All right, Matthew chapter 27
verse 50. Jesus, when he had cried again
with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. 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. And the graves were
opened, many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out
of the grave after his resurrection, and went into the holy city,
and appeared unto many. Now, if you would, please forgive
and pardon some refreshing of our memory from our earlier or
our previous study. In order that we might, in our
mind, regain our flow and chain of thought and bring together
the two parts of our study in our mind. Now the premise of
our study is very clear and supported by the scripture. That is that
the death of our Lord Christ, Christ's death upon the cross,
absolutely carried with it attestation that it was a unique one-of-a-kind
death. Its effects were felt upon and
throughout creation at that particular time. There were accompanying
signs and wonders which set the death of our Lord apart from
any and other death of any or any other man." In fact, we used
the title, didn't we? Never Man Died Like This Man. We considered some of the signs
in our first half of the study, such as the darkening of light
in the land, the darkening of the sun, and the effect that
it had on those that were there, and that heard it, and that saw
it." Now, in this part of our study, we will concentrate principally
on two major occurrences which had a direct relation unto the
Lord's death. That is, both of them are a direct
consequence of the death that our Lord died, and they occurred
only and simply as a result of His death. Both of them are significant,
very, very significant. neither would have occurred except
our Lord had died the unique death that He died upon the cross. And those two things that I mentioned
are, number one, as we read, the opening of the graves of
many of the saints of God there in Jerusalem and their resurrection. Sometimes we lose sight of it,
that a lot of people got up when our Lord got up out of the grave. The second thing that we want
to deal with is the renting of the veil yonder in the Jewish
temple in Jerusalem. And as it regards the two, Charles
Spurgeon said this, they confessed what Jesus claimed. They prove what our Lord had
claimed all of the while and what many Jewish leaders absolutely
had denied, that Jesus was the very Son of God. These things
attested it. The Jewish leaders were denying
it. All the more pertinent are these
things when we call to remembrance that it was the Jews' opposition
to his claim of deity that the Jews opposed so bad that they
brought condemnation against him on that ground. Nor can there
be any doubt about all of this, that as David Brown wrote in
his book on the four Gospels, that the expression is used in
the Jewish sense and that it refutes the view of the Jew and
establishes and corroborates the claims of our Savior. Now, we remember that the Jews
called him a liar. They also called him a blasphemer
for such claims as that. While a disinterested soldier
has his mouth opened that he might proclaimed to all, truly
this was the Son of God, this was a righteous man. And this
soldier came to this conclusion, not from a theological study,
or standpoint, nor did he come to it by what Gil called any
mediatorial performances, but from the things that he saw accompanying
the death of Christ our Lord. Let me quickly mention another
very amazing thing, and that is the writing that Pilate put
upon the cross of our Lord. In John 19 and 19, we read there,
Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing
was, quote, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jew, unquote. And in John 19, it was written
in Hebrew, in Greek, and in Latin. so that all that passed by were
able to read it and understand it. Now you might remember that
when Pilate wrote that sign and the Jews saw it, they protested
to Pilate and they said, look, right that he said this, right
that his claim was this, not that he is king of the Jew, but
that he claimed to be king of the Jew, for the Jew denied,
in fact, that he was. And Pilate, as we remember, was
steadfast and refused, and he said to those Jews, what I have
written, I have written. I think Pilate probably did this
to rub a little salt in the wound of the Jew. I think he did this
in order that he might spite the Jew because he knew what
they were doing in putting the Lord to death. In the providence
of God, by God's direction, it became another testimony of the
true character and person of Jesus of Nazareth. Because you
remember, on the cross they wrote the accusation of the one that
was being crucified, and on the cross of our Lord it said, This
is Jesus, the King of Nazareth, the King of the Jew. Now, both
Matthew and Mark refer to his accusation, or literally, to
the charge. John calls it, however, a title,
John 19, 19, Luke refers to it as a superscription, and Mark
chapter 15, the superscription of his accusation, that is, what
he was being put to death for. Now what was the purpose of such
writing as John Gill wrote He said this, and I quote, it was
what contained the sum and the substance of what he was accused
of and for what he was condemned and why he was suffering, unquote. It was or contained the bill
of indictment, as we might say, that any passing by might read
that bill of indictment and know. Spurgeon said, what a marvelous
providence was it that guided Pilate's pen, unquote. For it was not written over the
Lord's cross, blasphemer, as the Jews wanted, or insurrectionist,
or murderer, or robber, or any of those things, but his accusation
was Jesus of Nazareth the king of the Jew. And it ought to be
also noted that Pilate was no disciple or follower of the Lord. He never had been. He was not
at this time. He was a subordinate of the king
of the Roman Empire. And it was amazing, don't you
think, that Pilate would concede that there are other kings besides
Caesar and Rome. But now, we spend the remainder
of our time considering those two things we mentioned. Both
of them confirm our premise, never man died like this man. Now, they are, number one, the
opening of the graves of many of the saints of God when Christ
died. whether in a grave in the ground
or in a tomb they were flung open when our Lord died. And the second one is the renting
of the veil in the Jewish temple there in Jerusalem. First of
all, let's look at the opening of the grave or the opening of
the tomb. Matthew 27. 51, the last part,
through 53, the earth did quake. And it would appear that the
three things occurred that Matthew mentions simultaneously. The quaking of the earth, the
renting of breaking open or the splitting of the rocks, and the
Opening are the opening of the mouth of the tomb. Now, only
Matthew gives us this account. As Christ let go His Spirit,
the ground in and around the cross in Jerusalem began to quake,
to tremble, and I use the word convulse. Verse 54 calls it an
earthquake. And yet it was not a mere natural
