argument from the tradition derived from St. Peter. However, the king argued that since St. Peter held the keys to the kingdom, Easter should fall on Sunday based on mathematical calculations of the clergy’s following the traditions of St. Peter. Good Friday was also selected based on similar principles. Good Friday is part of the Paschal Triduum, or the Friday before Easter Sunday.
In Anglican, Lutheran, Reformed and Methodist traditions the Paschal Triduum occurs between the two liturgical events of Easter and Lent in the Church calendar. Contrarily, in the Catholic tradition, since the reforms introduced by Pope Pius XII in 1955, the Easter Triduum is distinguished as being separate from the other liturgical events. Good Friday is also Known as Black Friday or Sorrowful Friday. During this day, Christians would fast and offer penance in commemoration of the crucifixion and death of Jesus. Based on the Synoptic Gospels, Jesus had the last supper with his disciples on the evening before his crucifixion during the Passover Seder. This means that Jesus died on the 15th Nisan based on the Jewish calendar. This is the first day (beginning at Sundown) at the Passover. The 15th Nisan would be on April 7th in the Gregorian calendar. Contrarily, the Gospel of John states that Passover had not started when Jesus had the last supper. This would mean that Jesus died on the 14th Nisan of the Jewish calendar. However, for uniformity, Good Friday is set on a flexible date based on the Jewish lunisolar calendar. It was in the 4th century that the arguments concerning when to celebrate Good Friday ceased. Prior to the 4th century, the crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Jesus were celebrated in one single commemoration during the eve of Easter. However presently, these holidays are celebrated on different dates with Easter Sunday being the pivotal event of the holiday.
The liturgical celebrations of Good Friday have gone through several changes over the centuries. In the Roman Catholic tradition, a liturgy is performed on this day, however, there is no mass. At the beginning of the middle ages, only the officiating priest took the Holy Communion which was consecrated in the mass occurring in Maundy Thursday. Starting in 1955, common people began communing on Good Friday. The Liturgy held on Good Friday consisted of reading the passion narrative in the gospel, the communion, and the adoration of the cross. In the 17th century, after the earthquake in Peru, a three-hour service consisting of a prayerful meditation of Christ’s seven last words on the cross was introduced to the Catholic liturgy by the Jesuits. This prayer takes place from noon to 3 p.m. A similar service occurs in the Eastern Orthodox tradition where no communion is taken on Good Friday.
In the Anglican tradition, believers engage in the taking of the sacrament that was consecrated the day before. This communion is followed by a three-hour service. A variety of liturgical services are also held in Protestant churches. Since the latter half of the 20th century, there has been an emphasis on liturgical trends in the Protestant churches. Some churches have also adopted Catholic rituals such as the baring of the altar or the draping of the cross.
Although the place of birth, parents and the life of Jesus were documented in the scriptures, the exact dates of his birth and resurrection were not documented. As a result, the dates selected to mark his birth (Christmas) and his death (Good Friday) were purely set by the Church.
The dates of Easter are set by mathematical calculations based on the sighting of the full moon that falls on or after March 21st. The Paschal full moon determined by the Catholic Church set the dates of the year in which Easter would fall. Therefore, based on the church, March 21st is the church’s date of the Equinox irrespective of the exact geographical event (the equinox can fall between March 19th and 21st depending on the time zone). The times in which the March equinox and the Paschal full moon do not coincide with the astronomical timeline of these events, confusion about the date of the holiday can be an issue.
The 2019 Easter holiday is a good example of the issue regarding the date of the holiday. In 2019, the paschal full moon was on 20th whereas the March equinox was on 21st. The closeness of these events would mean that Easter should have been celebrated on April 21st. However, Easter was set based on the next ecclesiastical full moon which appeared on April 18th. The Metonic cycle determines the week selected to celebrate the holiday. According to this cycle, the Paschal full moon tends to occur on a recurring format of 19 dates ranging from March 21st to April 18th. Since Easter occurs on the Sunday after the paschal full moon, it occurs between the dates of March 22nd and April 25th.
Good Friday has an intense religious connotation. This is because of the religious significance of the passion of Christ. In the Catholic Church, weddings are prohibited on this day as well as throughout the entire season of Lent. A majority of countries celebrate Good Friday as a state holiday, for instance in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Canada, among 12 other states in the U.S. Also, it is not common in some communities to observe interdenominational services during this holiday.
It is important to note that there are some churches that do not observe Good Friday. The Philadelphia Church of God and some Baptist congregations consider the holiday a Catholic tradition. Rather, these denominations observe the crucifixion Wednesday in accordance with the Jewish sacrifice of the Passover lamb. A Wednesday crucifixion of Jesus would allow him to be in the tomb for three days and three nights as he claimed would happen (Matthew 12:40), instead of the two days and nights as instituted by the mainstream belief. Based on the Wednesday crucifixion day, the Last Supper would be on the 14th of Nisan based on the Jewish calendar, which is the day before the Passover. Also, supporters of the Wednesday crucifixion believe that the Sabbath as referred to in the synoptic gospels was the Sabbath that would occur during the festive season of Passover rather than the weekly Sabbath.
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