Then Jesus shouted out again and he released his spirit. At that moment, the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart, and tombs opened. The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead.
Observation
At noon, darkness falls across the land for three hours. Jesus calls out in a loud voice, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
Then Jesus shouts again and releases his spirit. The curtain in the Temple is torn in two, the earth shakes and tombs of godly people are opened, their bodies resurrected,
Joseph of Arimathea asks Pilate for the body. Pilate orders the body to be released to him, and he lays it in his own tomb.
Remembering Jesus’ promises that He would be raised on the third day, the leading priests and Pharisees ask Pilate to seal the tomb. This would prevent the disciples stealing the body and claiming that Jesus has risen.
Application
Jesus willingly lays down his life to defeat satan, death and sin. As he does this many miraculous signs occur.
Firstly, the sun goes dark for the three hours prior to his death. This was not an eclipse, as they last only minutes. This was a prophetic sign of the end of Israel and all earthly powers.
Secondly, the curtain in the Temple is torn from top to bottom. This curtain between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place, previously, separated all people, except the High Priest, from the presence of God. Jesus’ death removes the separation and ends the Jewish priesthood with all of its rituals and sacrifices; they are no longer needed.
Thirdly, there are physical signs in the earth – earthquakes, rocks are split and tombs opened This is the beginning of the new creation, even the earth is being set free from the effects of the Fall.
Fourth, godly men and women in Jerusalem are raised from the dead. Jesus has conquered the power of death. The resurrection of the old saints prefigures Christ’s own resurrection and the general resurrection of all believers on the last day.
Prayer
Thank you, Jesus, for the earth-shattering, universe-resetting,mankind-redeeming effects of your sacrifice on the cross. Amen.
With all of the movements towards the restoration of the Apostolic among historic Pentecostal denominations and Independent Evangelical networks, I see this trend continuing to garner influence until the (global) gospel confessing Body of Christ (whether denominational or nondenominational) morphs into the New Testament pattern of the way of Christ and His apostles. This will take place in various forms and levels of maturity depending upon the leadership and denominational expression of the organisation. Joseph Mattera
For a few years, like many people of more mature years, I have been fighting a battle with my weight. It all started when my doctor told me that if my blood pressure went any higher, he would have to send me to a cardiologist to prescribe stronger medication.
I decided to take responsibility for my health and started to eat more responsibly and exercise more. I used an app to track daily my weight and food intake.
Over about 18 months my weight went down from 105 kg to 83 kg. I felt really good about going from XL clothes to L and for the extra energy that I had. Better still, the doctor did not have to refer me to the specialist.
Then life set in. The stresses of the Covid period led me to eating more again, especially chocolate. My parents are elderly and distant, and they both became ill, and that added to the stress eating. By then I was back in the habit of eating snacks morning, noon and night, and the kilos were piling back on.
When my weight tipped over the 90 kg mark, I decided that enough is enough and it’s time to get back on the wagon. I decided to discipline my eating habits as I had a few years ago. Within a couple of days, I had shed more than 1 kg, just by minimising snacks.
Here’s the thing: I knew what I should be doing but I chose not to.
Living for the Lord means that we each must make choices about our lifestyle. Those are daily choices that either take us closer to the Lord or further from Him. Often we know what we should or should not do, but the stresses of life can leave us prone to temptation.
In Romans 7, Paul talks about the struggle with sin that we face. I want to do what is good, but end up doing what is wrong. He asks “Who will set me free from this life dominated by sin and death?” the answer , of course is Jesus Christ.
We don’t have to fight with our temptations and addictions alone. We have Jesus helping, equipping and encouraging us to choose life. The more we choose His way, the easier it becomes,
“He saved others,” they scoffed, “But he can’t save himself! So he is the king of the Jews, is he? Let him come down from the cross right now, and we will believe in him.”
Observation
On the way to the place of crucifixion, they come across a man from Cyrene called Simon, whom the soldiers forced to carry the cross.
They nail Jesus to a cross, and then the soldiers gamble for his clothes. A sign is attached to the cross that says, “This is Jesus, the king of the Jews.”
The people pass by shouting abuse and insults. The leading priests and the elders also mock Jesus. They say. “He saved others but he cannot save himself! He trusted God, so let God rescue Him if He wants Him.”
Application
Crucifixion is a slow and agonising death. The victim is alone, isolated from all human touch. This gives the mockers and haters time and space to further isolate the victim by hurling their insults and mockery
Of course, all of the insults turn out to be ironic.
