Matthew 28:16-29 Some Doubted!

Matthew 28:16-29  Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.  When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.  Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

In the above text, Jesus meets his disciples in Galilee.  Mary was told by Jesus to tell the disciples to go there: Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid.  Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”  (Matthew 28:10)  We do not know the time element of this gathering of the disciples on a Galilee mountain to meet Jesus.  However, we do know that Jesus immediately after his resurrection goes to two disciples on the road to Emmaus.  Then on the same day, Jesus reveals himself to the disciples who were discussing what the two Emmaus travelers experienced earlier with Jesus.  Then a week later He meets with them again, but this time Thomas is with them.  To ease Thomas’ unbelief, He shows him his scars from the crucifixion.  Thomas’ doubting indicates how difficult it was for all of them to accept the resurrection.  Even as Jesus is giving his believers their commission to go into all the world to preach the gospel, some still doubted.  The doubters might have thought of Jesus as an apparition.  This mountain gathering might have taken place close to Jesus’ resurrection, maybe after his second time with the disciples and Thomas in Jerusalem.  Whatever, we know Jesus spent some time with the disciples after his resurrection.  After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive.  He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.  (Acts 1:3)  During this time, Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.  (John 20:30)  By the fact of the resurrection and by the miracles He performed in their presence, Jesus validated the reality of eternal life, an idea many people of all nations considered as a possibility, but abstractly.  His time with them exposed the reality of life forever.  Jesus’ whole existence on earth, before and after the crucifixion, manifested the incredulous for no man from the beginning of time could do what He was doing.  His life revealed a spiritual world and a supernatural God.  His teachings were with great wisdom, and his acts were beyond belief, even nature obeyed his every command.  As Jesus said, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Now the disciples were given the command to tell everyone, everywhere about his life and his teachings.  The world needed to know Jesus to know God.   “I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.  If you really know me, you will know my Father as well.  From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”  (John 14:6-7)

This message of knowing God and eternal life is very restrictive, very narrow.  The disciples were to proclaim that the Jewish Messiah is the only way to God.  Sadly this message is even troubling for some Christians.  Many are trying to water down this message by saying others too have truth, seeking inward peace through meditation and exercises to release the pressures of life.  But Jesus of Nazareth is the only way to God and to peace.  Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.  All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them.  I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.  (John 10:7-9)  One gate is the answer to eternal life.  One devotion, one service, one dedication is the only road to God: not many, or another way, only Jesus.  James states this understanding explicitly when men seek the wisdom of knowing God to help them endure the temptations and doubts of this world, to bring peace to them.  But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.  That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.  Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.  (James 1:6-8)  Seeking another way, another wisdom, another truth that is greater than knowing Christ is pure folly.  He tells Christians who are enduring persecution from the world, any other way to life is foolishness and God will not bless you for amalgamating the world’s wisdom with God’s wisdom in your life.  You will receive nothing from God—maybe that means eternal life too.  The disciples were given this command to teach this narrow-way message to all people.  In doing that, they faced horrible persecution, even death.  People did not want to leave their gods and search after Jesus.  They were reluctant to leave their customs and way of life to live a life under Jesus’ lordship.  And the leaders of every culture and society were the most reluctant to change, for they were gaining the most from the status quo.  They, the religious, political, social leaders, might lose their coveted positions of deference if the people accepted Jesus’ teachings and his lordship over their lives.  Consequently, this commission to the disciples would bring much sorrow and death to his followers.  Even though Jesus loved his followers dearly, He sent them out into a hostile world, knowing many of them would be put to death, but Jesus loved his enemies, wanting to see them have eternal life with him.  As with God’s great love for the Jewish people, He would shepherd those in this fallen world who would place their trust in him.  As God chased after his chosen people, so would Jesus gather his people to his bosom.  For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them.  As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep.  I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness.  I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land.  (Ezekiel 34:11-13)  We see through the disciples’ commission that the whoever will in all the lands will be sought by Jesus.  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  (John 3:16-17)

