Looking beyond Good Friday for the full story

Good Friday in 1865 fell on April 14.

But for Abraham Lincoln, it really wasn't such a good Friday. That was the day our 16th president was shot by John Wilkes Booth.

My inquiring mind can't help but wonder how things might have played out differently had the Lincolns gone to a Good Friday church service instead of Ford's Theatre.

Believe me, I'm not judging Lincoln's decision of where to spend that Friday evening. After the heart-wrenching drama he'd lived through, a comedic play was probably what our nation's chief executive needed most.

And based on what I've read, a Good Friday sermon wasn't necessary for our president's belief in the Almighty to remain intact.

Like the patriarch in the Old Testament after which his parents had named him, Abraham Lincoln was a man of faith. He regularly looked for Divine help as he surveyed the chaos that characterized the divided nation he governed. He routinely referenced the God in whom he invited Americans to trust.

Regardless of where he chose to spend Good Friday evening, I think I am safe in assuming Lincoln was looking forward to celebrating the message of Easter morning two days later. He had reason to believe a costly war was nearing a much-anticipated end.

On Palm Sunday of that very week, Gen. Lee's Confederate army had surrendered to Gen. Grant's Union forces. The triumphant joy celebrated in church sanctuaries in the North reflected what had reverberated on the cobblestone streets of Jerusalem two millennia earlier.

On a personal note, the president and first lady had additional reason to thank God. Robert, their oldest son, had safely returned home from the front lines. As Mrs. Lincoln would later recall, her husband was in a most upbeat mood that Good Friday.

As the nation observed the fourth anniversary of a less-than-Civil War, Lincoln was hopeful the message of Easter would not be reserved for America's pulpits alone. He had faith that death would be swallowed up in victory.

His optimistic perspective was focused on what would play out in the weeks to come. He believed love would dominate hate. He was convinced truth would trump the deception of injustice.

In the meantime, the stench of death hung over a country defined by racial prejudice and personal hatred. Since April 12, 1861, when the War between the States began, more than 600,000 lives had been lost. The price tag of this bloody conflict was reflected in more than bodies or even dollars. Entire families had been divided by the borders that separated states. Our young democracy (only 89 years old) had suffered a mortal wound.

A victim of cross-purposes, even Jesus was caught in the crosshairs of those who misunderstood his message. As with Abraham Lincoln, Good Friday did not prove to be such a good day for the one who called himself the Prince of Peace. Both would die before Easter Sunday. But the deaths of both would galvanize their followers to pursue their dreams.

The month following Lincoln's death the Civil War ended. Two days after Jesus' death, a movement was coalesced thanks to his abandoned grave.

In the case of both men, a Good Friday tragedy paved the way for a great legacy. For both, it took looking beyond Good Friday to see the rest of the story. In the case of one of them, the injustice inflicted proved to be a necessary price tag that would purchase the peace he promised.

• The Rev. Greg Asimakoupoulos is a former Naperville resident who writes regularly about faith and family.