Son of God

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

SON OF GOD

Matt 27:50-54

50 And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. 51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. 52 The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53 They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people. 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!"

NIV

Having considered that Jesus finished it all on that cross and gave up his spirit, and the curtain was torn from top to bottom giving us directed access to the Father, we now should ponder on the other results. A great earthquake took place, so great that rocks spilt. Imagine the scene watching the people in absolute being tossed around by the shacking of the earth. We are not told of any buildings that cracked or fell due to this earth-shaking so violently that the tombs broke open, but what happened was beyond understanding. Dead people, and again, we do not know how long they had been dead, but it would make sense they had been in the tomb way longer than four days. We understand it was the thought of the Jews that a spirit of a dead person hung around for three days and they left them. This was the significance of Jesus waiting until his friend Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days and was already stinking of death. So here are many dead people, whose bodies were in various stages of decay, coming back to life and walking about. We are not told where they went, but it appears they did not go into Jerusalem until after Jesus was resurrected. Nevertheless, it must have been one scary moment for those people throughout the region, especially those who had no idea what was going on, that Jesus had just given up his spirit. However, the Roman centurion and the Roman guards, who had sworn their allegiance to Caesar, who declared himself to be a god, declared that Jesus was indeed the Son of God. This was not the son of Caesar, but the Son of God, the God of the Jews, the one and only God, the creator of all things. Surely, they had been aware of what Jesus had said and confessed to Pilate that he was the Son of God, a King of a kingdom not on this earth. Who in the right mind would still refuse to acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God? We have not seen this type of display of the power of God. We have not experienced this kind of terrifying event, an earthquake of such magnitude that dead people came out of their graves, alive and walking around. But someday, holy people will be resurrected, and we all will live forever in the presence of our King. This is one of those things we are not completely sure just how it happens. We know that when we breathe our last, we will be with Jesus, but our bodies may not be, as we leave them behind, as Jesus did when he gave up his spirit. He left, but his body was put in the tomb. This would make sense that this is how it would be with us. We leave, we give up our spirit, but our bodies are put in the tomb. Someday, just as Jesus was resurrected, that he returned to his body, and life came back into it, we too will have our bodies resurrected and life will return to them, we will return to them and in this glorified state live in the new city of Jerusalem forever and ever with Jesus, the Son of God.