All people in every land who bow to Jesus as Lord of their lives will receive eternal life.  The disciples were told to reveal Jesus to everyone, everywhere, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  To be a disciples of Jesus meant an intimate relationship with God.  Jesus came to make his people ONE with God the Father.  Since Jesus’ relationship with the Father is one, then all who believe IN JESUS are one with the Father.  People from all lands, from all ethnic, racial, and national groups will become one with the Father through Jesus Christ and HIS WORK.  All people who know Jesus will be in the family of God as brothers and sisters, a relationship closer than biological connections on earth.  John says our trust in Jesus makes us all children in the family of God, united with him as one under his eternal authority.  See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!  And that is what we are!  The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.  Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known.  But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.  All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.  (1 John 3:1-3)  We who are presently clothed in the flesh, navigating and evaluating life by our senses will sometimes fall into sinful thoughts or actions.  In this world we are not yet transformed into the divine nature of Christ.  However, in a spiritual sense, we are NOW children of God, but what we will be has not yet been made known to us.  We will not know the reality of who we really are in the spirit until Christ appears.  Then we will be like him; the transformation from the flesh to eternal life will take place only then.  As He is and ever will be so will we be changed that completely.  But until that day of transformation, we are living in a world of great temptations, distractions, and diversions.  Jesus knew He was leaving his disciples defenseless in the face of evil, so He told his disciples to wait until Pentecost.  On that day, the dynamo of God, the Holy Spirit, would infill them with his power and authority.  He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.  But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”  (Acts 1:7-8)  In this corrupt and violent world, Christians live, facing daily the onslaught of the devil who uses others and the temptations of the world to divert Christians from a holy walk.  However, the Holy Spirit has been sent to us to be our gyroscope.  He keeps us stable and directional.  Someday this world will face the judgment of God.  Everything will be destroyed, removed from existence, except for those who know eternal life through Christ the Eternal One.  For us, dear Christian companions, every day we hear the Spirit’s wooing.  Pick up this breakfast, partake of it, for God is calling you through his words, his Spirit: The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!”  And let the one who hears say, “Come!”  Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.  (Revelation 22:17)  Come Christian friends, eat of the bread of life and drink of the cup that is THE BREAD AND THE WATER OF LIFE.  Amen!  

Matthew 28:1-15 Don't Be Afraid!

Matthew 28:1-15  After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.  There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it.  His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.  The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.  The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.  He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.  Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee.  There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”  So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples.  Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said.  They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him.  Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid.  Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”  While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened.  When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’  If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.”  So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed.  And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.

The angel tells the two Mary’s that Jesus has risen and for them to investigate the empty tomb.  He has risen, just as he said.  This is the pivotal scripture of the promise of eternal life.  Jesus often talked about eternal life.  In his homily on marriage He says, The people of this age marry and are given in marriage.  But those who are considered worthy of taking part in the age to come and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels.  (Luke 20:34-36)  In the  focus for today, Jesus comes to his followers from the grave.  His promise of never abandoning his disciples comes true through this scene.  The word “saved” becomes a reality.  Saved from what?  Saved from eternal death: Jesus’ resurrection clearly reveals that all who believe IN HIM shall have life forever.  He comes to them in the flesh, showing them that their lives will exist forever in God’s domain.  Later on in John’s life, he speaks of an apostasy that has crept into the church: the idea that the Messiah did not come in the flesh before or after the resurrection.  Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God.  (John 4:2-3)  To claim that Jesus is only a spirit and that He did not come to the world in bodily form or leave the world in the same way is an antichrist spirit.  If we claim that, we are in cahoots with the evil one, the devil.  We who are alive IN CHRIST are children of the resurrection, better yet, children of God, for He is eternal and we are eternal.  Jesus did not abandon his disciples and neither will He abandon us.  He came back to them after his death, and He will come to us after our deaths.  This fact gave the disciples great courage to preach the gospel even under the threat of death.   After revealing himself to the two Mary’s, we find him supernaturally transported to a road that leads to the village of Emmaus.  On that road He joins himself to two very sad followers.  He asks them what they were discussing.  They tell this stranger that they are talking about the horrific events that recently happened in Jerusalem.  Jesus feigns not knowing of these events.  They tell him about Jesus being betrayed by the religious elite and placed in the hands of the Romans to be crucified.  He then opens up the scriptures to them about the Messiah.  He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken!  Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?”  And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.  (Luke 24:25-27)  As Jesus reminded them of the scriptures about the Messiah, their souls burned inside of them.  Finally at their house, Jesus breaks bread with them, giving each of them a piece, then they realize they are with the risen Lord and then Jesus disappears.  

