30 Good Friday Quotes to Inspire Your Faith This Easter
- G. Connor Salter Contributing Writer
- Updated Feb 15, 2024
Good Friday isn’t the end of Holy Week, but it is the most dramatic moment of the Passion narrative. Since the church started, Christians have said many things about the crucifixion and its impact. This collection of quotes looks at several different sides of Good Friday—the events that took place, why they matter, and what they mean for our future. Each section includes a Bible verse that helps us think deeper about Good Friday.
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Short Good Friday Quotes for Rememberance
"On the eve of the cross, Jesus made his decision. He would rather go to hell for you than go to heaven without you." - Max Lucado
"Unless there is a Good Friday in your life, there can be no Easter Sunday." - Fulton J. Sheen
"Good Friday and Easter free us to think about other things far beyond our own personal fate, about the ultimate meaning of all life, suffering, and events; and we lay hold of a great hope." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"What is good about Good Friday? Why isn't it called Bad Friday? Because out of the appallingly bad came what was inexpressibly good. And the good trumps the bad, because though the bad was temporary, the good is eternal." - Randy Alcorn
"Most Christians are being crucified on a cross between two thieves: Yesterday's regret and tomorrow's worries." - Warren W. Wiersbe
Good Friday Quotes About Jesus' Sacrifice
On Good Friday, Jesus experienced the pain and humiliation of the cross. If you’ve seen movies about Jesus like The Passion of the Christ, you know the cross was no easy ordeal. These quotes help us better understand what happened on that old rugged cross.
“When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.’ And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.” - Luke 23:33-34
"The pain was absolutely unbearable. In fact, it was literally beyond words to describe, they had to invent a new word: excruciating. Literally, excruciating means 'out of the cross.' Think of that: they needed to create a new word, because there was nothing in the language that could describe the anguish caused during the crucifixion." - Dr. Alexander Metherell, interview in The Case for Christ
“His executioners made vulgar jokes about Him, called Him filthy names, taunted Him, smacked Him in the face, flogged Him with the cat, and hanged Him on the common gibbet—a bloody, dusty, sweaty, and sordid business.” - Dorothy L. Sayers, The Man Born to Be King
“The violence Jesus endured is seldom represented in a fashion that does justice to his suffering. He was taken into custody, stripped, and whipped by Roman guards. Men who strip another man do so not merely to harm but even more so to humiliate. Jesus’ naked body received not only the whip but the words of degradation. This was not merely a beating; it was sexual assault. God’s Son was subjected to the shame of abuse. He was the ultimate illegal alien, stranger, and refugee—the despised of the earth.” - Dan B. Allender, Redeeming Heartache
“On the cross, Jesus was cursed. He represented the covenant-breakers who were exposed to the curse and took the full measure of the curse upon himself. As the Lamb of God, the sin-bearer, he was cut off from the presence of God. On the cross, Jesus experienced forsakenness on our behalf.” - R.C. Sproul, What We Believe
Good Friday Quotes About Our Savior
Remembering the pain Jesus experienced on Good Friday leads to a messy question: why did it happen? The Bible maintains that it happened because Jesus was dying for something: humanity’s sins.
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” - Romans 3:23
“Can any man here estimate the number of his own sins from the first transgression of his childhood until grey old age, or the present period of his life?” - Charles Spurgeon, “Abundant Pardon”
“Few ever think about the dreadful implications of being under the wrath of God. And none of us even begins to realize how truly sinful we are.” - Jerry Bridges, Holiness Day by Day
“Sin is, by nature, anti-life because it relationally severs us from the source of life itself—God.” - Matt Bohlman, The Fall and Redemption of Shadowmere
“The Bible doesn’t accept excuses for sin. Sinful human beings have no more place in the purity of heaven and the perfect holiness of God than do spiders on the rug of a five-star hotel.” - R.C. Sproul, What We Believe
“If God is really God in the full biblical sense, he cannot have pure relationship with people whose sins still fester. For God’s love is holy love. Sin is perverted. God’s love is just and righteous. Sin is unjust and unrighteous… God desires that his people be one with him. And that is impossible as long as sin remains in the picture.” - Edward P. Meadors, Creation, Sin, Covenant, and Salvation
“Why did Jesus have to die in order to forgive us? There was a debt to be paid—God himself paid it. There was a penalty to be born—God himself bore it. Forgiveness is always a form of costly suffering.” - Timothy Keller, The Reason for God
Good Friday Quotes About the Son of God
If sin required someone to pay humanity’s death, it couldn’t just be anyone: someone perfect had to pay that debt. Christianity maintains that Jesus’ death on Good Friday paid our debt because he was more than a man: he was God.
