You’re right, up to a point: If all we had to celebrate was that final Friday when Jesus was put to death, there certainly wouldn’t be anything good about it. In that case, the term “Good Friday” would be a mockery.

Instead, that final Friday would be a tragedy — the greatest tragedy, in fact, in the history of the human race. Satan would have won, and any hope the human race might have had for the future would be ended. The tomb where Jesus’ body was placed would be merely a forgotten monument, and His words would be lost. The Apostle Paul put it this way: “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17).

But listen: that Friday was not the end! Two days later, the tomb was empty, and Jesus was alive! And that’s why we can call it “Good Friday” — because on a day that first seemed tragic, something incredibly good happened: Jesus Christ gave His life for our salvation. We deserved to die on that cross, but Christ died in our place. And because of that, we can have hope — hope for our lives today, and hope of eternal life in heaven.

Has what happened on Good Friday become a part of your life? It can, and I pray it will, as you turn to Jesus Christ and ask Him to come into your life. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

You can know Jesus this Easter.