The Darkest Hour (27:50-66)
One can imagine what it was like between the time that Jesus died and when the tomb was discovered to be vacated. It had to have been a dark time for the followers of Jesus! S far as they knew, all their hopes had come to an end. They had failed. Jesus was not the Messiah they had hoped for.
Matthew gives us details that make those hours between Friday afternoon—when Jesus breathed His last—and Sunday morning even more… interesting. We see elsewhere that an earthquake happened at the moment of Jesus death. Matthew tells us more.
The moment when Jesus died, the curtain in the temple that separated people from the presence of God in the Holy of Holies was torn in two down the middle. The symbol here, of course, is that with the death of Jesus for the sins of the world, the divide between man and God is overcome. The guilt has been paid. But one can imagine what it would have been like for the officials in the temple! Curtains don’t usual rip on their own. Even an earthquake would not usually cause the giant divide to rip. Fall maybe, but not tear.
Even more bizarre—and terrifying for those who witnessed it—dead people showed up. Matthew tells us that tombs were opened up (in the quake) and people who had died were seen by many. With the death of Jesus, death itself had been defeated. Not only are our sins no longer held against us but death itself is not the end! We don’t have details beyond the fact that they were “holy ones”, but we can presume that known figures were represented. Perhaps prophets and men from Old Testament history. Those who had awaited the coming of the Messiah. Like Jesus, they probably didn’t die again, but were caught up.
The Roman guard who witnessed Jesus’ death is reported to have declared that He was indeed the “Son of God.” This gentile was used to death, but something about Jesus impressed him. Beyond the cosmic events, it was evident that Jesus was different.
Jesus’ body was taken by His followers and buried, but the opponents of Jesus made sure that the tomb would be guarded. They knew that Jesus had predicted that He would rise again within three days, so they wanted to prevent His followers from making any false claims. So, in addition to all of the highly unusual events surrounding Jesus’ death, the disciples had to worry about political intrigue and persecution. If they had killed Jesus, they would likely come after His followers too. It was a time to lay low. It was the darkest hour of history.
Matthew gives us details that make those hours between Friday afternoon—when Jesus breathed His last—and Sunday morning even more… interesting. We see elsewhere that an earthquake happened at the moment of Jesus death. Matthew tells us more.
The moment when Jesus died, the curtain in the temple that separated people from the presence of God in the Holy of Holies was torn in two down the middle. The symbol here, of course, is that with the death of Jesus for the sins of the world, the divide between man and God is overcome. The guilt has been paid. But one can imagine what it would have been like for the officials in the temple! Curtains don’t usual rip on their own. Even an earthquake would not usually cause the giant divide to rip. Fall maybe, but not tear.
Even more bizarre—and terrifying for those who witnessed it—dead people showed up. Matthew tells us that tombs were opened up (in the quake) and people who had died were seen by many. With the death of Jesus, death itself had been defeated. Not only are our sins no longer held against us but death itself is not the end! We don’t have details beyond the fact that they were “holy ones”, but we can presume that known figures were represented. Perhaps prophets and men from Old Testament history. Those who had awaited the coming of the Messiah. Like Jesus, they probably didn’t die again, but were caught up.
The Roman guard who witnessed Jesus’ death is reported to have declared that He was indeed the “Son of God.” This gentile was used to death, but something about Jesus impressed him. Beyond the cosmic events, it was evident that Jesus was different.
Jesus’ body was taken by His followers and buried, but the opponents of Jesus made sure that the tomb would be guarded. They knew that Jesus had predicted that He would rise again within three days, so they wanted to prevent His followers from making any false claims. So, in addition to all of the highly unusual events surrounding Jesus’ death, the disciples had to worry about political intrigue and persecution. If they had killed Jesus, they would likely come after His followers too. It was a time to lay low. It was the darkest hour of history.
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