“The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.” - Colossians 1:15-16
“The Begotten One is not a creature created for a unique task, but is very God of Very God, the second person of the Trinity.” - R.C. Sproul, What We Believe
“In His humanness, God became weak—Jesus as a baby in a manger; Jesus rejected; Jesus weeping; Jesus beaten; Jesus silent before His accusers; Jesus suffering on a Cross. Weakness (or surrender) is where God’s power is most visible.” - Mary Tutterow, The Heart of the Caregiver
“There would be absolutely no benefit to us if Jesus lived and died merely as a private person. His work brings us benefit only because He lived and died as our representative.” - Jerry Bridges, Holiness Day and Day
“If we want to know what God is like, let us look at Calvary.” - Robert E. Coleman, Written in Blood
“As Man alone, Jesus could not have saved us; as God alone, He would not; Incarnate, He could and did.” - Malcolm Muggeridge, Vintage Muggeridge
Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/CreativaImages
Good Friday Quotes About Salvation
Because God the Son died in sinful humanity’s place on Good Friday, his death was not just a graphic execution. As these quotes remind us, Christ’s death was an atonement.
“For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” - Colossians 1:19-20
“The atonement of Christ is capable of removing from men, all sorts, sizes, and dyes of iniquity.” - Charles Spurgeon, “Grace Abounding”
“It is by Christ that we have redemption, or the actual deliverance from misery, and the bestowment of all happiness and glory.” - Jonathan Edwards, “God Glorified in the Work of Redemption”
“With humility, Christ faced down humanity’s worst to give us God’s best.” - Judith Couchman, The Mystery of the Cross
“As Priest, Jesus represents the people before God. Not only does he offer the supreme sacrifice, but he is the supreme sacrifice.” - R.C. Sproul, What We Believe
“Jesus’ death on the cross was a fully human and yet fully divine sacrifice that effectively paid the price for humankind’s sin.” - Edward P. Meadors, Creation, Sin, Covenant, and Salvation
“Apparently, Satan did not know that by sacrificing Jesus he would pull the one pin that would crumble his entire kingdom, fall into the very scheme God the Father had carefully, ever so carefully arranged for the undoing of evil: “We speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Cor. 2:7-8). You bet they wouldn’t. It ruined everything—from a certain point of view.” - John Eldredge, Beautiful Outlaw
“… but you see, even the devil’s purposes are ultimately turned into God’s purposes. It was the devil’s purpose that our Lord should be crucified, but in His crucifixion lay everything that’s wonderful in a civilization that you and I belong to.” - Malcolm Muggeridge, Vintage Muggeridge
“To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.” - 1 Peter 2:21
“When Christ calls a man, he bids him to come and die.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship
“Martyrdom always remains the supreme enacting and perfection of Christianity. This great action has been initiated for us, done on our behalf, exemplified for our imitation, and inconceivably communicated to all believers, by Christ on Calvary.” - C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain
“There is no other way to life and to true inward peace than the way of the holy cross and daily mortification.” - Thomas a' Kempis, The Imitation of Christ
“If I wanted others to think highly of me, I would conceal the fact that the shameful slaughter of the perfect Son of God was required that I might be saved. But when I stand at the foot of the Cross and am seen by others under the light of that Cross, I am left uncomfortably exposed before their eyes. Indeed, the most humiliating gossip that could ever be whispered about me is blared from Golgotha’s hill, and my self-righteous reputation is left in ruins in the wake of its revelations. With the worst facts about me thus exposed to the view of others, I find myself feeling that I truly have nothing left to hide.” - Milton Vincent, The Gospel Primer
Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/Tutye
Good Friday Quotes About New Life
When we believe Jesus was God’s son who died in our place, and three days later rose again, we gain new direction. These quotes highlight what our renewed lives look like as we follow Christ’s example on a new grand adventure.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” - 2 Corinthians 5:17
“The second-born person still sins, but is no longer a slave to sin. The Holy Spirit, in intimate, indwelling communion, liberates. The person is made alive to the things of God.” - R.C. Sproul, What We Believe
“But where the heart is strong and the blood is pure, life is full of health and overflowing with joy. This is what Christ wants to impart to every person.” - Robert E. Coleman, Written in Blood
“Christ takes a worm and transforms it into an angel.” - Charles Spurgeon, Morning and Evening
“This new covenant work of Christ removes idols, users in the Holy Spirit, transforms the inner being, and writes the law of God upon the heart (Heb. 8:7-12), so the death destined sinner becomes a new creation with a new destiny.” - Edward P. Meadors, Creation, Sin, Covenant, and Salvation
“The hope is simply that, by identifying ourselves with the Incarnate God, by absorbing ourselves in His teaching, by living out the drama of his life with Him including especially the Passion, that powerhouse of love and creativity, by living with and in Him we are suddenly caught up in the glory of God’s love flooding the universe.” - Macolm Muggeridge, Vintage Muggeridge
Cover Photo Credit: Flickr
This article is part of our larger Holy Week and Easter resource library centered around the events leading up to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We hope these articles help you understand the meaning and story behind important Christian holidays and dates and encourage you as you take time to reflect on all that God has done for us through his son Jesus Christ!
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