In The Word
Read: Matthew 27:51-66
51 And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split. 52 The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; 53 and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many. 54 Now the centurion, and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, became very frightened and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”
55 Many women were there looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee while ministering to Him. 56 Among them was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.
Jesus Is Buried
57 When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. 58 This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. 59 And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the entrance of the tomb and went away. 61 And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the grave.
62 Now on the next day, the day after the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate, 63 and said, “Sir, we remember that when He was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I am to rise again.’ 64 Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day, otherwise His disciples may come and steal Him away and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.” 65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how.”66 And they went and made the grave secure, and along with the guard they set a seal on the stone.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
Today, we see Jesus Christ finally giving up His Spirit and giving over to death. This event was held in the presence of all the people who watched His earthly ministry. Among those people were the centurions who executed Jesus. The centurions did this on behalf of the Jewish leaders who demanded Jesus to be put to death. The Jewish leaders were concerned about Jesus uprooting the religious system they had established. The temple was the centerpiece of that system. With this in mind, Matthew wrote about the miraculous events that happened at the time of Jesus’ death: the temple was rent from top to bottom, the earth shook, the rocks ripped, and the dead saints who slept came out of their graves. This was so breathtaking that the centurions exclaimed that Jesus was indeed the Son of God.
We can learn from the mistakes of the Jewish leaders. We should never place a work over the Lord, but we should be obedient to the Lord of the worker. Up until the death of Jesus, the temple was the focus of all worship and the priests were the go-between for the people and God. When the veil was rent from top to bottom, we were granted access to the Father through the sacrifices of the Son. So go to Him boldly knowing that Christ died to allow all of us to have a relationship with the Father.