And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.
At midday a supernatural darkness with no natural cause covered the cross and the land for three hours, and at the very moment Christ yielded His life the heavy veil between the holy and the most holy place was torn in two from top to bottom by divine power. The darkness veiled the sun to hide His agony as He bore sin and to mark the withdrawal of the Father's sustaining presence, while nature itself sympathized with its dying Author. The torn veil exposed the most holy place to common gaze and declared that the sacrificial types were fulfilled in Christ's one final sacrifice, so that animal offerings and ritual service from then on had no value before God. It showed that He who had dwelt in the temple made with hands had left it, that God's presence and glory would no longer rest upon the earthly sanctuary nor meet the priests there to accept their sacrifices. Together the darkness, earthquake, rent rocks and torn veil proclaimed that the Son of God had died, silenced His mockers with terror, broke down the partition between Jews and Gentiles, and opened a new and living way of reconciliation and eternal life.
Setting and Signs
Since the Passover supper with His disciples He had taken neither food nor drink, had agonized in Gethsemane in conflict with satanic agencies, had endured the anguish of betrayal and seen His disciples forsake Him and flee, had been taken to Annas then to Caiaphas then to Pilate then to Herod then again to Pilate, had passed from insult to insult and mockery to mockery and had twice been tortured by the scourge, speaking no word but what tended to glorify God and bearing Himself through the disgraceful farce of a trial with firmness and dignity. When the cross prepared for Barabbas was laid upon His bruised and bleeding shoulders human nature could bear no more and He fell fainting beneath the burden, was laid with the burden again and fell again while the crowd taunted and reviled Him for not carrying the heavy cross, and no bearer could be found because the Jews themselves could not from fear of defilement that would prevent them keeping the Passover and none even of the mob would stoop to bear the humiliating load. He was crucified at the place called Calvary without the gate outside the boundaries of Jerusalem where felons and murderers were executed. Suffering without the gate He sanctified the people with His own blood, as substitute suffering banishment outside Jerusalem for transgression of the law of God as Adam and Eve were banished from Eden, being made a curse to redeem from the curse of the law.
At midday while Jesus was dying on the cross the sun's light was suddenly obscured and supernatural darkness with no natural cause such as an eclipse covered the cross and its surroundings and the heavens and the earth for three hours. Strange events attended it and produced various conflicting reports. Inanimate nature thus expressed sympathy with its dying Author. The darkness over Calvary then lifted and hung like a pall over Jerusalem, and although the sun shone again darkness still enveloped the cross while a dense cloud covered Jerusalem and the plains of Judea. Jesus died at the very moment that darkness passed away.
At the very moment Christ breathed His last and yielded His spirit with the cry that His work was finished, in the sight of witnesses in the temple while priests were ministering, during an earthquake the veil separating the holy place from the most holy place was torn in two from top to bottom by divine power, by unseen, bloodless hands. The veil was very significant to the Jewish nation, a strong rich drapery of most costly purple and gold material of great length and width, renewed yearly, strong and heavy. By Sabbath morning after the crucifixion there had not been time to replace or fully repair it, so the priests ministering before the altar saw it torn. Its tearing suddenly exposed to common gaze the most holy place and its sacred mysteries and mercy seat, which human feet had sacredly entered only once a year and which only the high priest entered to meet God.
Together with the darkness and torn veil came shaking earth, rending rocks, and vivid lightnings flashing from the cloud that briefly revealed the cross and the crucified Redeemer. Cursing and reviling stopped in the midst of half-uttered sentences, and grave-like silence and nameless terror fell upon the throng about the cross. Priests, rulers, scribes, executioners, and the mob, men, women and children, all fell prostrate upon the earth and thought their time of retribution had come. After a while some whispered that Jesus would now come down from the cross, while others groped their way back toward the city beating their breasts and wailing in fear, with mocking silenced.
