Rachel Workman: 45 At noon, darkness fell across the
whole land until three o’clock. 46 At about three o’clock, Jesus called out
with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli,[j] lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my
God, why have you abandoned me?”
47 Some of the bystanders misunderstood and thought he was calling for the prophet Elijah. 48 One of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, holding it up to him on a reed stick so he could drink. 49 But the rest said, “Wait! Let’s see whether Elijah comes to save him.” I'm not sure about you but if I was standing there witnessing this, I’d be scared. The fact that darkness fell across the whole land until 3 o'clock would have clued me in. At this point you would have no doubt that something extraordinary was happening right then. And you stood by and encouraged it.
50 Then Jesus shouted out again, and he released his spirit. 51 At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart, 52 and tombs opened. The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead. 53 They left the cemetery after Jesus’ resurrection, went into the holy city of Jerusalem, and appeared to many people. I've read this many times but this is the first time I recall reading that resurrected people went into the holy city and appeared to other people. Can you imagine?
54 The Roman officer[m] and the other soldiers at the crucifixion were terrified by the earthquake and all that had happened. They said, “This man truly was the Son of God!” A little late.
55 And many women who had come from Galilee with Jesus to care for him were watching from a distance. 56 Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary (the mother of James and Joseph), and the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee. I can't imagine the tormented life Mary lived. She lived on the run all of Jesus's life and then had to watch her first born child being beaten and crucified. Accepting the task that God gave Mary did not prevent Mary from suffering. In fact she probably suffered more. I'm sure it's not the life she envisioned for herself.
47 Some of the bystanders misunderstood and thought he was calling for the prophet Elijah. 48 One of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, holding it up to him on a reed stick so he could drink. 49 But the rest said, “Wait! Let’s see whether Elijah comes to save him.” I'm not sure about you but if I was standing there witnessing this, I’d be scared. The fact that darkness fell across the whole land until 3 o'clock would have clued me in. At this point you would have no doubt that something extraordinary was happening right then. And you stood by and encouraged it.
50 Then Jesus shouted out again, and he released his spirit. 51 At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart, 52 and tombs opened. The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead. 53 They left the cemetery after Jesus’ resurrection, went into the holy city of Jerusalem, and appeared to many people. I've read this many times but this is the first time I recall reading that resurrected people went into the holy city and appeared to other people. Can you imagine?
54 The Roman officer[m] and the other soldiers at the crucifixion were terrified by the earthquake and all that had happened. They said, “This man truly was the Son of God!” A little late.
55 And many women who had come from Galilee with Jesus to care for him were watching from a distance. 56 Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary (the mother of James and Joseph), and the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee. I can't imagine the tormented life Mary lived. She lived on the run all of Jesus's life and then had to watch her first born child being beaten and crucified. Accepting the task that God gave Mary did not prevent Mary from suffering. In fact she probably suffered more. I'm sure it's not the life she envisioned for herself.
____________________________________________________________________________________
John
Burnett: 45 Now from the [a]sixth hour darkness [b]fell upon all the land until
the [c]ninth hour. 46 About
the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
47 And some of those who were standing there, when they heard
it, began saying, “This man is calling for Elijah.” 48 Immediately
one of them ran, and taking a sponge, he filled it with sour wine and put it on
a reed, and gave Him a drink. 49 But the rest of them
said, “[d]Let us see whether Elijah
will come to save Him[e].” 50 And
Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. 51 And
behold, the [f]veil of the temple was torn
in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split. 52 The
tombs were opened, and many bodies of the [g]saints who had fallen asleep
were raised; 53 and coming out of the tombs after His
resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many. 54 Now
the centurion, and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they
saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, became very frightened
and said, “Truly this was [h]the Son of God!” Even the centurion, who was not even looking for Messiah,
could tell that Jesus was “Truly” the Son of God.
55 Many women were there looking on from
a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee while [i]ministering to Him. 56 Among
them was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the
mother of the sons of Zebedee.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Allen Michaels: 45 From noon until three in
the afternoon darkness came over all the land. God caused this darkness on that Friday afternoon. It
was both physical and spiritual. I find it interesting that nature was able to
testify to the gravity of Jesus’ death, while Jesus’ friends and enemies alike
fell silent in the encircling gloom. 46 About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud
voice, “Eli, Eli, lemma sabachthani?” (which means “My
God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”). Jesus
was not questioning God; he was quoting the first line of Psalm 22 (My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?)—a deep expression of the anguish he felt when he took on the
sins of the world, which caused him to be separated from his Father. The
physical agony was horrible, but even worse was the period of spiritual
separation from God. Jesus suffered this “double death” so that we would never
have to experience eternal separation from God.
47 When some of those standing there heard this, they
said, “He’s calling Elijah.”
48 Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He
filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to
drink. 49 The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if
Elijah comes to save him.”
50 And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice,
he gave up his spirit. These parting words express
triumph rather than defeat. Jesus bowed his head and gave up his spirit knowing
that the strife was now over and the battle was won. Even on the cross Jesus
knew the joy of victory. What the Father sent him into the world to do has now
been accomplished. Christ offered himself without blemish to God and he put
away sin by the sacrifice of himself. We can find no greater proof of God's
love for us than the willing sacrifice of his Son on the cross. "O death, where is thy victory? O death,
where is thy sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the
law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ." (1 Cor. 15:55-57)
51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in
two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split 52 and
the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised
to life. 53 They came out of the tombs after Jesus’
resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many
people. Christ’s death was accompanied by
at least four miraculous events: darkness during the day, the tearing in two of
the curtain in the temple, an earthquake, and dead people rising from their
tombs. Jesus’ death, therefore, could not have gone unnoticed. Everyone knew
something significant had happened.
54 When the centurion and those with him who were
guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were
terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!” I have had a few occasions in my life where I have looked
for, or asked for a sign, in order to completely believe. I’m sure if it came
right down to it, God would give me a sign. Maybe he has given me many signs
and I have just been too stupid to recognize them. I think it best said in
Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is confidence
in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”
55 Many women were there, watching from a distance.
They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs. 56 Among
them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother
of Zebedee’s sons.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Monday's Reading for Matthew 27:57-66 There will be no reading Friday.
57 As evening approached, Joseph, a rich man from Arimathea who had
become a follower of Jesus, 58 went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. And
Pilate issued an order to release it to him. 59 Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a long
sheet of clean linen cloth. 60 He placed it in his own new tomb, which had been
carved out of the rock. Then he rolled a great stone across the entrance and
left. 61 Both
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting across from the tomb and
watching.
62 The next day, on the Sabbath,[n] the leading priests and Pharisees went to
see Pilate. 63 They
told him, “Sir, we remember what that deceiver once said while he was still
alive: ‘After three days I will rise from the dead.’ 64 So we request that you seal
the tomb until the third day. This will prevent his disciples from coming and
stealing his body and then telling everyone he was raised from the dead! If
that happens, we’ll be worse off than we were at first.”
65 Pilate replied, “Take guards and secure it the best you can.” 66 So they sealed the tomb and
posted guards to protect it.
No comments:
Post a Comment