On the same day Jesus appears to the disciples on the road to Emmaus, they returned to Jerusalem where Jesus appears again.  While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”  They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost.  He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds?  Look at my hands and my feet.  It is I myself!  Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”  (Luke 24:36-39)   As John had warned believers later in his ministry, do not think of Jesus as a ghost, a spirit, an apparition; no, Jesus has come to us in the flesh.  In this scene of Jesus appearing to the disciples and other believers, we see him asking the disciples to see the marks of his dying flesh.  Look at my hands and my feet.  To prove He is not just some mirage, an apparition, unlike them, He asked them about having something to eat.  Do you have anything here to eat?”  They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence.  (Luke 24:41-42)  As He was eating, they stared at him, trying to digest intellectually what they were seeing.  They knew He had died on the cross only a few days earlier, and now He was sitting in their presence eating as all humans eat.  This shocked everything they knew about life, about existence.  Jesus had promised He would not abandon them; now here He was eating fish in their midst.  Thomas was not with them at this time, so he doubted the disciples’ words that Jesus was alive.  As a rational man, he probably thought his brother disciples were so sorrowful that they wanted Jesus alive; thinking maybe they had seen him through some sort of mystical vision.  Of course, any such ideas refuted Christ’s claim of coming to them again in the flesh.  A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them.  Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”  Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands.  Reach out your hand and put it into my side.  Stop doubting and believe.”  (John 20:26-27)  Jesus addressed Thomas directly.  He knew what Thomas had been thinking for a week. This reveals clearly that God knows every thought in our heads.  He tells Thomas, Stop doubting and believe.  We ought not deceive ourselves, believing God does not know what is in our hearts.  He knows our thoughts as He knew Thomas’ thoughts.  Later in Galilee we see Jesus meeting with the disciples who had decided to go fishing, returning to the mundane activities of life.  They had seen Jesus, but what was next?  Was this all that would happen?  As they were fishing, they saw a figure on the beach.  He called out to them a fisherman’s question, “Have you caught any fish?”  The disciples answered, “No.”  Then this unknown fisherman told them to throw the net on the right side of the boat.  A silly comment to experienced fishermen, but they did what he said, and caught so many fish that they could not haul the net into the boat; they had to tow the catch toward the shore.  John tells Peter, It is the Lord!  Peter then jumped into the water to greet Jesus.  When the boat was at the shore,  Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?”  They knew it was the Lord.  Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish.  This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.  (John 21:13-14)  In this scene, Jesus answered the disciples’ question of what is next in their lives.  He tells them their lives would consist of catching fish, yet not the fish of this world, but of people for the Kingdom of God.  Their mission in life was not to carry on with the mundane activities of life, but to be about the Father’s business of redeeming people from this evil world.  