Knowledge of His death had been purposely kept from Pilate until Joseph told him, and its swiftness surprised Pilate since those crucified frequently lingered days on the cross. Hearing of the darkness and the timing convinced him more firmly that Jesus was no ordinary man, leaving him strangely agitated and keenly regretting his part in condemning the Saviour. The disciples had expected Jesus to reign as a temporal prince, so His death crushed their hopes and left hope seeming lost. When He was lifted up and died as a malefactor, while they watched Him in whom their hopes of eternal life were centered in the hands of wicked men, they had cause to mourn and fast, and in days of trial and temptation their faith was tried and their hope and courage failed.
What the Signs Declared
The midday darkness had no natural cause such as an eclipse, but was inanimate nature expressing sympathy with its dying Author and Creator and sharing the grief of His suffering. It was the sign of the soul-agony and horror surrounding Christ as He bore sin on the cross. The sun was veiled to hide the agonies of His struggle for victory over a rebellious world while the angelic host witnessed. The surrounding world thus shared in the grief of its Creator while darkness covered the heavens as He hung dying.
The darkness accompanied the withdrawal of the Father's sustaining presence from Christ in His suffering. Although the sun shone again, darkness still enveloped the cross while a dense cloud covered Jerusalem and the plains of Judea, and that withdrawal of the Sun of righteousness from Jerusalem signified God's wrath directed against the city.
The darkness together with the earthquake, the torn veil, and the rent rocks proclaimed that the Son of God had died. They testified that an innocent man had suffered. They filled the executioners and spectators and those who had mocked Him with terror and fear, struck terror into their hearts, and silenced the mocking leaders. They led the crowd to suspect that Jesus was innocent and truly God's Son, and to wonder whether He was the innocent Son of God.
The torn veil marked the fulfillment of the sacrificial types and the end of the sacrificial system. The Passover and the temple offerings and ceremonies had pointed forward to Christ, and their purpose was fulfilled when He gave Himself as the one final great sacrifice for the sins of the world. At the moment He breathed His last with the cry that it was finished, in the sight of witnesses, a new and living way was opened to the fallen race. From then on animal sacrifices and ritual service had no value before God.
The tearing showed that He who had hitherto dwelt in the temple made with hands left it then, never again to grace it with His presence. It showed that God's presence and glory would no longer rest on the earthly sanctuary and its mercy seat nor overshadow it, and that the divine presence would no longer overshadow the earthly mercy seat. The place once guarded as God's sacred audience chamber, which the high priest alone entered to meet God and which human feet had sacredly entered only once a year, was no longer recognized by the Lord, was no longer sacred, and was exposed to common gaze with its sacred mysteries laid open to curious eyes. This ended God's wonderful protection of the temple, for God would no longer meet with the priests in the temple to accept its sacrifices and ordinances.
The light of God's glory would no longer flash upon the precious stones in the breastplate of the high priest, nor would the cloud of His disapproval shadow them.
The tearing was a divine declaration that the Jewish nation had rejected Christ, the fulfillment of its symbols and the substance of its shadows, and was separating from God. Israel was thereby disowned by God, and the high priest's robes no longer represented the great High Priest for him or for the people.
The tearing showed the partition between Jews and Gentiles broken down. Jesus offered Himself for both, and salvation for either depends only on believing in Him as the sole offering for sin and Saviour of the world.
The torn veil and darkness accompanied the completion of Christ's work of redemption at His death. His death defeated Satan and made reconciliation with God and eternal life possible.
Its sudden exposure of the most holy place filled the priests with dread of coming calamity and gave them gloomy presentiments and shuddering dread, so that by Sabbath morning, when there had not been time to replace or fully repair it, the priests ministering before the altar saw it torn. Yet it convicted many officiating priests by the prophecies of the true character of Jesus as the Son of God, led some worshipers to seek the truth, and changed the religious views of many. After His resurrection they acknowledged Him as the Son of God, and many later joined the faith.
