Beyond the things that we know happened through Christ's death, I also believe there is a massive amount that we don't know. Something larger, greater, and inconceivable happened on that day. These passages presented in the Gospel's of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, have had me pondering for the last few years.
"Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” That is to say, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, “This man calleth for Elias” And straightway one of them ran, and took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink. The rest said, “Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him.” (Mt. 27:45-49)
"And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” Which is, being interpreted, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, “Behold, he calleth Elias.” And one ran and filled a sponge full of vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink, saying, “Let alone; let us see whether Elias will come to take him down.” (Mk. 15:33-36)
"And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst." (Lk. 23:44-45)
Matthew then goes on to say, "At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people. 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!”
How crazy, how supernatural! What happened in the three hours of darkness? What cosmic and universal shifts were taking place during that time? Darkness at noon, is not normal. Earthquakes of that magnitude are not normal. Curtains ripping out of nowhere aren't normal, and people being raised back to life is not normal.
Was the entire cosmos reconfiguring itself? Shifting from the new order that came about because of what Jesus had done? Jesus was not only redeeming humanity, he was also redeeming this earth, and all creation. Is it possible that everything, everything, everything, was being rewritten, restarted, and redone in those three hours? Obviously, the bible is pretty vague about what specifically happened during that time, but for some reason I've latched onto those three hours with curiosity, knowing deep in my bones, that something of unexplainable magnitude happened during that time...and that it matters. Hello, our entire measurement of time is marked by Christ's death! We keep track of history according his sacrifice. I'm taking that seriously.
In wonder and awe of what this week, particularly this weekend, is a reminder of, I am also reminded that the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus is a mysterious, crazy, radical, and insane story. A story, that even in it's mystery, is believable to me. Why? I'm still trying to find the perfect words, but I just know that my soul is at peace, and feels most whole and alive when I am sitting in the middle of that mystery.
No comments:
Post a Comment