Nagpur: Christians believe that Good Friday is the day when Jesus Christ was crucified for the sins of mankind. People observe this day by fasting throughout the day.
One song that was sung in almost all the churches which went like this:
Wenesday Rate
Saturday 28 Dec. 2024
There is a Green Hill far away
Without the city walls
Where the Dear Lord was crucified,
Who died to save us all,
We may not know, we cannot tell,
What pains he had to bear,
But we believe, it was for us,
He hung and suffered there.
Almost all the churches in the city had adorned the cross with black veil. The priests were wearing black cassocks and nuns black habit. The priests, fathers and preachers spoke of the way of the cross. That is, how Jesus Christ had a sham trial in front of King Herod and Pilate, How the very people whom he had healed, those very people whom he showed the right path had demanded that he be crucified, When Pilate offered to set one prisoner free as was the custom on the Roman feast day, the people demanded Barabbas (a known murderer and a criminal) to be set free. Finally, the chief priests and the scribes succeeded in pressurizing Pilate to sentence Jesus Christ to be crucified. While Jesus Christ was led to Golgotha (Meaning Hill of the skull), where he was to be crucified, enroute the Roman soldiers had whipped him with a whip which had bone pieces sewn into it. This ensured that every time, the leather whip strikes his body, the bone pieces tore into his flesh and gouge out a small portion of his flesh. A thorny crown was placed on his head and was finally crucified on Good Friday.
Why is this called Good Friday?
It is because Jesus Christ died for the sins of mankind, which has saved us from eternal damnation. This question puzzles not only children but many adults as well. After all, it isn’t obvious that we should call Good Friday, Good, since it is the day on which our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified. How can Good Friday be good when it commemorates the day on which the sins of mankind brought about the death of our Savior? His Death, “showed His great love for man, and purchased for him every blessing.” Good, in this sense, means “holy,” and indeed Good Friday is known as Holy and Great Friday among Christians, both Catholic and Protestants.
At the All Saints’ Cathedral, Executive Secretary, Commission on Communication and Relations of National Council of Churches in India, Reverend Caesar David spoke on the last seven words on the cross uttered by Jesus Christ.
After studying the seven words on the cross, it is a prayer that God would speak to each of the members of the congregation in a dynamic way, to each according to their own situation. While explaining about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, he said that one can feel and experience the pain various components of God’s beautiful plan of salvation and the heart wrenching account of the sinless and the pure Jesus’ suffering and the death as he shed his blood and became the sacrificial lamb in place of mankind.
At SFS Cathedral, Father Bosco from St Charles Seminary expounded the seven words on the cross, while Father Naveen from St Charles Seminary spoke on the illustrious love that Jesus showed mankind by dying on the cross for the sins of mankind.
Pics by Ashish Dhomne
