Matthew 27:45-6645Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. 46And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? 47Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias. 48And straightway one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink. 49The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him. 50Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. 51And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; 52And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, 53And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. 54Now 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. 55And many women were there beholding afar off, which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him: 56Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's children. 57When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus' disciple: 58He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered. 59And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed. 61And there was Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre. 62Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, 63Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. 64Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first. 65Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can. 66So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch. (Matthew 27:45‑66)
“NOW FROM the sixth hour IN there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.” It was during those three last hours that the Lord, shut in from man and all around, was alone, drinking that awful cup of the judgment of God against sin. It was then that He was “made sin"; “For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin.” 2 Cor. 5: 21. It was then those mighty waves and billows of eternal judgment rolled over His holy soul. It was all this that forced Him to utter that cry, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” He was there making atonement. He was forsaken that sinners who believe might never be forsaken. There He destroyed the power of him who had the power of death, that is the devil.
Then, having cried again with a loud voice, Jesus yielded up His Spirit to the Father. All was over. Atonement was made. Redemption was accomplished. “And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.” Like the bursting of a mighty dam, the river of God’s grace could now flow forth to a world of sinners. God could come out in all His grace to man, and man could now go into the presence of God in virtue of the perfect work of Christ.
“The earth did quake, and the rocks rent.” It was a token of the passing of the old creation and the bringing in of the new, founded on the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. “And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after His resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.”
When the Roman centurion and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw all these things, they feared greatly and said, “Truly this was the Son of God.” The heart of the poor heathen was bowed while alas, the hearts of the Jews remain unmoved.
We read of the suffering Messiah, in Isaiah 53:99And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. (Isaiah 53:9), that “men appointed His grave with the wicked, but He was with the rich in His death.” J.N.D. Trans. God had a vessel prepared to fulfill that prophecy for Joseph of Arimathea, a rich man, came to Pilate and begged the body of Jesus. Pilate gave consent and Joseph took that precious body of the Saviour, wrapped it in a clean cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb. Then he rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and darted. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, however, sat by the sepulcher and watched.
The bad conscience of the Jews is seen in their coming to Pilate and asking that the sepulcher be sealed until the third day. They remembered that the Lord had said He would rise the third day and they suggest the thought that His disciples might come and steal His body away and claim that He was risen. Pilate, however, in contempt for their malice, tells them to look after the matter themselves. So the Jews seal the stone and also set a watch. But what were guards and seals against the power of God? We see how God only used the wicked thought of the Jews to accomplish His purpose for they themselves were made witnesses of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
ML-03/24/1963