Some of the governor's soldiers took Jesus into their headquarters[f] and called out the entire regiment. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. They wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head, and they placed a reed stick in his right hand as a scepter. Then they knelt before him in mockery and taunted, “Hail! King of the Jews!” And they spit on him and grabbed the stick and struck him on the head with it. When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him away to be crucified. Matthew 27:27-31 [NLT]

Good Friday? What good was there on that day?  The Anglican and American Church are the only churches to give this horrible day this name.  The etymology of the word cannot be traced.  The German Church calls today "The Day of Mourning" which I find to be more suitable.  Today the whole world focuses on the brutal execution of Jesus.

In the Scripture above we find ourselves asking how could the Romans be so cruel.  How could they mock their creator. They placed a painful crown of thorns on his head, the symbol of royalty and sovereignty - "On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS." Revelation 19:16  They present Him with a scepter, the symbol of authority.  Jesus would later confirm that authority by telling His disciples "all authority in Heaven and on earth has been given to Me..."  Matthew 28:18.  and they saluted Him with "Hail!" a military term recognizing a great leader or emperor.

But do we do any better?  We hail Him as Lord and Savior and fail to follow His instructions.  We acknowledge His absolute power and authority and yet ignore His commandments to love. We mock His authority when we knowingly ignore the sick or the needy or the homeless or those unable to help themselves - because He has told us that if we do this to the least we also do it to Him.

Today is a Good day to sit down and review the cost of our reconciliation with God - the pain and the humility of the beatings and the crucifixion.  It is a Good day to stop feeling anger for the Romans and look at our own lives and how they show our gratitude for the awful price paid for the removal of our sins from the record.  It is a Good day to evaluate our own feelings toward Jesus -do we crown Him in our hearts as King, do we recognize and obey His authority, do we sense His greatness when we call His name?