At midday a supernatural darkness with no natural cause covered the cross and the land for three hours, and at the very moment Christ yielded His life the heavy veil between the holy and the most holy place was torn in two from top to bottom by divine power. The darkness veiled the sun to hide His agony as He bore sin and to mark the withdrawal of the Father's sustaining presence, while nature itself sympathized with its dying Author. The torn veil exposed the most holy place to common gaze and declared that the sacrificial types were fulfilled in Christ's one final sacrifice, so that animal offerings and ritual service from then on had no value before God. It showed that He who had dwelt in the temple made with hands had left it, that God's presence and glory would no longer rest upon the earthly sanctuary nor meet the priests there to accept their sacrifices. Together the darkness, earthquake, rent rocks and torn veil proclaimed that the Son of God had died, silenced His mockers with terror, broke down the partition between Jews and Gentiles, and opened a new and living way of reconciliation and eternal life.
Setting and Signs
Since the Passover supper with His disciples He had taken neither food nor drink, had agonized in Gethsemane in conflict with satanic agencies, had endured the anguish of betrayal and seen His disciples forsake Him and flee, had been taken to Annas then to Caiaphas then to Pilate then to Herod then again to Pilate, had passed from insult to insult and mockery to mockery and had twice been tortured by the scourge, speaking no word but what tended to glorify God and bearing Himself through the disgraceful farce of a trial with firmness and dignity. When the cross prepared for Barabbas was laid upon His bruised and bleeding shoulders human nature could bear no more and He fell fainting beneath the burden, was laid with the burden again and fell again while the crowd taunted and reviled Him for not carrying the heavy cross, and no bearer could be found because the Jews themselves could not from fear of defilement that would prevent them keeping the Passover and none even of the mob would stoop to bear the humiliating load. He was crucified at the place called Calvary without the gate outside the boundaries of Jerusalem where felons and murderers were executed. Suffering without the gate He sanctified the people with His own blood, as substitute suffering banishment outside Jerusalem for transgression of the law of God as Adam and Eve were banished from Eden, being made a curse to redeem from the curse of the law.
At midday while Jesus was dying on the cross the sun's light was suddenly obscured and supernatural darkness with no natural cause such as an eclipse covered the cross and its surroundings and the heavens and the earth for three hours. Strange events attended it and produced various conflicting reports. Inanimate nature thus expressed sympathy with its dying Author. The darkness over Calvary then lifted and hung like a pall over Jerusalem, and although the sun shone again darkness still enveloped the cross while a dense cloud covered Jerusalem and the plains of Judea. Jesus died at the very moment that darkness passed away.
At the very moment Christ breathed His last and yielded His spirit with the cry that His work was finished, in the sight of witnesses in the temple while priests were ministering, during an earthquake the veil separating the holy place from the most holy place was torn in two from top to bottom by divine power, by unseen, bloodless hands. The veil was very significant to the Jewish nation, a strong rich drapery of most costly purple and gold material of great length and width, renewed yearly, strong and heavy. By Sabbath morning after the crucifixion there had not been time to replace or fully repair it, so the priests ministering before the altar saw it torn. Its tearing suddenly exposed to common gaze the most holy place and its sacred mysteries and mercy seat, which human feet had sacredly entered only once a year and which only the high priest entered to meet God.
Together with the darkness and torn veil came shaking earth, rending rocks, and vivid lightnings flashing from the cloud that briefly revealed the cross and the crucified Redeemer. Cursing and reviling stopped in the midst of half-uttered sentences, and grave-like silence and nameless terror fell upon the throng about the cross. Priests, rulers, scribes, executioners, and the mob, men, women and children, all fell prostrate upon the earth and thought their time of retribution had come. After a while some whispered that Jesus would now come down from the cross, while others groped their way back toward the city beating their breasts and wailing in fear, with mocking silenced.
