Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Matthew 27:50 - 27:53

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Matthew 27:50 - 27:53


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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

The death of Jesus:

v. 50. Jesus, when He had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.

v. 51. And, behold, the veil of the Temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;

v. 52. and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,

v. 53. and came out of the graves after His resurrection, and went into the Holy City, and appeared unto many.

Christ, in His capacity as Vicar and Mediator, as the Substitute for all mankind, had now endured the eternal tortures, the full punishment for the sins of the whole world. While darkness had covered the earth, He had fought His last great battle and remained victorious. And so His last cry was not that of a soul giving up the unequal battle, but that of a victor. Of His own free will and power He gave His soul into the keeping of His heavenly Father. He went into death as its conqueror. But this was like a signal to the forces of nature. The great, costly, and heavy curtain which separated the Holy Place of the Temple from the Most Holy Place, and which was never lifted but on the great Day of Atonement, to enable the high priest to bring the sacrifice for the sins of the people into the presence of God, was torn into two pieces, from the top to the bottom. This was just at the time of evening sacrifice, and must have made a deep impression upon the priest that was officiating at the altar of incense. God here indicated that there was no longer any need for this veil. The sin, which formerly separated God and man, has been removed by the one great sacrifice of the true High Priest, and there are no further sacrifices necessary, Heb_9:1-28. At the same time, an earthquake shook the city and country, causing rocks to be torn asunder and opening many rock-graves of the saints, of such as had died in the hope of the Messiah. Their bodies having been brought back to life, these people left their graves after the resurrection of Christ and were seen by many inhabitants of the city of Jerusalem. This indicated that the cruel reign of death had now been thrown off, that it is impossible for death to hold the bodies of them that fall asleep in Jesus.