The Day Jesus Died

The Day Jesus Died

This Sunday, we were privileged at CDC to have our own Brother Gong Wooi Sing (my dad) give the message on “The Day Jesus Died”.

After the Lord Jesus was sentenced by Pilate, he was handed over to the Roman soldiers to be whipped. Many prisoners would not even survive the customary 39 lashings. The cruel whips were embedded with pieces of metal and bone at the end. Every lash would tear out pieces of flesh leaving the prisoner’s back and body in a bloody mess. In his terribly painful state, the cruel guards continued their torture, forcing a crown of thorns over his head and striking him on the head again and again. Yet after this terrible torture, he was inflicted with still more. Large, crude and cruel nails were hammered into his wrists and hands, pinning him to a wooden cross. After this, the cross was lifted up and driven into the ground, leaving Jesus hanging in excruciating pain. For prisoners executed by the cross, every breath was painstakingly painful because you were forced to lift yourself up on your tortured limbs just to take a breath.

With that terrifying situation as a background, three supernatural events then occurred, each one poignant with meaning.

Firstly, three hours of darkness descended upon the earth. From 12 to 3 pm, darkness came upon the land, leaving people confused and frightened. Many would have thought that disaster was coming. At 3pm, Jesus cried out in a loud voice “Eloi, Eloi, Lama Sabacthani” meaning “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”. Some mistook his words for crying out to Elijah, but it was to God that Jesus cried out! It was a forlorn cry, a cry full of the intensity of sorrow and desperation. It was a cry not borne of the terrible physical pain or even the constant mocking and insults given by those around him. It was a cry of a son abandoned by his own dear father. Jesus was finally totally deserted, all alone on the cross, and it was too much even for our Lord. When the sins of the world was placed on Jesus’ body, the Father who is completely good and holy had to turn away for that moment, Jesus was separated from God. From the beginning of time, the Lord had always been with His Father, and no words could even begin to explain the sorrow and pain that Jesus felt. Nevertheless, the Father had not forsaken him. God the Father felt every pain that Jesus felt, every blow, every nail. God is loved and God’s love for Jesus is greatest of all. Though Jesus could not feel God’s presence at that time, God was still there, and in a short time, lifted Him up as the firstborn from the dead, the Savior of all mankind…. The darkness symbolizes the sin of man, for man loved darkness, but for us, though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we need not fear evil, for God is with us. Even when we don’t feel his presence sometimes, God is still there and He will protect us and save us in His good time!

Secondly, the curtain of the temple tore into two, from top to bottom. The curtain was very thick, made of linen, exquisitely embroidered and 60 feet high, and only a supernatural occurrence could possibly cause such an event to happen. In those days, the curtain concealed the most holy of holies, the place where only one priest was allowed to go in once a year, and he would have to be completely purified. Basically, the curtain symbolized the separation between man and God, and the death of Jesus tore down that separation, allowing man to come and have free access to the Holy God. The tearing of the curtain symbolized the end of the Old Covenant, and the commencement of the New Covenant, made in the blood of Jesus. Our Lord Jesus, by His perfect sacrifice did away with sin once and for all, and He stands as our faithful and perfect High Priest, able to identify with us for He suffered just like we did.

Finally, there was a great earthquake and many holy people who had died were raised to life and after Jesus’ resurrection went into the Holy City where they appeared to many people. The third sign displays God’s power over death. It shows that God can raise us from the dead too, and receive the promise of eternal life. All heaven rejoiced that death could not hold on to Jesus, and because of our Lord, death also has no hold over us.

At the end of it, the centurion at Jesus’ side exclaimed “Surely he was the Son of God”. The question for us is thus “What is our verdict?” Do we, like the centurion conclude that Jesus is the Son of God? For God so loved the world that He gave His only one and begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him would not die but have eternal life.

Brothers, sisters, friends, may you receive the Son of God Jesus Christ and have life forever more.

God bless,

Jason