The Friday following Thanksgiving Day in the United States is labelled Black Friday.  It heralds the beginning of the Christmas shopping season and it is characterized by significant reduction in the prizes of consumer items, thus causing a spike in sales as shoppers take advantage of the low prizes.

This practice has gained popularity in other countries like the United Kingdom where it was reported that about £2M in revenue was made every minute.

Black Friday is over now and there are many who are still basking in the euphoria of being able to purchase items at a fraction of the price, while others are already planning to sell what they bought as they are no longer sure whether they really needed the items in the first place.


Over 2 thousand years ago, the greatest black Friday in history occurred. It consisted of only one transaction. It was a transaction where payment was not made with money or other means of payment as we know it but the blood of a sinless man.

“At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. Then at three o’clock Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” (Matthew 15:33)

Can you imagine how scary that must have been? One minute it was noon and suddenly while the sun was shining in its strength, everything goes black for three hours.  This event signified that the divine trade was in progress. Man was being redeemed – that is, being bought back from the bondage of sin. God was paying the ultimate price for our sins. Unlike today’s Black Friday, this particular purchase was not cheap. It cost the blood of a sinless man, paid in full so that we can be free from debt.

“knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.” (1 Peter 1:18-19)

The result of that ‘Black Friday’ is that we all become beneficiaries of that divine transaction. This was not a selfish acquisition of an item whose value diminishes the minute we take it away from the point of sale. This is why that day is recorded as the greatest Black Friday of all.

As you enjoy the items you purchased on Black Friday, remember that Friday when it literary went black. It was the day God purchased our redemption and the day when we became free from our debt to sin and secured the right to live with Him for all eternity.