Days of the week can become special to us.
MAY 18, 2007 (FRIDAY) – This first week of blogs has focused on the day of the week, which focus reminds me of the Mother Goose Rhyme: “Monday’s child is fair of face, Tuesday’s child is full of grace. Wednesday’s child is full of woe, Thursday’s child has far to go. Friday’s child is loving and giving, Saturday’s child works hard for his living. And the child that is born on the Sabbath day Is bonny and blithe, and good and gay.” For the superstitious it is a fortune-telling rhyme, based on the stars. For the rest of us, it’s just a rhyme, for fun, and has no real significance.
Days of the week, however can become special to us for other reasons. Presidents Kennedy and Lincoln were both shot on Friday. News columns about Lincoln’s assasination were bordered with heavy black lines. Billboards mourning Kennedy’s death darkly proclaimed, “November 22, 1963: Black Friday.”
The Friday before Easter, the day on which Jesus was crucified, is remembered by Christians as a holy day every year. It is known in English as “Good Friday,” but as “Sad Friday” in German. It has other designations in other languages. The central idea of using a special word is to recognize the day as holy and special to Christians, because it is the day Christ died for our sins. It is “sad” because of crucifixion, but “good” because of salvation. The old hymn asks, “What can wash away my sin?” and answers, “Nothing but the blood of Jesus.” He shed His blood for you on Calvary’s cross. On a Friday.
We observe that Friday as a holy day once each year, but we celebrate the following Sunday — the day Jesus conquered death — every week. Every Sunday is “Resurrection Sunday.”