CHRIST'S DISRUPTIVE DEATH -- Monday:
"Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised" (Matt 27:51-54, NKJV)
The death of Christ is the most significant death in the history of the world. The first man to man to depart from the body was Abel. Like Jesus, he was murdered (Gen 4:8; Acts 7:52). The death of Moses was an epoch, and God Himself buried him (Deut 34:5-6). The people lamented his death for thirty days (Deut 34:8).
However, these, and other deaths, pale in the glory of the death of Jesus Christ. Only His death had redemptive power. Only His death successfully met the requirements of God for the reconciling of the world. We should expect unusual things to happen when Jesus died. Our text mentions five things that took place when our Savior laid down His life. They are worthy of examination.
THE VEIL OF THE TEMPLE. The veil of the temple was the divinely appointed separation between the place of service and the place of intercession and revelation. It kept the people from God, forbidding their entrance into His presence. When Jesus died, He took away the sins of the world, removing them from the face of God. When this happened, the way into the holiest place – the presence of God Himself – was opened to men. To signify the reality of this access, the Temple veil was violently torn "from the top to the bottom," indicating that God had opened the way.
THE EARTH QUAKED. This was no ordinary earthquake. It is as though the earth convulsed as its Maker gave up His spirit. If men did not tremble at the sight, the earth would. The earth as made by Him, and belonged to Him. It shook with disruptive tremors at His death.
THE ROCKS WERE SPLIT. Mighty rocks, a picture of solidity, were divided asunder when Jesus died. One other time rocks were violently broken. That is when God made Himself known to Elijah. When the Lord "passed by," it is written, "a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD" (1 Kgs 19:11). But the event that took place at Christ's death transcended that! Once Jesus said the "stones" would "cry out" if people kept their silence (Lk 19:40). The splitting of the rocks at the death of Christ was like nature's protest against humanity.
THE GRAVES WERE OPENED. As though opening to receive Christ, the graves were opened, showing their Prince would soon be there temporarily. In His death, a blow was dealt to death, and an even greater one in His resurrection. Graves have never been the same since Jesus died! They were opened to show that hope was being brought to the sons of men.
MANY OF THE SAINTS RAISED. Here is an event about which we know very little. But it signifies the death of Christ was significant for the saints of old time. A new day had dawned for them on the other side, and they rose from the confining grave to prove it. What a disruptive death our Savior died. It impacted upon every realm.
PRAYER POINT: Father, I thank You for the effective death of Your Son, through whom I have not been made accepted to You.