BREAKING STRONGHOLDS
“And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and gave 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. Also 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 (NASV)
Matthew gives us the most dramatic account of the events that occurred right at the moment of Jesus’ death on the cross. As soon as Jesus gave up His Spirit, tombs were opened, and believers who had been dead were raised out of their graves and seen by many as they appeared throughout the city of Jerusalem. It’s such a strange and dramatic event, yet I’m pretty sure the people who were raised up probably appeared in glorified bodily form, recognizable yet heavenly looking, not frightening as in a horror movie. Matthew describes the temple curtain tearing down the middle as an earthquake struck and rocks split open. In each of the four gospels, the writers all described Jesus crying out in a loud voice saying “It is finished” and then He died. Luke described the sudden darkness enveloping the earth, and he called it an eclipse of the sun. Mark, Luke and Matthew all mention the torn temple curtain, but only Matthew tells us of the opened tombs and dead people who were raised and seen by others in the “Holy city.” All of this occurred at the moment of His death, before the resurrection. Yesterday when the sky grew very dark in the early afternoon hours, as severe thunderstorms passed through our area, it reminded me of the moment Jesus died on the cross. The thunder sounded like the earth quaking and the rocks splitting. I wondered if God allowed the storms during this Holy week to help us reflect on the day His only Son died for us. What message was God sending through Matthew to all believers through these strange occurrences at Jesus’ death, even before His resurrection? God tore the thick temple curtain that used to separate us from God the Father. Jesus gave Himself up as our eternal sacrifice for sin, and in tearing the curtain He was opening a new access for us to come to God. His love for us went as low as He needed to go to bring us back to God. In the moment that the Son of God gave up His spirit, He cried out “It is finished!”Even before the resurrection, He did all of this, raising the dead in Christ, and causing others to see them with their own eyes, that they were alive. Faith became sight for a brief moment. God is telling us that there is no tomb or grave that He cannot lift us out of, through the death of His Son. As I read this scripture in this Holy week, I feel God inviting all His church to cherish the precious blood that was shed for us that day, and to remember and honor that sacred thorn pierced head, who cried out “Father forgive them.” God showed us through these mysterious events, that the cross breaks forever, the power of death and the strongholds of sin, oppression, or any other kind of entombment we struggle with. God declared through His divine Son, “It is finished!”, 2,000 years at 3:00 in the afternoon as the Jesus gave up His spirit and died. He defeated the power of death, promising us that we also will live even if we die. We can be made new in Christ every year in this Holiest of weeks, as we re-identify ourselves with His moment of death. We need to believe it and not over think it. If we receive His atonement, we also died with Him. In Colossians 3:3-5, Paul told the believers in the church, “For you have died, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”
Amen, come Lord Jesus.