the goodness of Good Friday

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
Why is Good Friday good? Because God show-cased before the eyes of the whole world and for all time His great love for us. For whom? For us, His own people. Christ did not die hoping to save us. No, He secured the salvation of His people finally, conclusively, forever." -Nancy Wilson

"And the thunder crashes in the heavens and the earth grows dark in the middle of the afternoon and a man, beaten to a bloody pulp, cries from a cross between two thieves, 'It is finished!' And death is overcome." -Beth Moore

Christ was publicly shamed, beaten and tortured beyond recognition; He was killed in a grotesque manner, and yet it the end it was good. God turned His back on His Son, and yet it was good.
It is good because Good Friday is about redemption. It is about taking something as terrifying and abominable as the crucifixion of an innocent man and turning into the means of our salvation, the means whereby the filthiness of our sins is redeemed and turned into glory.

Only God could fashion the events of Good Friday into something truly good.