Weekly Thoughts

4/7/07 – 7 Wonders of the Cross

Hi all,

This is a busy week, and noting the anniversary of Jesus' death on the cross on Thursday at 3pm, I'd like to share the 7 wonders (signs) of the cross as noted in Matthew 27: 45-54 today, instead of on Saturday as is custom for my "thoughts". 

They follow a very logical pattern. I will list them then make some comments. They are:

 

1)    Darkness over the whole land for 3 hours

2)    The veil of the temple torn in two from top to bottom at his death

3)    The earthquake at his death

4)    The graves opened at his death

5)    The coming back to life of those whose graves had been opened

6)    The people raised from the dead going into the city to talk to people after Jesus was resurrected

7)    The Centurion's comments

 

1)  Darkness over all the land:

"Now from the 6th hour (noon) until the 9th (3pm) there was darkness over all the land." (27:45)

Darkness is always a sign of judgement. Remember that one of the plagues on Egypt was a darkness so oppressively thick for 3 days that no Egyptian left his home, though in Goshen Israel had light.(Ex 10:21-29) 

Yet there is another darkness that most certainly was judgement as well, and that is the way the earth is described in the opening of Genesis: "And the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep..." (Gen 1:2)

(My personal belief is that Genesis opens up with the narration just after Lucifer has been kicked out of heaven and down to the earth, and that spiritual war also brought destruction and judgement on the earth, which had been under Lucifer's control when he was 'good'. Re: Isaiah 14:12-17)

The only other place "formless and void" is used is in Jeremiah 4:23 where he laments over the coming judgement on Judah: "I beheld the earth, and lo, it was without form and void, and the heavens and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and lo they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly."

But this judgement was on Jesus himself for he was taking our sins upon him. "God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not charging their trespasses unto them...for he has made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin..." (II Cor 5:19, 21)

Isaiah put it much more poignantly as it highlights the Father-Son relationship in the matter: "He was cut off from the living. For the transgressions of my people he was punished. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; He has put him to grief: when you shall make his soul an offering for sin...he will see the travail of his soul and will be satisfied." (Is 532: 8-11)

Therefore the darkness was the judgement of mankind coming on Jesus. All the illnesses and ravages of sin from countless generations past AND future descended on Jesus, increasing in intensity until the whole land was covered in the darkness of judgement. Isaiah 52:14 says of this punishment; "his visage was so marred, more than any other man."

A side note here; we could also consider the darkness in part as being a response by the creation acknowledging the magnitude of the event of the cross, in the same way Jesus was able to ride a colt that had never been ridden on, showing nature's submission to the Lord and acknowledgement of his Lordship. More on nature in #3.

2)  The veil of the temple torn from top to bottom:

Some sources says this veil was as much as 4" thick, but it was torn like paper, revealing the way to the holy place. The writers of Hebrews says the True veil was the body of Jesus: "By a new and living way, which he has prepared for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh." (10:20)

So first we had the judgement, and then once that is complete the way into the presence of God is revealed. Even now the first word of salvation is "repent", for when Peter was asked by the 3,000 what they must do to be saved, he replied "Repent..." (Acts 2: 38) When a person comes to the Lord he must judge himself and then receive the solution to his sinful nature - Repentance reveals the way to the holy place.

As Paul would say in Ephesians: "For he is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of partition between us...for through him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father..."  (2:14, 18)

3)  The earthquake at his death:

Romans 8:19-22 states that the earth was made subject to sin and it's ramifications not willingly, but in hope, for it too will be delivered from the curse placed upon it. "For the whole creation groans and travails (in birth) until now." And: "...it will also be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God."

Surely it was the earth that first felt the effects of the curse lifting as Jesus' blood poured onto the ground beneath the cross! He paid the price! As Life dominated the earth at it's creation and took thousands of years for the curse to take the preeminence, so was that process reversed, to culminate with the return of Christ and the manifest lifting of the curse!

4, 5, 6)  The graves opened at his death, the coming back to life of the occupants, the return of those people to Jerusalem:

"And tombs opened, and many godly men and women who had died came back to life again after Jesus' resurrection, and they left the cemetery and went into Jerusalem, and appeared to many people there."

(Mt 27:52-53)

I've compared many versions of this passage and every version is clear: At the death of Jesus the tombs in the cemetery were opened. After his resurrection they were brought back to life and went into town. What a surprise for the families that Sunday morning to see their dead and buried relative coming strolling into town!

That means that Jesus' tomb was either the only one, or one of the only ones closed. Certainly it was the only one with a Roman seal and a detachment of soldiers guarding it. What a spooky time for those soldiers to be guarding the only tomb that was closed!

The stones of all those tombs were rolled away in anticipation of Jesus' resurrection, or their plastered openings were broken up, preparing for a mass exodus when they would come alive and go into town to tell what they had seen in Paradise!

In those days before the cross there were 2 compartments in the earth; hell and Paradise (also referred to as Abraham's bosom). Paradise is where the righteous dead went in anticipation of the day their sins would be paid for and they could proceed directly to heaven. It was in Paradise Jesus promised the man crucified next to him they would be together later.

At his resurrection, as his spirit soul ascended from the lower parts of the earth, he led those who had been held captive in Paradise by their sins, captive now to Jesus Himself! (Eph 4:8) That is why Paradise is now in heaven - Jesus carried it there - and it is that same Paradise Paul referred to when he said he "was caught up to Paradise" and heard words it wasn't lawful for him to repeat. (II Cor 12)

As Jesus' spirit and soul were reunited with his dead body, the glory of God was so strong the molecular structure was changed into a glorified body made of heavenly material! As Romans 6:4 says, the glory of God raised Jesus from the dead, and we shall experience the same one day.

But many of those righteous saints from Jerusalem who had more recently died, did not get to go on to heaven with the rest. Instead they were brought back to life, still in their mortal bodies, and went into the city after Jesus was resurrected. Amazing!

They would have lived out their lives as would anyone else Jesus raised from the dead, but they were a living testimony about Paradise and the Person of Jesus! Talk about an after-death experience! What was it like to be in the park-like place called paradise and see Jesus come strolling in to come take you home to heaven!? What a special assignment for the Lord to have some of them delay their trip, instead having them be raised from the dead to go into town to tell people what had happened to them!

7)  And so it is that we come to the last of the 7 miracles of the cross: "Now when the Centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God."

At crucifixions there was normally a detail of 4 soldiers plus a commander in charge of the execution. These were the men who tossed dice to see who would get his robe. But the commander, upon seeing the darkness and watching it lift at his death, perhaps hearing word travel quickly the 1/4 mile to the place of execution that the veil had been torn, upon seeing the earthquake and the nearby tombs suddenly break open and have their stones roll away, plus hearing what Jesus said from the cross, came to the conclusion that he was indeed the Son of God.

Wonders appeal to the imagination. These 7 wonders began with darkness coming on the earth and ended with the revelation from an objective eye witness this was the Son of God!

Can we conclude anything less?

 

Blessings this week,
John Fenn
www.iFaithhome.org