In That Moment

And behold, the veil of the temple was rent in two from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake; and the rocks were rent;  Matthew 27:51 (ASV)

A lot more was happening than spectators could possible know in that moment when Jesus breathed His last breath.  Since that day we have had fuller revelation and time to mull things over at our own leisure.  People have their own theories perhaps, but what surely is taken by all as of great importance, is that moment.

All history of our race from the moment God formed us and throughout our progression of time, had been leading up to that one great moment.  God the Father had nurtured and directed His people taking great pains in carefully leading them to the moment that He would send His Son.  Now His Son had come, He had finished the ministry that the Father laid out for Him and was now fulfilling His great sacrifice.  It was a sacrifice, not only of Jesus Himself, but of the Father too which was offering up His only begotten Son.

The veil or curtain which divided the temple was torn into two.  Rocks were split.  Graves were opened.  Dead people lived, and the entire ground shook.

From that moment our own situation changed too.  Mankind now had within their grasp, a way back to the presence of the Almighty.  Our ransom was finally paid.  The only sacrifice that would do had just been made.  Sin, that evil thing that enters our nature and separates us from the Righteous God, had now been taken care of.  Justification says that we should die for our own betrayal and belittling of God and His plan, but He took our death upon Himself.  It was the greatest expression of love possible and He not only expressed it to us, but in that moment fulfilled and accomplished it.

As for that moment, the things described for us in the scriptures that were taking place, are pretty impressive.  One can almost imagine the Father in Heaven being overcome in that moment and all of His creation affected by His reaction to the death of His beloved Son.  All the meaning of that moment cannot be completely captured by beings which yet do not inhabit that spiritual shore.  But one day in heaven that veil too will be removed so that we may see clearly how His workings had been perfectly executed.

For us today, any study into the significance of this moment will repay a searching heart.  One must lift his or her gaze and wonder after Father, Son and Spirit.  Love, hope, justification, grace and mercy abound.  It is humbling to consider as well.  If it were not for that stubborn human nature of wandering from the Divine and each to their own fancies, no payment would have been necessary.  No Sacrifice would have had to be made.  That guilt we all carry and no man or woman is free.  But because of that moment, when all had been carried out, we can now be free.

Dear Jesus, it is impossible to consider Your sacrifice without a heart full of gratitude.  If we would like to say that we look to You, then that moment when You gave Your life for us, becomes the vital pillar upon which we set our hope.  Because of that moment, we who lived in sin, can be free to return to our proper and planned dwelling with the Lord God Almighty.  Please move us today, as the earth shook back then.  As rocks were split and graves opened, let our hearts too be broken open to let You in.  As the curtain was rent in two, let that veil that separates us from You be torn completely way.  Then let us come.  Because of that moment, bring us to this moment of closeness with You.  And let every moment from now to eternity; be blessed in this way, because of that moment.

Amen