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Ponder the miracles of Easter

Easter is one of the reasons April is such a joyful time of the year. It is a special time when Christians around the world, whether Protestant, Roman Catholic or Orthodox, pause to celebrate Easter and the resurrection of Jesus.

The Friday before the resurrection is often referred to as “Good” Friday because Christians believe that through his death, Jesus on that Friday paid the penalty for their sins. Good Friday was also a day when five astonishing miracles occurred.

Darkness

During the final three hours Jesus hung of the cross, the Bible says “from noon until three in the

afternoon darkness came over all the land.” The darkness could not have been an eclipse because of when it occurred. It was recorded by secular writers such as Phlegon, a Greek author from Caria who said, “That in the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad (33 AD) there was the greatest eclipse of the sun,” and that “it became night in the sixth hour of the day (noon) so that stars even appeared in the heavens. There was a great earthquake in Bithynia, and many things were overturned in Nicaea.”

Death

The Bible said that at the precise moment of his death, “When Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.” Jesus cried out “it is finished” the moment before his death, which was the exact time the final Passover lambs were being sacrificed in the Temple in Jerusalem. Jesus chose to die at that specific time, showing that no more lambs would need to be offered as a payment for our sins. By his death, Jesus was paying for all of our sins.

Division

The Bible said that when Jesus proclaimed it was finished, “At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.” The curtain separated the priests from the Holy-of-Holy, where the ark of the covenant, which represented the presence of God, was held. When the curtain was torn, it was as if God was opening his arms to mankind and inviting all to come freely to him.

And the curtain was no thin cloth. The Jewish author Edersheim said, “The veil before the Most Holy Place were 60 feet high and 30 feet wide, of the thickness of the palm of the hand, and wrought in 72 squares, which were joined together; and these veils were so heavy that it needed 300 priests to manipulate them.”

Devastation

The Bible said that when Jesus proclaimed “It is finished,” and the curtain was torn in two, “At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split.” But this was no ordinary earthquake when we consider what happened to the tombs of certain people.

Dead raised

The Bible said that when the earth split, “The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open.” We read elsewhere that it was the tombs of “holy people.” And the bodies appear to be lying there for all to see until the Sunday morning of the resurrection, when the Scripture said, “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.”

So, as we celebrate the miracle of the resurrection Sunday morning, take some time to ponder the miracles preceding it on Good Friday.

 

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