The reality of the crucifixion and the subsequent resurrection would change the world forever, even the calendar would be changed to reveal Jesus’ life on earth.  The resurrection put a stamp on the revelatory acts of Jesus Christ as the Messiah.  The resurrection was observed by many people.  Paul speaks about this reality to the Corinthians.  For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve.  After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.  Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.  (1 Corinthians 15:2-8)   Paul as with all the disciples would testify of the reality of the resurrection by giving their lives to spread this truth around the world.  They were unwilling to back down from this truth.  To the Greeks it was foolishness, to the Jews it was apostasy.  These men chosen out of many knew Jesus had been resurrected.  In Jerusalem, they were beaten for these words of eternal life.  The religious world and the secular world hated them.  Herod was willing to kill these men because it pleased the religious Jews; James is beheaded and Peter is thrown in jail to be killed.  But even under these horrible threats to their very lives, they would not recant, knowing that Jesus rose triumphant from the grave.  Their words cut to the heart of sinful man, for their story tells of the need to know this Jesus, the Messiah.  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  (John 3:16)  Paul proclaimed this truth boldly even under great persecution and threats to his life.  For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.  (Romans 1:16)  If the apostles had stolen Jesus’ body, they would not have died for this falsehood; such a lie is not worth death in this world.  But they knew the truth of the resurrection: HE IS RISEN!  HE IS RISEN INDEED!  Has Christ arose in your life!   

Matthew 27:57-66 Make the Tomb Secure!

Matthew 27:57-66  As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus.  Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him.  Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock.  He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away.  Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.  The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate.  “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’  So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day.  Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead.  This last deception will be worse than the first.”  “Take a guard,” Pilate answered.  “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.”  So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.

In the above passage we see Jesus dead.  As with all flesh in death, He is unable to move.  Joseph of Arimathea removes him from the cross and takes him to his newly prepared tomb.  Jesus the Christ would now be placed where a rich man and his family would be entombed, fulfilling the prophet’s words.  He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.  (Isaiah 53:9)  Jesus would not be abandoned in that tomb by God, for in three days, He would be delivered from the grave by the power of the Holy Spirit.  He would rise again!  Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay.  (Psalm 16:9-10)  These words of the prophet Jesus knew and his faith relied on his Father’s faithfulness to him.  Later we see the stone rolled away by an angel, not by Jesus getting up out of death and pushing the boulder away.  There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it.  (Matthew 28:2)  According to prophecy, his Father would raise him from the grave.  The religious elite knew of Jesus’ words that he would rise after three days, so they had Pilate insure that this prediction would not be fulfilled by any deception of his followers to make Jesus’ words true.  So Pilate had the tomb secured by putting a seal on the stone and posting a guard in front of it.  But God’s intention to raise his Son from the grave could not be thwarted by such actions.  He would cause the stone to be rolled away, just as He caused Jonah to be released by the great fish.  The resurrection of Christ was God’s work, just as Jonah’s freedom of the fish was God’s work.  And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.  (Jonah 2:10)  Jesus knew this story of Jonah being freed from the fish by God.  He knew God would rescue him from death.  Jonah was unable to help himself from the belly of the great fish.  He was as dead in that fish’s interior—no escape at all for him.  Jesus understood this hopeless condition would happen to him too, but He had faith in his Father’s goodwill, his deliverance plan, so he told the Sadducees and the Pharisees, Jonah’s situation would happen to him.  This alone is the only sign that his Father will give them to prove Jesus is the Son of God.  No other miracle will convince the world of Jesus’ status with God.  “A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.”  Jesus then left them and went away.  (Matthew 16:4)  Paul tells Christians that if Jesus did not rise from the grave, all who believe in him are most miserable for their resurrection from the dead is not assured either.  And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.  (1 Corinthians 15:14)  Jesus’ resurrection from the dead by the Father God through the power of the Holy Spirit is every Christian’s hope of being resurrected from death.  We know we who are found IN CHRIST through trust in his works will be redeemed from eternal death, that which sin pronounced on our lives.