The taunt about destroying the temple and rebuilding it in three days was a reference to Jesus’s own death and resurrection.
“He saved others but can’t save himself,” they said, but His death was exactly what saved others
“He is the king of the Jews,” but the cross is His coronation.
And so we thank Jesus, the Son of God, for laying down His life for our salvation. We rejoice that His death brings us life.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, thank you for enduring the physical, spiritual, and emotional pain of the cross. Your death gives me life. Amen.
The Bible Society, which operates around the globe, reports that more than 2,000 Iranians are turning to Jesus every single day! One 92-year-old believer, whenever she’s on a bus, pulls out a small book and asks her neighbour to help her read the tiny font.
In fact, she is secretly getting strangers to read the gospels. Every time she does it, the person sitting next to her ends up taking a New Testament home.
This is brave work in a land where leaving Islam is potentially punishable by death. But the Iranian revival is good news for Israel – and the Jews! For these dear people have been taught by their government and mullahs that Israel is their archenemy.
But now that they have opened their lives to Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, they find they are also growing to love the Jewish people, longing and praying for a restoration of the peace that the two nations once enjoyed.
This is profoundly good news for those who have eyes to see the bigger picture. For the strict Islamic state of Iran, whose rulers want to wipe out the Jewish people just as Hitler did and who are chief sponsors of monstrous terrorist groups like Hamas, is now the focus of a Christian revival where some two million people have discovered that Jesus, the Jew, is the Savior of the world.
As the mosques shut down in great numbers, passionate Christians are filling the vacuum, though of necessity staying ‘underground’ for now, out of sight of the religious police.
The Islamic foundations are crumbling for the chief sponsors of terrorism, a fact graphically prophesied by the psalmist thousands of years ago when he wrote of them: “Come,” they say, “let us destroy them as a nation, so that Israel’s name is remembered no more. With one mind they plot together, forming an alliance against you.” (Psalm 83:4f)
Among the enemies named are ‘Ishmaelites’ and people from Philistia (Gaza) and Tyre (Lebanon), with Assyria (covering parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey) joining them. Does this ring any bells?
Yet the psalmist (Asaph) is not vindictive. He calls on the Lord to bring shame on them so that they will know “that you alone are the Most High over all the earth”. And we are hearing that many in the Muslim/Arab world, even in the strictest of regimes, are indeed discovering the truth of Yeshua.
In the UK too, where Jews feel increasingly threatened and pro-Palestinian marchers are allowed to call for Israel’s demise on the streets of our cities, there is a revival of Christianity, which gives us hope.
After conducting a thorough survey, the Bible Society reports a remarkable fourfold increase in young men aged 18-24 attending church over the last six years.
Amid rumours that Donald Trump is about to announce recognition of a Palestinian State (albeit without Hamas), here in the UK we are hearing reports of a recruiting campaign for Islam within the National Health Service. And even Conservative MPs and peers are making previously unheard-of calls for recognition of ‘Palestine’.
A British TV program has just been rightly lauded for exposing a shocking miscarriage of justice against a host of sub-postmasters wrongly convicted of theft, false accounting and fraud when in fact it was due to a faulty computer system.
But I also believe the monumental miscarriage of justice of modern times has been the grossly misleading narrative – through media, parliament and elsewhere – of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Restored to their ancient land through internationally recognized treaties, not to mention God’s law – their ultimate title deed – they are constantly subjected to a host of lies and propaganda accusing them of stealing what is their own property.
It’s important that we see the big picture of the unfolding spiritual warfare taking place. When Jesus sent out the 72 disciples to spread the gospel (as recorded in Luke 10:19,21), he told them he had given them authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy.
And he was full of joy through the Holy Spirit because God had hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to babes.
It is not the proud and arrogant who will inherit the earth, but the meek and humble. And the latter will also be granted a clear-sighted vision of what is really happening amidst the turmoil of these terrible times which are surely preparing the way for our Lord Yeshua’s return.
As the darkness deepens around the world, especially in the Middle East, the light of Christ is shining ever brighter. It must be tempting for Israelis to feel greatly perplexed.
The psalmist assures us: “Do not fret because of those who are evil… for like the grass they will wither… A little while, and the wicked will be no more… but the meek will inherit the land and enjoy peace and prosperity.” (Psalm 37:1f, 10f)
The church will never reach the world until it experiences a dramatic paradigm shift which includes embracing its call to manifest the reign of God in every aspect of culture. Joseph Mattera
New Life Narrabri 
