Happy Friday the 13th. There’ll be three Friday the thirteenths this year: today, April 13 and July 13. Coincidentally, all of them are 13 weeks apart from each other. Some people think Friday the 13th is an unlucky day.
But Friday the 13th reminds me of Jesus.
Why would people think this date is unlucky in the first place? There are different ideas about where the superstition came from.
The number 12 is thought of as a number of completeness. There were 12 tribes of Israel, 12 disciples of Jesus, 12 months in a year, 12 hours on a clock. The number 13—one more than the complete number—was too many, irregular, infringing on proper laws of the universe. Therefore it was unlucky.
Also: - There were usually 13 steps up to gallows
- There are 12 witches in a coven plus Satan
OK, those are bad.
Norse mythology believes that when thirteen people are seated together at a table, one of the diners will die. That myth-based superstition was strengthened biblically. In the case of Jesus’ Last Supper, not just one—but two of the 13 diners (Jesus and Judas) died.
WHY FRIDAY?
Biblically, several other bad things are believed to have occurred on Friday. These are based on Christian “tradition” (long-held ideas) rather than scripture but here they are to shed light on where Friday superstitions might have come from. It’s believed that on Friday:
- Eve gave Adam the forbidden fruit
- God expelled Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden
- The Great Flood began on Friday
- God struck down the Tower of Babel
- The temple of Solomon was destroyed
THE GOOD NEWS
Jesus was crucified on Friday. We know that from historical records. Yes, that was horrible. No question about it. It was a horrible, horrible way for our Lord to die.
But if Jesus hadn’t been crucified, hadn’t died as our blood sacrifice to cover our sins, then none of us would have the chance to spend eternity in heaven with him.
And that’s a very good thing.
We can never do anything on our own to earn entry into heaven. But Jesus did it for us; by dying on a Friday.
That makes Friday a very lucky day for us.
+++
Thirteen people seated at the Last Supper? Mythology says at least one of them had to die. Praise God one of them was Jesus.
I’ll be thinking about the number 13 and Fridays today and how they remind me of Jesus.
Today—and every day since Jesus died—is our lucky day!
PRAYER: Thank you, Jesus for dying for my sake. Please remind me every day that because of your sacrifice, every day—even Friday the 13th—is our lucky day. Amen.
WHAT ABOUT YOU? Are you superstitious? About what? Why?
2 comments:
I've never heard that the expulsion from Eden, the flood or the others in that group happened on a Friday> How was that determined?
@ Chris - that's a great question and one I often wonder about. Christian "tradition"-based ideas like this were founded on "something" I'm sure, but over time it's no longer clear to us non-scholars.
One example of an idea that has become a "traditional, NON-doctrinal belief" is the idea of the 3 wise men. Scripture only says they were "men" (plural).
In reality that could have meant 2 or some number more than 2 wise men. Because there were 3 gifts, the non-doctrinal idea grew up that there were 3 wise men.
Since it's not doctrinal and not important to our salvation or faith, it's interesting and not much more than that.
That's the kind of thing this "Friday" tradition is like. It's interesting to contemplate, but doesn't really matter.
Thanks for the question. Wish I had a definitive answer!
Post a Comment