Read Matthew 27:32-65 – take your time and consider each detail. Jesus was offered sour wine… this would have had a narcotic effect, but Jesus declined. In trying times being numb might be tempting to the common man, but Jesus kept his full wits. :34
The humiliation continued throughout Jesus’s crucifixion. They placed a sarcastic charge above his head which read, “THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS.” :37, but truer words were never spoken.
At midday, the sky darkened for three hours… your bible may say the 6th-9th hour (counting hours from sunrise) or noon to 3. This was a remarkable darkness. It is said to be,”the agony of creation itself in the Creator’s suffering. ” (David Gusik commentary)
Verse :46, serves as a marker for Psalm 22, and Jesus’s experience of true separation from God, having taken on our punishment for sin. It would have been something he never experienced before.
Try to wrap your thoughts around the extraordinary events that happened at the moment of Jesus’s death in verses :51-53. The veil was torn, the earth quaked, rocks were split in two, tombs were opened, godly men and women were raised from the dead and appeared to many… Wow, right?
Jesus is buried in a wealthy man’s tomb, Joseph of Arimathea. It was sealed with a stone and guards. Those in authority feared Jesus’s words about being raised back to life in three days and took every human precaution against it.
And many today want Jesus put away. They want to cling to their illusion of control and will accept nearly anything but Jesus… That is one more reason why we must stay in God’s Word, living close to Jesus; our blessed hope and joy is a light to many.
Judy in the Sky 