Good Friday: Forgiveness for one’s sins

Good Friday is a Christian holiday set aside specifically to commemorate the Crucifixion of Jesus and His death at Calvary. The day is observed on the Friday before Easter. It is believed that Jesus suffered and died for the sins of human beings. This day is therefore observed to ask for forgiveness for one’s sins.
According to the New Testament, Good Friday is the day when Jesus was crucified by the Romans. The Jewish religious leaders had condemned Jesus of blasphemy for claiming to be the Son of God. They were so hysterical by Jesus’s acts that they brought him to the Romans, where Pontius Pilate, a Roman leader, sentenced Jesus to crucifixion.
As the story goes, Jesus was beaten publicly and crowned with thorns. In His battered condition, Jesus was forced to carry a heavy wooden cross through the streets for the entertainment of a jeering crowd. Finally, He was nailed to the cross by His wrists and feet, where He was left hanging until He died.
According to the accounts in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), the royal soldiers, guided by Jesus’s disciple Judas Iscariot, arrested Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Judas received money (30 pieces of silver) for betraying Jesus, and told the guards that whomever he kisses is the one they are to arrest, to which Judas went on to kiss Jesus, and call him “Rabbi.”
Conflicting testimony against Jesus was brought by many witnesses, to which Jesus answered nothing. Finally, the High Priest adjured Jesus to respond under solemn oath, saying “I adjure you, by the Living God, to tell us, are you the Anointed One, the Son of God?” Jesus testified ambiguously, “You have said it, and in time you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Almighty, coming on the clouds of Heaven.”
Following the Synoptic Gospels, the mainstream Christian tradition has held that Jesus’s last meal with His disciples on the evening before His Crucifixion was a Passover seder.
It is said that the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ took place around AD 30 or AD 33. Though the term “Good Friday” is not mentioned in the Holy Bible, the religious text tells us the story of how Jesus was betrayed by Judas, which led to His arrest.
The day, also called Holy Friday and Black Friday, is a day of mourning for Christians worldwide.
People pray that they be liberated from the pain, suffering, and agony in their lives. According to Christian beliefs, Jesus’s death also signified the end of all sins. It shows that after all the sins are eliminated, there’s a possibility of a new beginning, which is signified by Jesus Christ’s Resurrection on Easter Sunday.
There are many discussions on why it is called “Good Friday” despite being a sad and sorrowful day. For instance, in German, Good Friday is called Karfreitag, or “Sorrowful Friday.” Many may believe that the origin of Good Friday is from the English term “God’s Friday”.
Today, Christians honour the sacrifices of Jesus, the way He was crucified, His sufferings, the tortures He went through, and the painful death He had.
On this day, many people fast and attend religious services. Churches hold special rituals to commemorate Jesus Christ’s suffering, and silence their bells as a sign of mourning. It is believed that Christians also drape a black cloth over all crosses, photographs, and statues to symbolize Jesus Christ’s death.