Christ is risen! Postcard by the Ukrainian Legion. Source:Wikicommons
And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
Matt 27:50-53
A lot of strange and marvellous things happened after Jesus gave up His spirit. The veil of the Jewish temple was torn in two, which symbolically meant that man now had access to the holy of holies (the inner chamber where the high priest communes with God). Christ’s sacrifice made it possible for us to approach a holy God with boldness and confidence. We can talk to Him, and He with us.
Admittedly, this wasn’t quite understood by the observers during that time. Jesus – who was subsequently laid to rest in a borrowed tomb and three days later gave it back – had to explain the whole thing to his disciples.
So anyway – I was going to write about that fateful Sunday when the ‘saints who had fallen asleep’ roamed the streets. Had a couple of lines about what the newly resurrected would say: “I know you’re excited to see me but really, this is not a good time to take a photo” etc.
But the more I thought about it, the more I couldn’t bring myself to it. That would be missing the point. Christ conquered the grave that day. The angel who rolled away the stone proclaimed the good news to all. It was the most important day in human history. The world was changed. Forever. Period.
(Pause for reflection and thanksgiving)
Like the scripture goes, those who believe in Him shall also rise to new life. You know the rest of the story. One report says up to 12,000 were resurrected with their Lord. (“We thought you didn’t need your room so we uh, gave it to Uncle Joab”). No, stop. Maybe I should make fun of the horned dude in my next post. Hmmm …
