“Truly this was the Son of God!” Truly He is the Son of God.

Matthew 27:32-66 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

As they were coming out, they found a man of Cyrene named Simon, whom they pressed into service to bear His cross.

³³ And when they came to a place called Golgotha, which means Place of a Skull, ³⁴ they gave Him wine to drink mixed with gall; and after tasting it, He was unwilling to drink.

³⁵ And when they had crucified Him, they divided up His garments among themselves by casting lots. ³⁶ And sitting down, they began to keep watch over Him there. ³⁷ And above His head they put up the charge against Him which read, “THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

³⁸ At that time two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and one on the left. ³⁹ And those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their heads ⁴⁰ and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” ⁴¹ In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking Him and saying, ⁴² “He saved others; He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him. ⁴³ He trusts in God; let God rescue Him now, if He delights in Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” ⁴⁴ The robbers who had been crucified with Him were also insulting Him with the same words.

⁴⁵ Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour. ⁴⁶ About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” ⁴⁷ And some of those who were standing there, when they heard it, began saying, “This man is calling for Elijah.” ⁴⁸ Immediately one of them ran, and taking a sponge, he filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink. ⁴⁹ But the rest of them said, “Let us see whether Elijah will come to save Him.” ⁵⁰ And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. ⁵¹ And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split. ⁵² The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; ⁵³ and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many. ⁵⁴ Now the centurion, and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, became very frightened and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

⁵⁵ Many women were there looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee while ministering to Him. ⁵⁶ Among them was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

⁵⁷ When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. ⁵⁸ This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. ⁵⁹ And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, ⁶⁰ and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the entrance of the tomb and went away. ⁶¹ And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the grave.

⁶² Now on the next day, the day after the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate, ⁶³ and said, “Sir, we remember that when He was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I am to rise again.’ ⁶⁴ Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day, otherwise His disciples may come and steal Him away and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.” ⁶⁵ Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how.” ⁶⁶ And they went and made the grave secure, and along with the guard they set a seal on the stone.

In today’s text it says:  And when they came to a place called Golgotha, which means Place of a Skull, they gave Him wine to drink mixed with gall; and after tasting it, He was unwilling to drink.  The wine and gall mixture was offered to those who were crucified as a seditive or pain killer; to dull their senses. Jesus refused to drink because He refused to have His sacrifice muted. He wanted to completely pay the price for our sin. In John 19:30, when He said “It is finished,” there was and is nothing else that we can add to pay for our sins. He bore the full weight, once for all.

The text says:  At that time two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and one on the left.  And those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their heads  and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.”  In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking Him and saying,  “He saved others; He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him.  He trusts in God; let God rescue Him now, if He delights in Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”   It’s ironic that they said,  “He saved others; He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him.  If Jesus had saved Himself, no others would be saved. As the saying goes, it was not the nails that held Him to the cross, but rather it was His love. He could have come down off the cross, but then what would we believe in? He would not be a redeemer or savior, not the Son of God who died for our sins, perhaps a man who cheated death; instead He is the Lord who defeated sin and death.

The text says:  Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour.  About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”  And some of those who were standing there, when they heard it, began saying, “This man is calling for Elijah.” Immediately one of them ran, and taking a sponge, he filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink. But the rest of them said, “Let us see whether Elijah will come to save Him.”  And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split. The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many. Now the centurion, and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, became very frightened and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”  The centurion was only partially right. He though did not understand that it is not that Jesus was the Son of God, but that He is the Son of God. The centurion did not know that when Jesus cried out “It is finished,” it was not the His end, but rather the end of His work on earth.  The tearing of the veil of the temple signified the completion of His work. No longer was it necessary for there to be a barrier between man and God. Through the cross we are redeemed and reconciled to God. As Jesus was and is the Son of God, so we too through the finished work of the cross are restored to also become His children.

The text ends saying:  Now on the next day, the day after the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate, and said, “Sir, we remember that when He was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I am to rise again.’ Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day, otherwise His disciples may come and steal Him away and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.” Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how.” And they went and made the grave secure, and along with the guard they set a seal on the stone.  The devil tried to cover his greatest defeat; that Christ would rise from the grave. Unfortunately many today believe the lie of the devil; that Jesus was not raised from death. The truth is though neither death nor the grave could hold Him. The seal and the stone could not keep Him in. Even the military guard could not stop Him from living again. Romans 8:11 says:  If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.  There is no power on earth greater than the power of God in a believer. In Acts 1:8 Jesus says of us through that power: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”  Amen.

Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit; through the finished work of the cross Iam redeemed, reconciled and restored. I too am a child of God and through the power of the resurrection I will be Your witness.  Amen.