Knowledge of His death had been purposely kept from Pilate until Joseph told him, and its swiftness surprised Pilate since those crucified frequently lingered days on the cross. Hearing of the darkness and the timing convinced him more firmly that Jesus was no ordinary man, leaving him strangely agitated and keenly regretting his part in condemning the Saviour. The disciples had expected Jesus to reign as a temporal prince, so His death crushed their hopes and left hope seeming lost. When He was lifted up and died as a malefactor, while they watched Him in whom their hopes of eternal life were centered in the hands of wicked men, they had cause to mourn and fast, and in days of trial and temptation their faith was tried and their hope and courage failed.
What the Signs Declared
The midday darkness had no natural cause such as an eclipse, but was inanimate nature expressing sympathy with its dying Author and Creator and sharing the grief of His suffering. It was the sign of the soul-agony and horror surrounding Christ as He bore sin on the cross. The sun was veiled to hide the agonies of His struggle for victory over a rebellious world while the angelic host witnessed. The surrounding world thus shared in the grief of its Creator while darkness covered the heavens as He hung dying.
The darkness accompanied the withdrawal of the Father's sustaining presence from Christ in His suffering. Although the sun shone again, darkness still enveloped the cross while a dense cloud covered Jerusalem and the plains of Judea, and that withdrawal of the Sun of righteousness from Jerusalem signified God's wrath directed against the city.
The darkness together with the earthquake, the torn veil, and the rent rocks proclaimed that the Son of God had died. They testified that an innocent man had suffered. They filled the executioners and spectators and those who had mocked Him with terror and fear, struck terror into their hearts, and silenced the mocking leaders. They led the crowd to suspect that Jesus was innocent and truly God's Son, and to wonder whether He was the innocent Son of God.
The torn veil marked the fulfillment of the sacrificial types and the end of the sacrificial system. The Passover and the temple offerings and ceremonies had pointed forward to Christ, and their purpose was fulfilled when He gave Himself as the one final great sacrifice for the sins of the world. At the moment He breathed His last with the cry that it was finished, in the sight of witnesses, a new and living way was opened to the fallen race. From then on animal sacrifices and ritual service had no value before God.
The tearing showed that He who had hitherto dwelt in the temple made with hands left it then, never again to grace it with His presence. It showed that God's presence and glory would no longer rest on the earthly sanctuary and its mercy seat nor overshadow it, and that the divine presence would no longer overshadow the earthly mercy seat. The place once guarded as God's sacred audience chamber, which the high priest alone entered to meet God and which human feet had sacredly entered only once a year, was no longer recognized by the Lord, was no longer sacred, and was exposed to common gaze with its sacred mysteries laid open to curious eyes. This ended God's wonderful protection of the temple, for God would no longer meet with the priests in the temple to accept its sacrifices and ordinances.
The light of God's glory would no longer flash upon the precious stones in the breastplate of the high priest, nor would the cloud of His disapproval shadow them.
The tearing was a divine declaration that the Jewish nation had rejected Christ, the fulfillment of its symbols and the substance of its shadows, and was separating from God. Israel was thereby disowned by God, and the high priest's robes no longer represented the great High Priest for him or for the people.
The tearing showed the partition between Jews and Gentiles broken down. Jesus offered Himself for both, and salvation for either depends only on believing in Him as the sole offering for sin and Saviour of the world.
The torn veil and darkness accompanied the completion of Christ's work of redemption at His death. His death defeated Satan and made reconciliation with God and eternal life possible.
Its sudden exposure of the most holy place filled the priests with dread of coming calamity and gave them gloomy presentiments and shuddering dread, so that by Sabbath morning, when there had not been time to replace or fully repair it, the priests ministering before the altar saw it torn. Yet it convicted many officiating priests by the prophecies of the true character of Jesus as the Son of God, led some worshipers to seek the truth, and changed the religious views of many. After His resurrection they acknowledged Him as the Son of God, and many later joined the faith.