We see in Jesus’ death the beginning of the Davidic covenant being established.  After David gained the throne of Israel, he freed Jerusalem from the Jebusites.  He then brought the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem, but felt guilty that he was living in a house made of cedar and his Lord God was living in a tent; therefore, he decided that a temple should be built for God.  However, because of his many wars and the blood of enemy soldiers on his hands, he was not allowed to build the Temple.  His son, Solomon, built the Temple under his rule.  But God honored David’s intentions of building a temple for him to abide in by making covenant with David.  Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.  (2 Samuel 7:16)  Jesus came from the house of David, the tribe of Judah.  The covenant to king David would be fulfilled through this dead man Jesus, for He would rise again to eternal life.  Then, and only then, would the covenant with David be realized.  Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.  Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.  (Matthew 2:9-31)  Jesus would not rot in Joseph’s tomb, but He would be rescued from the fetters of death by his faithful Father.  Jesus went to the grave willingly, putting his trust in his Father God.  He was the Lamb of God who laid his life down freely for the salvation of many.  For centuries the Israelites sacrificed lambs for their salvation.  They placed these lambs on the altar, restraining them with ropes, but Jesus went to the cross in silence, without any need of restraints.  He went to the grave trusting his Father’s plan that He would be raised to sit on the throne of the faithful David, who honored God in obedience.  Jesus went to the grave, finding himself separated from his Father in the darkness of death.  About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).  (Matthew 27:46)  If the Father had not intervened this separation would have been forever.

Jesus’ grave experience emulated Jonah’s existence in the great fish: hopeless, forsaken, abandoned by life.  Jonah was in the belly of the fish because he was running from God’s will: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”  (Jonah 1:2)  Jonah had no love for the people of Nineveh, for he was bitterly disappointed with God for not destroying them after they repented.  Jesus was in the tomb of Joseph because the Father’s will was to save his enemies: unrighteous, rebellious humans made in his image.  Jonah was unwilling to interrupt his life for the cause of God: to announce judgment on Nineveh.  Jesus went willingly to the cross; Jonah went unwillingly to Nineveh.  Jesus told the Pharisees and Sadducees that this sign of Jonah would prove He was sent to them from God.  The priests’ lives were so corrupt and self-serving that Jesus told the disciples to beware of the yeast of what they are saying to you.  The priests’ unbelief, their willingness to carry on with their lives of preference, was contaminating.  When Jesus caught the disciples arguing over who forgot to bring bread on their journey across the lake, Jesus tells them that He is in control of these little things like providing bread for people.  He reminds them that He fed 4,000 and 5,000 with a few loaves and fishes.  He wanted them to understand that they were dealing with the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees by arguing about temporal things such as bread.  If their eyes concentrated on these finite things of this world, they would lose their focus on the bread of life.  Jesus said to them, “It is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.  For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”  (John 6:32-33)  The priests wanted Jesus to perform a miracle for them, to satisfy their immediate desire for Jesus to confirm his authority from God.  But Jesus would not do that for them because He was not under their authority, but God’s authority.  He tells them, God will validate who I am with only one sign, the resurrection.  In today’s focus, we see Jesus lying dead in the tomb of Joseph.  We see no angel there at this time; we see only a dead body, brutalized, bloodied, and forsaken.  We do not see the coming king in that tomb.  We see only the eternal resting place of death there.  But the hope of the world lies in that silent tomb, for He will rise again.  And then as Isaiah prophesies so beautifully: He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end.  He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.  (Isaiah 9:6-7)  We may wonder if Joseph, the Pharisee, realized he was carrying the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace to his tomb.  When he lay Jesus down, this innocent man who was so brutally treated, did he know at all that this man was the Son of God, the Lamb of God?  We wonder.  But three days later the boulder to Joseph’s tomb was rolled away by an angel, and out steps the King of kings, the Lord of lords.  God has called us to the gravesite to rejoice over the empty tomb, for He has risen; He has risen indeed!  And we shall rise with him to life eternal.  

Matthew 27:45-56 The Sun Stopped Shining!

