THAT DAY

On a hill just outside the city walls, the 'prophet' who’d been attracting crowds of eager followers for the past three years hung on a blood-stained wooden cross. As darkness blanketed the scene, distraught mourners grieved ... while others mocked and jeered. 

The cruelty finally came to an end. 

Jesus cried out and yielded up His spirit. And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split. The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection, they entered the holy city and appeared to many. (Matthew 27:50-53)

Staggering events took place in the moments following Christ's death:

• Those near the temple heard the sound of fabric ripping. Miraculously, the massive curtain that separated the 'outer temple' from the 'Holy of Holies' was torn in half from the top down. Christ was now the 'Way' to God ... Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the veil, that is, His body. (Hebrews 10:19-20)

• The ground heaved and violently convulsed when the Son of God exhaled His last breath. As His brutalized body grew limp, boulders began to crack loudly and cleave apart ... unsealing the tombs. It reminds us of the time Jesus defended the preaching of the Gospel by His apostles ... "I tell you," He replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” (Luke 19:40)

• Out of the opened sepulchers came the resurrected bodies of those who died in faith. We can't help but wonder about the impact it had on people who recognized them in Jerusalem. This extraordinary event occurred as a testimony to the immortal power ascribed to God ... The Lord brings death and makes alive; He brings down to the grave and raises up. (1 Samuel 2:6) 

Charles Swindoll - All these events announced that the One who was crucified as King of the Jews was no 'charlatan' or 'madman'. Anybody with an eye to see or an ear to hear would have recognized that something extremely significant had just happened.

It was planned from the beginning. Calvary's cross was to be 'ground zero' for mankind's redemption.  

'Eternity past' looked forward to that day, and 'eternity future' will look back on it with wonder. The very idea that 'God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life' ... is beyond astounding.

Take it in, soak it up. It was for you that Christ died.