As Christians observe Good Friday they will remember, with devotion and prayer, the death of Jesus on the Cross. It is a day of solemnity in which Christians give thanks for their salvation made possible by the suffering of Jesus. They prepare for rejoicing on Easter Sunday, when the resurrection of Jesus is celebrated.
In the Middle Ages, however, Good Friday was a dangerous time for Jews.
As a scholar of Jewish-Christian relations, I teach a course called "Undoing Anti-Judaism" at my seminary with a local rabbi. What I have found is that since at least the fourth century, Christians have traditionally read the Gospel of John's version of the trial and death of Jesus during Good Friday services. This gospel persistently uses the phrase “the Jews” to describe those who conspired to kill Jesus.