Matthew 27:45-56  From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land.  About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).   When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.”  Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge.  He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink.  The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.”  And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.  At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.  The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open.  The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life.  They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.  When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”  Many women were there, watching from a distance.  They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs.  Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.

The above verses reveal a cataclysmic event, one that would change the world forever.  This day climaxes God’s eternal intention for mankind’s redemption.  Through Jesus mankind would be free from the slavery of sin and death.  Jesus completed the work of bringing man to God.  He came in the likeness of man, dying for men and women so that they might forever exist in the presence of God.  On the cross Jesus paid the full price for mankind’s sins.  Men and women who were unacceptable to God, now because of Jesus’ sacrifice for them were counted as holy and perfect.  The Roman soldiers and the people in Jerusalem experienced the horrific environmental effects of this dramatic day.  The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open.  It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, for the sun stopped shining.  (Luke 23:44-45)  Not only the environment was affected on this day, we see the spiritual world react to this great event; this expectation of deliverance from sin and death even roused the dead.  The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life.  They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.  Freedom from the captivity of the grave happened when Jesus announced his complete surrender to God’s will: “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).  The ransom price from the captivity of sin and death had been paid; the days of slavery to the Pharaoh of this world were over.  Freedom would come to every man or woman who would place his or her trust in the work of Jesus on the cross.  The plan of God to deliver man’s souls to him in complete righteousness had been realized; Christ’s sacrifice on the cross satisfied every demand that God had on men and women’s lives.  Now, for all who put their trust in Jesus’ work, the eternal presence of God would abide within them forever.  “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased.  Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—I have come to do your will, my God.’”  (Hebrews 10:5-7)  This sacrifice of Jesus was the culmination of all the sacrifices that ever had been given to please a holy God.  Man’s nature of sin and rebellion was an affront to God’s perfection, his everlasting holiness, his goodness and love.  For man to be perfect, righteous, holy, only God could pay the price for such a transition.  God’s work had to be implemented to change men and women into his nature.  In these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.  The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.  (Hebrews 1:2-3)  We see the radiance of God’s glory being placed on the cross, the altar for man’s sin.  No wonder the sun did not shine.  The Bright and Morning Star of heaven was being dismissed from this earth through death.  Sinful man could not pay the price for sin, only the death of righteousness, purity, holiness, God himself, could pay the price for man’s lostness from God.  

