The Suffering And Victory Of Good Friday With Dr. Kenneth Calvert

·44 min·4 clips

How does the celebration of Palm Sunday turn into the dark despair of Good Friday within just a few days?

The episode begins with host Matt Kittle introducing Dr. Kenneth Calvert, Professor of History and Director of the Oxford Program at Hillsdale College. They focus on the good news of Good Friday within Holy Week. Dr. Calvert starts by contrasting Palm Sunday's joy, where Jesus enters Jerusalem on a donkey fulfilling Zechariah's prophecy, with the despair of Good Friday. He explains that Jesus knew his fate, as shown in Matthew 16 where Peter opposes him. The discussion moves through the Gospels: Mark emphasizes suffering and abandonment, Matthew shows Old Testament fulfillment, Luke highlights innocence and the good thief, and John presents high Christology with God dying on the cross. Dr. Calvert notes that Jesus was crucified not for being a good teacher but for claiming to be God, which was seen as blasphemous by Jewish leaders who feared rebellion. He mentions Barabbas, a false messiah whose release contrasts with Jesus' crucifixion. The host asks why the disciples didn't understand Jesus' predictions, and Dr. Calvert humorously calls them 'dunderheads,' citing Matthew 28 where some doubted even after the resurrection. They discuss the Last Supper as a new covenant and the terms Maundy Thursday (from 'mandatum' meaning command) and Good Friday, with the latter called 'good' because God's suffering atones for sin. Dr. Calvert describes the disciples' martyrdoms and early church leaders like Polycarp and Ignatius who taught the centrality of Jesus' death and resurrection. He addresses modern secularism, suggesting a reawakening with young people returning to church, and critiques media silence on Christianity. The episode concludes with an analysis of Jesus' cry on the cross, interpreted as him bearing the weight of human sin while fully divine and human.

As heard by us

A sober Holy Week conversation on why Good Friday is called good within the Christian story of suffering and sacrifice.

Good Friday is treated here as a serious theological question: how a day centered on suffering and crucifixion can be called good. Matt Kittle frames that tension with Dr.

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Why you'd press play

You want a serious Holy Week conversation that stays with Good Friday's hardest question: how can a violent day be called good?

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