Matthew 27:45-56
Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.
“Notice what you notice.” I knew before I started to read today that we would be reading of Jesus’ death, so I was determined to be fully focused on what I was reading. I had just finished verse 50, And Jesus…yielded up His Spirit, when the next words in verse 51 struck me unlike anything I had ever read before, sending shivers down my spine: And behold…! Just those two words, And behold…! As I sat here I fully wondered, “What’s next”? And then I read on: …the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. (vv. 51-53) And I thought, “What POWER!” I thought to myself that it must be God the Father throwing down His final judgment on sin, proclaiming sin defeated, Satan never to have the power over peoples’ lives that he had had up to this time. Yes, he has influence, but not power!
Reflecting further, I see a three-fold witness of God’s power – the spiritual (…the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom…), the physical (And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.), and the human (And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised…). And I am struck further…!
I’m sitting here – thinking, reflecting – and I have this full sense of awe at what I’ve just read. GLORY! Thank you, Lord!
Slava Bohu!
Indeed, Fred. Glory! Those miracles or signs were “in your face”, hard to miss. Between Psalm 22 and these signs, how could they miss that something really powerful had occurred? Do we tell others with this same amazement?