Many thanks to Khwima Gondwe for being willing to share this poem that she wrote for Good Friday. It helped me prepare my mind and spirit for Easter.

Good Friday

They called it Good Friday
Even though there was a lot of injustice
Betrayal, false accusations, emotional and physical abuse
Rejection and abandonment by loved ones
Loneliness in His greatest hour of need
Mockery, bullying, humiliation and finally
Crucifixion
Yet it was called ‘Good Friday’

I spent this week reflecting: Why was it ‘Good’?
Because in the midst of all that was bad
In the midst of the pain and heartache
And broken judicial system, broken promises, broken flesh, and broken people;
God was there!
He would not stop the pain or prevent the death
Yet He provided an angel to help strengthen His son as He drank that bitter cup
In the midst of all that was bad,
God was creating His greatest miracle of all!

The flesh that was torn, the blood that was shed
Would cleanse the earth of sin, it would cleanse all mankind: dead, living, and yet to be born!
Yes, that blood would cleanse them all – friend and foe, sinner and saint
Whether created before or after this ‘Good Day’
The blood would purify them all
And make them worthy again
To face their God, and their Savior and King.
And Him who they crucified
Would rise again in His full glory
And so it was appropriate that they deemed it: ‘Good Friday’

And so as I face my own Gethsemane
I will look to God to provide me with an angel or two
To strengthen me as I drink the bitter cups prepared for me
For I cannot drink them on my own
And I am grateful that my God in His wisdom
Provided a Savior for me to save me from sin
And from everlasting misery
Even though I’m broken, bruised and torn by my trials
Still, I will call each season of trial ‘good’
Because God is in it and will see me through it all
The price was paid in Calvary
And God blessed that day and called it: ‘Good’!
His Son would rise again on the third day
And because of it, my trials will also come to pass
And I will rise again and praise His name forevermore!