Good Friday is often thought of as a somber day. When we reflect on the suffering Jesus endured for our sakes on the cross, we cannot help but be moved. However, it’s impossible to think of Good Friday without thinking ahead to the glory of Easter Sunday, when Jesus rose from the dead, conquering sin and death and extending forgiveness to all who believe in him.
The glorious truth of Easter is only possible because of what happened on Good Friday when Jesus fulfilled his Father’s plan. As you ponder the lead-up to Easter this year, and especially Good Friday, may these quotes aid you in your reflection and make you realize the glory of Easter even more deeply. Below is a collection of our favorite Good Friday quotes and wishes to inspire your faith as you remember the hope we have in Jesus. Read these during your personal time of reflection and share them with friends and family as you celebrate Easter.
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1. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:5-8 ESV)
2. “The way of the cross is the way of suffering. Christians are called to die, not kill, in order to show the world how they are loved by Christ.” - John Piper
3. “The marvel of heaven and earth, of time and eternity, is the atoning death of Jesus Christ. This is the mystery that brings more glory to God than all creation.” - Charles Spurgeon
4. [F]or he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.” (Mark 9:31 ESV)
5. Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me. Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!” (John 12:23-27 ESV)
6. “No pain, no palm; no thorns, no throne; no gall, no glory; no cross, no crown.” - William Penn
7. “Christ has not only spoken to us by his life but has also spoken for us by his death.” - Soren Kierkegaard
8. “Good Friday: day of the cross, day of suffering, day of hope, day of abandonment, day of victory, day of mourning, day of joy, day of endings, day of beginnings. . . . I closed my eyes and could see his sacred body. . . . I saw the immense suffering of humanity during the centuries: people killing each other; people dying from starvation and epidemics; people driven from their homes; people sleeping on the streets of large cities; people clinging to each other in desperation; people flagellated, tortured, burned and mutilated; people alone in locked flats, in prison dungeons, in labor camps; people craving a gentle word, a friendly letter, a consoling embrace, people . . . all crying out with an anguished voice, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken us?’. . . with my minds’ eye I saw large crowds of isolate, agonizing individuals walking away from the cross together, bound by the love they had seen with their own eyes and touched with their own lips. The cross of horror became the cross of hope, the tortured body became the body that gives new life; the gaping wound became the source of forgiveness, healing and reconciliation.” - Henri Nouwen
9. In Christ alone who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
Till on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live.”
- “In Christ Alone” written by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend
10. “When I survey the wondrous Cross
On which the Prince of Glory died
My richest gain, I count but loss
And pour contempt on all my pride
See from His head, His hands, His feet
Sorrow and love flow mingled down
Did ever such love and sorrow meet?
Or thorns compose, so rich a crown
Oh the wonderful Cross, oh the wonderful Cross
Bids me come and die and find that I may truly live
Oh the wonderful Cross, oh the wonderful Cross”
- Isaac Watts/Chris Tomlin
Photo Credit: © Getty Images/ronniechua
11. “It costs God nothing, so far as we know, to create nice things; but to convert rebellious wills cost Him crucifixion.” - C. S. Lewis
12. “It was not nails that held Jesus to that wretched cross; it was his unqualified resolution, out of love for his Father, to do his Father’s will—and it was his love for sinners like me.” - D.A. Carson
13. “God hold us to that which drew us first, when the Cross was the attraction, and we wanted nothing else.” - Amy Carmichael
14. “On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross
The emblem of suffering and shame
And I love that old cross where the dearest and best
For a world of lost sinners was slain
So I'll cherish the old rugged cross
Till my trophies at last I lay down
And I will cling to the old rugged cross
And exchange it someday for a crown
To the old rugged cross I will ever be true
Its shame and reproach gladly bear
Then he'll call me someday to my home far away
Where his glory forever I'll share
And I'll cherish the old rugged cross
Till my trophies at last I lay down
And I will cling to the old rugged cross
And exchange it someday for a crown
I will cling to the old rugged cross
And exchange it someday for a crown.”
- George Bennard
15. “The cross is not the terrible end to an otherwise god fearing and happy life, but it meets us at the beginning of our communion with Christ.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
16. “When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, ‘Truly this was the Son of God!’” (Matthew 27:54 ESV)
17. “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.” (1 Peter 2:24 ESV)
18. “The most obscene symbol in human history is the Cross; yet in its ugliness it remains the most eloquent testimony to human dignity.” - R. C. Sproul
19. “God proved His love on the Cross. When Christ hung, and bled, and died, it was God saying to the world, ‘I love you.’” - Billy Graham
20. “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” (Galatians 6:14 ESV)
As we approach Good Friday, a solemn occasion in the Christian faith marking the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, it's a time for reflection, gratitude, and spiritual renewal. Here are twenty heartfelt wishes and blessings to share with your loved ones on this meaningful day.
Photo Credit: © Getty Images
Veronica Olson Neffinger is a Content Editor for Salem Web Network. When she is not writing or editing articles, you can find her listening to baseball games, enjoying the outdoors, reading, or baking. She lives in Richmond, VA with her husband and two young sons.