Today is the day we remember the brutal crucifixion of Jesus. How, then, can we call this "Good" Friday? To the original disciples, it was the darkest of dark days. It was the end of hope and the beginning of despair. They had witnessed a catastrophe of cosmic proportions. How would this day come to be known as good? 

Our word English word catastrophy is the transliterated from of the same Greek word,  katastrophe.  For the Greeks, a catastrophe was a dramatic, world-changing event. With that definition in mind, professor and author J.R.R. Toilken, used the word eu-catastrophe to describe a tragic event that turned out, unexpectedly, for good (thus the eu prefix for a good catastrophe). 

In the eternal redemptive plan of God, the cross is the ultimate eucatastrophe. As Paul says in Romans 6:6-8, "6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person--though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die-- 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. "  Or as Joseph would say to his brothers regarding their evil act of selling him into slavery years earlier, "You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good, the saving of many lives."

That is the good news of Good Friday. God is able to add the prefix to catastrophe.

So now, when we look at the catastrophes of our own lives, we must ask, "Can God turn this into good? Can the catastrophe of an arrest, a shattered marriage, an illness or a financial crisis be used for good?" In the purpose and providence of God, we must answer, "Yes." Redemption is born out of death—out of catastrophe.  It is a reason to hope and to celebrate the message of the cross. Indeed, this is Good Friday.