by
Juanita Paslay
Local Jews and those who journeyed from other towns and
countries had enjoyed festive Passover celebrations all week. Then
the atmosphere dramatically changed.
The early morning hour arrived and the day progressed
similar to any other execution day. Three beaten, condemned criminals
stumbled through the metal gate of the Antonia Fortress, down a
street in Jerusalem and out through a city gate. Then three exhausted
men struggled to climb to the infamous location of many past Roman
crucifixions.
Frightful events happened the day Jesus died. At noon,
fear gripped the heart of every person in Israel, Jew and Roman
alike. An unnatural eclipse of the sun, directed by the creative hand
of God, brought complete darkness across the land not for the typical three minutes or less but for three long eerie
hours.
At the same moment, the Jewish Temple experienced trauma
in the Most Holy place. The large thick curtain concealing the altar
ripped apart. The tear developed at the top and worked its way down
to the bottom hem. The veil sagged open on golden hooks overhead.
A devastating earthquake shook all the nearby mountains
and valleys. The quake broke apart huge boulders and rocks. Some
tombs in the rocks cracked, leaving the entrances wide open.
From the cross, Jesus declared his ministry finished and
took his last breath soon after the ninth hour. He fulfilled John the
Baptist’s words in John 1:29, The next day
John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God
who takes away the sin of the world!”
Jewish laws must be followed to the letter. On a Jewish Sabbath, all work must cease at sundown; therefore, no
crucified criminal was allowed to live nor his body removed from the
cross after sunset. The Passover Sabbath now approached. Thus the
urgency to break the legs of the men on the crosses to speed their
deaths that horrific day when Jesus hung crucified. Scripture stated
no bones of the Messiah would be broken (Psalm 34:20); only a spear
would pierce His side (Zechariah 12:10). For Jesus, that day unfolded
according to Old Testament prophecy.
After Jesus died, Joseph and Nicodemus buried him in a
wealthy man's tomb according to His Father's plan in Isaiah 53:9.
Jesus rose from the grave on the third day as He promised
Another event happened in Matthew 27 that is seldom
discussed. Timeline for the resurrected saints after the earthquake
remains uncertain. They either rose when Jesus took His last breath
or when Jesus rose on the third day. In either case, these godly
people took a fresh new breath when their spiritual bodies were
released from prison. Their tombs opened and they were set free.
Visualize a group of ten or maybe a hundred or two
hundred people released from the bonds of death, singing praises to
their God and dancing for joy. The cemetery celebrated as the
happiest place in town that weekend. Jesus' disciples, unaware of the
party, hid behind locked doors—afraid for their own lives.
Were those saints first to rejoice in the presence of
our risen Lord? Imagine Jesus celebrating with them around his open
tomb.
In only a few words from the Holy Spirit, Matthew
recorded the risen saints went into the holy city of Jerusalem. Did
they visit their old friends and relatives? Did they shout, “Prepare
to meet your God”? When Jesus revealed the experiences of a deceased rich
man and a beggar named Lazarus, He quoted Abraham as saying, “If
your relatives won’t believe the law and the prophets, they won’t
believe if one comes from the dead.” (Luke
16:31) Maybe that’s why no revival in Jerusalem was mentioned that day.
When Jesus returned to his Father after greeting Mary
the first time, did he
personally escort these resurrected saints to their heavenly home?
Questions remain unanswered in Matthew 27:52-53.
But we understand the answer to one question: What about us? A
time will come when God blows His trumpet loud enough to wake the
dead in Christ. Then we will live with Him forever.
“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven
with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of
God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
Then
we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them
in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be
with the Lord.”
1
Thessalonians 4:16-17 KJV
