At noon the sky became extremely dark. The darkness lasted three hours. At three o'clock, Jesus groaned out of the depths, crying loudly, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?" .../Mark 15:33 & 34 then 37-39 (The Message)
But Jesus, with a loud cry, gave his last breath. At that moment the Temple curtain ripped right down the middle. When the Roman captain standing guard in front of him saw that he had quit breathing, he said, "This has to be the Son of God!"
Three things that amaze me about this darkest of hours...
1) For Jesus to do what He had to do, God :: His Father / Our Father :: had to abandon Him... desert Him... leave Him alone. Not only did God suffer as a result of Jesus' suffering... He had to walk away... Not get involved... Let Jesus see it through on His own... You just can't even comprehend the feelings involved here.
2) The curtain of the Temple was ripped from the top down... Something unnatural... Something supernatural! Man was no longer separated from God - no curtain between God and ourselves... We could meet with God... Communicate with Him directly!
3) When the Roman Captain says what he did... it shows the God's grace in action... Even the very men who killed His son could / should / would have a second chance. The whole reason for Jesus death was to enable His enemies to become His friends. This is so difficult for us to understand. God could just wipe us out and start again like with the Flood... but He didn't... He gave us a second chance.
Today is a sad day... but it is a GOOD Friday for what comes next...
Technorati Tags: easter
No comments:
Post a Comment