Verses of the Day: Matthew 27:45-54
Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" that is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, "This man is calling Elijah." And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. But the others said, "Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him." And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who have fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after the resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, "Truly this was the Son of God!"
Thank you Jesus for the love you shown us on the cross!
2 comments:
Tell me something about those resurrected saints... What happened after they roamed the city? I haven't actually researched myself. Reading the scripture just now made me curious.
Not exactly the thing I want to 'ask jeeves' about. ha ha ha
This is what I found in a commentary on Matthew written by D.A. Carson.
But the resurrection of "the holy people" remains difficult to understand. Perhaps the best explanation is to see a full stop after "broke open," so that the words that follow form a parenthesis in the flow of the narrative. The resurrection of "the holy people" then begins a new sentence that is linked only with Jesus' resurrection. Matthew does not intend his readers to think that these people were resurrected when Jesus died and then waited in their tombs till Easter Sunday before showing themselves. Instead, they were raised to life at the same time Jesus was. The language implies that these saints were certain well-known OT and intertestamental Jewish spiritual heroes and martyrs. If so then Matthew is telling us that the resurrection of people who lived before Jesus Messiah is as dependent on Jesus' triumph as the resurrection of those who come after him.
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