DAY THIRTY-FOUR -- The Earth Responds
But as we gaze, it is not pity that we feel, but a profound reverence, for there on Calvary is the great turning point in the course of human affairs. —Hughell Fosbroke
Reflect
Come to the Lord today with simple gratitude for His great love. Rest in Him for a few minutes, offering words of adoration.
Consider the turning point in history that Jesus’ death brought about. Besides the spiritual impact, think of how our world revolves around the event—our calendar being based on it. Muse for a few minutes on the concept that for more than two thousand years, the gospel of Jesus Christ has spread continuously, changing lives of people from every race and nation as it now spans the entire globe. Ask God to plant a sense of awe about this within you, as you reflect on the first minutes after His death.
Read
The veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. (Mark 15:38 NASB)
The very bowels of the earth reverberate at the death of Jesus of Nazareth on a hill outside Jerusalem. Those attending the Crucifixion notice it first—a rumbling beneath their feet. Soon the ground begins to roll in ripple after ripple, causing many to lose their balance.
Then without warning the hillside ruptures, creating zigzag crevices large enough to swallow one whole. Giant boulders simply disappear from view, and confusion runs rampant on Golgotha and throughout the city. Hebrew families, familiar with ancestral stories of God’s judgment through acts of nature, wonder what great sin has taken place.
It is the time of the evening sacrifice, and several priests have made their way to the temple to burn incense. They, too, feel the ground quaking, and as they clutch tables to keep from falling, something incomprehensible occurs. With a sound like the roar of the sea, the heavy curtain separating them from the holy of holies begins to come apart at the top. The fine linen shimmers and shakes, its shades of purple, violet, and scarlet blending together.
Frozen, the priests watch as the veil, which normally takes the strength of three hundred to handle every year on the Day of Atonement, tears in two from top to bottom. It is an awesome and frightening sight to behold. In splendorous display, the ark of the covenant stands gleaming before their very eyes. Stunned, the priests begin to back away.
What must they feel as they encounter this sacred object? Does the cloud of God’s presence hover over the mercy seat as it did in Moses’ day? Do they fall down in wonder or cower in fear before the God whose law demands that only one man enter this place, and only once a year? Will some of these priests soon put their faith in Jesus the Messiah as a result of what they’ve seen here?
The earth continues to convulse, and what happens next defies the wildest imagination. Boulders that once sealed tombs begin to break apart, and through the rubble bodies that have long been dead arise. No one will ever know how many are given this resurrection gift, but in the coming week, many of these miracle men and women will shock family and friends as they appear throughout Jerusalem.
No one can deny that something of cataclysmic significance is taking place in this moment of crucifixion. The earth shakes, rocks shatter, and the dead come to life. The veil of the temple tears in two, admitting common priests into the holy of holies where God’s presence resides and the blood of bulls is sprinkled annually to atone for sin. Almighty God acknowledges the death of His Son in a dramatic way.
And yet all these things are merely a shadow of the beauty and power displayed in the heavenlies when the veil of Jesus’ flesh was rent, sprinkling His blood across the altar of history. For this Sacrificial Lamb atones for sins, not once a year, but once and for all, leading the way for humankind to live forever in the wonder of God’s holy presence.
Respond
Think about the freedom that you have to enjoy God’s presence day in and day out, knowing that His Spirit will never leave you. Leviticus details God’s plan for a Day of Atonement for the Israelites (see chapter 16). In it, only one person was allowed in the place where God’s presence resided, and then only once per year to offer sacrifices for the sins of all. If anyone disobeyed, they would die.
In light of that, ponder the truths in the following passage:
Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God . . . Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
(Hebrews 10:11–13, 19–22 NASB)
Thank Jesus Christ for everything this passage tells you about your relationship with Him and salvation through Him. Write a list and offer it up as a sacrifice of praise to the Author of your own salvation.
A Prayer
Jesus, I remember the first time I saw, really saw the beauty of Your Being. Holiness and humility, justice and mercy, righteousness and grace—all that You are my soul could finally glimpse because You suffered and died on Calvary. You led the way; You rent forever the veil between us and I followed You in. I ran through Your broken body and spilled blood into the holy of holies where You shone the light of Your glory . . . how great my joy.
Reprinted by permission. Contemplating the Cross: a Forty Day Pilgrimage of Prayer, Tricia McCary Rhodes, 2004, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved. Copying or using this material without written permission from the publisher is strictly prohibited and in direct violation of copyright law.
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