Do Roman Catholics Understand the True Meaning Behind Good Friday?
As a former Roman Catholic now a born again Christian only by God's grace, I remembered the time I used to observe Lent as a time to abstain from meat, a time to eat fish, vegetables and in short, abstinence. While some Catholic faith defenders would try to quote from Scripture to justify the practice, 1 Timothy 4:1-4 warns that one of the many marks of false Christianity is to command to abstain from meats. Moving on, do Roman Catholics really know the meaning behind Good Friday? I am afraid not and as a former Roman Catholic, I didn't even fully understand the meaning of why Jesus died on the cross. While Roman Catholics do believe Jesus died on the cross for the sins of man because man could not pay, however they do not fully understand. As a former Roman Catholic, I did not fully understand why Jesus died on the cross.
I have noticed it becomes absurd when I've seen Roman Catholics actually gather on Good Friday to sing songs like, "Nothing But The Blood of Jesus", "Are You Washed", "There's Power in the Blood" or any Christian hymn that talks about the glorious blood of Jesus during a Good Friday Mass. But the problem is do they really know the real meaning of the songs they were singing? As they sing "The Old Rugged Cross" do they understand the meaning behind the song? While I do appreciate them singing the songs, but I am afraid they do not know the meaning of the songs. When you sing of the blood of Jesus, you are declaring it's enough to wash away sins and change a person's life apart from personal merit for the merit of Christ When you sing of the old rugged cross, you sing of Jesus' final sacrifice.
While they do acknowledge the fact that Jesus died for sins, however there are heresies in their system that we need to tackle. As a former Roman Catholic, I would not deny that my former faith taught that the Mass was a sacrifice for sins to be offered continually and even daily (in contrast to the Lord's Supper), that Jesus offers continually and that the sacrifice of the Mass is an unbloody sacrifice. That is far fetched from the Bible that Hebrews 9:22 requires bloodshed and Hebrews 10:12 says Jesus offered Himself only once and that there is no more other sacrifice for sins but the blood of Jesus. The very act of the Mass, believing it as an offering for sins daily, is tramping upon the blood of Jesus because it denies Jesus' sacrifice was complete and that the work on Calvary was truly finished.
Another problem is also, do Roman Catholics understand why the veil was torn from top to bottom? It was because the priesthood was no longer needed. The veil covered the Holy of Holies, the priesthood was over. In the Old Testament, when one confessed of their sins, their sin had to be placed on the unblemished clean animal but these sacrifices were symbolic. They could not take away sins so what makes Roman Catholics think that the Mass is any different from the animal sacrifices? When the veil was torn, all who put their trust in Christ now have equal access to God, no more need for the priests. That means, if they still believe the need to confess their sins to a priest, they are denying equal access to God, therefore again spitting at the complete work of Jesus on the cross. They have taken binding and loosing out of context but the Bible says in 1 John 1:9 to confess your sins to God.
What has truly become hypocritical is that after Lent is over, it's time to live like the rest of the world again. Good Friday becomes a mockery when people are in their best behavior during Lent but return to the worldliness after that. If repentance is genuine, a Christian may stumble but they do not remain in a sinful lifestyle. Christians are still sinners but because they are saved sinners, they do not live like the rest of the world. Meanwhile, it's hypocritical how Roman Catholicism teaches salvation kept by works but a lot of its members including its priests are living in so much heavy sin.