When Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 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!” (Matthew 27:50-52, 54, NIV 1984).
My Musings – Several things come to mind immediately after reading this text. First, Jesus “gave up His spirit.” Matthew does not record what Jesus cried out, but John does in his gospel. “Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’ With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” (John 19:30, NIV 1984). Jesus had said no one could take His life from Him, that only He had the authority to lay it down. Which He did, but only when He knew it was finished. The resurrection would not take place until the third day, but Jesus was so confident that it would happen that in His dying breath He proclaimed that it was accomplished.
Second, the death of then Son of God did not end with a period or a question mark, but with an exclamation point. The curtain in the Temple symbolizing man’s estrangement from God was torn in two. From top (from Him) to bottom (to us). There was an earthquake. Dead people came back to life. Three days later there would be another violent earthquake, the stone sealing His tomb would be rolled away, and death would lose its grip on Him.
Third, I imagine it would take a lot for a Roman centurion to become terrified. For someone who had likely presided over many crucifixions to know that the death he had just witnessed was like no other. For a pagan that worshipped many “gods” to become convinced in that instant that the one hanging lifeless on that cross “was the Son of God!“
My Advice – “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Psalm 22:1, NIV 1984). Jesus repeated this phrase from the cross. “At the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?’—which means, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?'” (Mark 15:34, NIV 1984). Moments later, He would answer His own question. “It is finished!“
We must not forsake the sacrifice that Jesus made. He has made it possible for our separation from God to be “finished.” But only if we respond, like the centurion, “Surely he [is] the Son of God!“
The Brew Is A Musing 