Additionally, it has been argued that the Isaiah 53 passage about the suffering servant is also a prophecy about the crucifixion of Jesus, especially verse 5: "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."
Pastor and professor David Schrock wrote in a 2016 blog entry, "Christians must learn to understand the meaning of Christ's death and resurrection by reading the Old Testament with the New, and vice versa."
"As Jesus said on the day of his resurrection, 'everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Writings must be fulfilled' (Luke 24:44)," said Schrock.
"To understand what this means, we read the Old Testament with expectation that we will encounter promises and prophecies, types and shadows that prefigure the person and work of Jesus Christ."
For an observance specifically centered on remembering the brutal suffering and execution of Jesus, many might wonder how such a date could be labeled "Good Friday."
The exact origins are disputed, with some arguing that it derived from an older English way of saying "God's Friday," according to the Catholic reference website NewAdvent.org. Others claim that good had an original definition meaning "holy," thus technically making it "Holy Friday."
"The answer seems pretty clearly to be that it's from good 'holy,'" said Jesse Sheidlower, the president of the American Dialect Society, in comments given to Slate in 2014.
Christianity.com noted in one entry that some churches call the observance "Sorrowful Friday," as seen with the German name for the holy day, "Karfreitag."
"Regardless of the origin, the name Good Friday is entirely appropriate because the suffering and death of Jesus, as terrible as it was, marked the dramatic culmination of God's plan to save his people from their sins," noted Christianity.com.
"For the gospel's good news to have meaning for us, we first have to understand the bad news of our condition as sinful people under condemnation. The good news of deliverance only makes sense once we see how we are enslaved."
Like other Christian holy days, such as Christmas and Easter, many Eastern Orthodox Christians observe Good Friday on a different date than Western churches.
Orthodox Christians typically use the Julian calendar for their liturgical year instead of the Gregorian calendar common among Western nations.
For 2023, Good Friday is scheduled to fall on April 14, with Orthodox Easter being on April 16, according to National Today, which also states that it "goes by many other names and it is a strict day of fasting for Greek Orthodox Christians in the United States."
"Some Orthodox Churches begin observing it on Thursday night when the 12 sections of the Gospels are read and some churches have a Good Friday liturgy in the evening," the site notes.
"Many priests remove icons of Jesus Christ from the crosses and wrap them in linen to reenact the burial rites. Moreover, some Bulgarian churches allow people to pass under a table in the middle of the church to light a candle after the ringing of the Church bell. They say this symbolizes the washing away of one's sins."
A longstanding popular tradition of observing Good Friday has been the passion play, which is a public reenactment of the final hours of Jesus Christ, most notably the crucifixion.
Named after the traditional meaning of the word passion, which is suffering, passion plays could often involve hundreds of actors and were at their peak of popularity during the late Medieval Era.
However, concerns over the secularizing of the performances by Catholic authorities and the rise of the Protestant Reformation contributed to their decline in popularity.
They also had a controversial side, according to the New World Encyclopedia, as older versions of the passion play "placed blame squarely on the Jews for the death of Jesus."
"Some believe the plays resulted in a rise in anti-Jewish violence following performances," noted the Encyclopedia. "The Roman Catholic Church of the twentieth century issued guidelines cautioning Christians to avoid negative stereotypes of Jews in depicting the events surrounding Jesus life and death."
Passion plays are still performed in certain parts of the world, with one of the more famous productions being based in the German town of Oberammergau in the Bavarian Alps.
"According to tradition, the play has been presented every 10 years since 1634, in fulfillment of a vow made after the village was spared an epidemic of plague (shifting to decennial years in 1700), except in 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War and World War II, when religious plays were banned, and in 2020, because of the COVID-19 pandemic," noted Britannica.
"It remains an entirely local production, with villagers taking all the parts and singing in the chorus. Since 1930 roofed seats have protected the audience from the weather. The production runs from May through September."
"According to tradition, the play has been presented every 10 years since 1634, in fulfillment of a vow made after the village was spared an epidemic of plague (shifting to decennial years in 1700), except in 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War and World War II, when religious plays were banned, and in 2020, because of the COVID-19 pandemic," noted Britannica.
"It remains an entirely local production, with villagers taking all the parts and singing in the chorus. Since 1930 roofed seats have protected the audience from the weather. The production runs from May through September."
3-His first fall
4-He meets His blessed mother
5-Simon of Cyrene is made to bear the cross
6-Christ's face is wiped by Veronica
7-His second fall
8-He meets the women of Jerusalem
9-His third fall
10-He is stripped of His garments
11-His crucifixion
12-His death on the cross
13-His body is taken down from the cross
14-Jesus is laid in the tomb.
Often, churches and monasteries will have a series of paintings, carvings or sculptures basedon these 14 stations. Each is meant to serve as a source of devotional contemplation.
The apologetics website Got Questions points out that a few entries, such as Veronica offering a veil for Jesus to wipe His face, are not found in the Bible.
As a result, Got Questions states there exists a "Scriptural Way of the Cross" variation, which involves the following sequence of events:
1-Jesus on the Mount of Olives
2-Jesus is betrayed by Judas and arrested
3-Jesus is condemned by the Sanhedrin
4-Peter denies Jesus
5-Jesus is judged by Pontius Pilate
6-Jesus is scourged and crowned with thorns
7-Jesus takes up His cross
8-Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry His cross
9-Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem
10-Jesus is crucified
11-Jesus promises His kingdom to the believing thief
12-Jesus on the cross speaks with His mother and disciples
13-Jesus dies on the cross
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