In our scriptural focus, we see the heavy curtain between the Holy of Holies and the Holy Place torn from top to bottom.  Some say this curtain was four inches thick; nothing could tear this curtain but something supernatural.  At the exact moment of Jesus giving up his last breath, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.  The sacrificial work of God was finished when Jesus’ flesh died.  His everlasting closeness to the Father was given up willingly on the cross.  This tearing of the curtain meant that men now had direct access to the Creator of all things.  Man could move from the Holy Place to the Holy of Holies without being devoured by fire from being in the presence of God.  If mankind refused Christ’s work and kept on with the lifestyle of the natural man, he would be consumed by God’s holy fire.  If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.  (Hebrews 10:26-27)  The natural man in his own clothing of righteousness will never be accepted by God.  The Tabernacle in the wilderness was constructed to allow man to approach God without being destroyed.  The Tabernacle consisted of three areas: the outer court where the sacrifices were performed; the Most Holy space where priests performed religious ceremonies to please God; and finally the Most Holy of Holy places where God dwelled.  Between man’s religious effort to please God and where God actually dwelled was a heavy curtain.  In the outer court was an altar overlaid with brass, also a laver or basin full of water, made of brass.  Animals without blemish were sacrifices on the altar in the outer court.  These animals were tied down to the horns that were at each corner of the altar.  The animals given to God were a representation of the need of blood to cover the sinful nature of men.  These sacrificial animals had to be restrained, but Jesus’ willingly placed himself on the altar, doing the will of his Father.  After the sacrificing of the animals, the priests would wash their feet and hands before entering the Holy Place.  In the Holy Place were three articles of furniture: the table where the bread of the Presence (shewbread) was placed, the altar of incense, and the seven-branched candelabrum.  The candelabrum was made of pure gold and was on the left side of the altar of incense.  The altar of incense was close to the curtain that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies.  This altar was overlaid with gold.  On the right side of the altar was a table that held twelve loaves of bread, stacked in two piles of six loaves.  These loaves represented the tribes of Israel.  The Holy Place is where the priest would serve God and satisfy his demands.  The rituals the priests performed there were to appease a holy God who could not look upon sin.  The priest entered the Holy Place washed, wearing clean robes.  The candelabrum was the only light in this sacred place.  Jesus is the only light in this dark world.  When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  (John 8:12)  Jesus fulfilled the duty of the candelabrum.  The altar of incense was where the aroma of the sweet smelling incense covered the priests and mankind’s rebellion against God.  Jesus fulfilled the necessity of the aroma of the incense covering mankind.  And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.  (Ephesians 5:2)  On the right of the altar, the table with bread stacked for the twelve tribes indicated God’s provision for all people.  Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.  For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”  (John 6:32-33)  Jesus satisfied completely every aspect of the Most Holy place and the priesthood service.  Because He fulfilled man’s effort to please God, the curtain was torn, for there was no more need for men to serve God with rituals and with implements made by man’s hands.  No more shadows of the real thing was needed.  God had come down to men in his image to do away with the religious services that man was required to do to please Him.  Now Jesus the Son who pleased God broke through the Most Holy Place to the Holy of Holies.

In the Holy of Holies where men will always dwell because of Christ’s work and not ours, we see the evidence of God work to save a rebellious people.  We see in the Holy of Holies his work for men, not the work of men for God.  The Ark of the Covenant with two sculptured cherubim on the lid or mercy seat is the only furniture in this room.  The Ark is overlaid with gold.  In the Holy of Holies the work of God to redeem mankind is evident.  There it is revealed that life originates from him and in him only.  In the Ark itself we find a vessel containing manna, the life-giving bread that was given freely to the Israelites to sustain them as they walked through the wilderness.  This is God’s act, not man’s act.  God provided food, He provided life, not the hunters or the gathers of edible plants.  We see in the Ark, Aaron’s rod or staff.  His staff was the only one of the Israelites’ staffs that budded, manifesting that God is the creator of life, not man’s good intentions or desire to rule.  God chooses who He will give life to, not man.  Also, in the Ark we see the Tablets of stone, the Ten Commandments written by God’s hands, not derived from man’s good intentions or moral directives.  God defines rightness in life; He determines how men should act to please God or to be organized into a peaceful community.  The Holy of Holies reveals God’s actions for the benefit of mankind, for sustaining his life.  The Holy Place revealed man’s necessary rituals or activity to please God.  And the outer court revealed the absolute necessity of man to appease a wrathful God’s against the sin of mankind.   On the crucifixion day, we see Jesus fulfilling every area of the Tabernacle, placing men near to God.  He not only was the sacrifice; He was the high priest who performed the rituals of the priests, and He was the High Priest who entered the Holy of Holies and placed his blood of the atonement on the Mercy Seat, indicating the work of man is done.  Now the work of God is the work that is necessary for eternal life in the household of God.  Jesus’ work and his blood that was shed for all of mankind has brought men and women into a right relationship with God.  The work is finished!  Complete!  No effort by mankind is needed to please God, for Jesus completely satisfies every requirement of God on mankind.  Now, breakfast companions, enter into the Most Holy of Holies with full confidence that you are acceptable to God and that you are now his children clothed in righteous robes.  Jesus paid the price for this wonderful, eternal existence with the Father God.  Give him glory and praise, for He deserves every breath that you breathe in honor of him.  For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.  (Hebrews 10:14)  Walk in his holiness today.  Amen!