phenomenon like occurred in our country the other day. Just coincidentally
happening to happen at this time. No, not at all. Jesus died and
Matthew means his reader to understand that it occurred directly in
connection with that death of the Son of God. Something else
occurred. The rocks rent, or we might use
the word clave, or we might see the word fissured, that is they
crack. Solid rocks cracked open and
split apart, and the cliffs around Golgotha were fractured, and
we can only wonder if the people felt the quaking and wondered
if the earth was about to swallow them up as it had others on another
occasion. It caused great fear in all those
that heard it and that saw it. But perhaps the most amazing
thing of all, that both from a practical as well as from a
providential standpoint, theological standpoint as well, was the opening
of the tombs of the dead. Not all tombs were open, but
evidently many were. And not tombs of sinners is mentioned
as being open, but that of the saints. And I think here we need
to be careful, we need to tread very carefully to make the distinction
that Matthew says something here, that the tombs were open when
the Lord died upon the cross. The saints in them arose not
till after the Lord himself had risen from the dead in verse
53. Now, as the great sacrifice died
and gave his life, many tombs of saints were opened in that
area. Did ever another die like this? Did ever the death of another
cause such a phenomenon? We repeat, when Christ sent away
His Spirit and He gave up the ghost and He bowed His head and
He said those great words, it is finished. It was then that
the graves opened. It was then that the tombs lost
their covering stones that were upon them. Their prisons of death
were opened. where saints lay here asleep. The burial chamber, many, was
unsealed and was open. This is significant in that it
was not only the grave and the tombs of some saints, that were
open, but had this not been a sovereign and unique work of God, we might
have expected that graves of great sinners also might have
been flung open on that occasion. For those tombs lay unsealed
until the Lord was risen from the dead." Then in verse 53 of
Matthew chapter 27, they came out of their graves. They came
out as proof. They went into the city of Jerusalem
to be seen by many that saw them, recognized them, appearing there. Now who these saints were and
in what era they lived and they died, we are not told. And this is good, I think, because
Rome would crown them with some kind of special sainthood if
they had known about them. Saint so-and-so of the Episcopal
or the Methodist Church or whatever it might be. We might hear of
the greater Zechariah Jerusalem Baptist Church. So it is reasonable
for us to conclude that such were raised where they were raised
and known unto the people that were living in the city at that
time. They knew them. They knew that
they had died. They had known them, had been
acquaintances, or perhaps friend, or even family. They had knowledge
of their death and of their burial. Yet these people who had been
dead for some time were bodily raised. They were recognizable
to family, friends, neighbors, acquaintances, etc. But then, what is the theological
significance of the opening of these tombs and the raising of
some of the saints? John Gill said, I have a lot
of confidence in Him, that it was proof of Christ's power over
death and the grave. That by dying Himself, He took
away the power of death and of the grave. and he won the victory
over death for his people. So that the opening of the tomb
at the exact time of Christ's death, there was a testimony
that by the death that he died, Death would be swallowed up in
victory by and through the death of our Lord. Though He were dead,
He lived again. And though they were dead, yet
they lived again. And by appearing in their bodies
until, not appearing in their glorified bodies, but appearing
in their body. It confirms Him as the firstfruits
of them that slept. Now, let's make a point of emphasis
with regard to all of this. Sometimes we count the number
to be three that were raised by the Lord during His earthly
ministry. And so it is. We have a record
of three people that our Lord raised from the dead. But let
us not forget these many that we read about here in Matthew
chapter 27, who came out of their grave when the Lord came out
of His. Now, that's amazing. Now, the
second thing to consider is the renting of the veil yonder in
the Jewish temple, which is recorded by all three of the first Gospels,
as we noted this morning. Matthew 27, 51. Mark 15 and verse
38, and Luke chapter 23 and verse 45. Now again, we notice that
this occurred as soon as the Lord was dead upon the cross. Matthew 27, 50 and 51. Jesus, when he cried with a loud
voice, yielded up the ghost, and behold, the veil in the temple
was rent entwined from the top to the bottom." Only Matthew
uses the word behold. It means low or behold as if
to signify that a most amazing thing has occurred and indeed
it was. And so he prefaces it by the
word behold. The word is meant to call the
attention of the hearers unto something that is to be said
or is to be done. Now, of all the things that occurred
on the day that Christ died. And of all the signs and the
wonders that were done, none is more significant than the
splitting of the veil in the Jewish temple. Nor must we attribute
this to the power of the earthquake. We cannot say this is resultant
damage from the earthquake and the quaking of the earth. Now, what was this veil? And what was the significance
of it in Judaism? Well, it was the veil or the
curtain, if you will, in the temple that separated the holy
place from the most holy place. Brown called it, quote, the thick
and gorgeously wrought veil which hung between the two sections,
unquote. It was made of woven fabric and
twisted clasp so that it was strong and therefore had good
strength. Some say that this curtain or
this veil, if you will, as it hung in the physical temple measured
60 feet high, 30 feet wide, that is the one hanging there in the
temple in Jerusalem. Now you have the original institution
given in Exodus chapter 26 verse 31 through verse 37. We'll not turn there to read
that account, but if we did read it, the area behind the veil
was called the Holy of Holy. It was put or hung, the veil
was, upon four pillars, and this veil was a divider on purpose
between the holy and the most holy, and we must remember that
only the High Priest of Israel ever went into the Holy of Holy,
and that only once a year on the Day of Atonement as He carried
in the blood. We read about that In Hebrews
9, 9 it speaks about the second, behind the second veil. In the
most holy place was placed, thou shalt put the mercy seat by the
ark of the testimony in the most holy. So there was the ark of
the covenant with the tables of commandments in it, overlaid
with gold, and the golden cherubims as they overlook that. And the Ark of the Covenant being
overlaid with pure gold, a type of the deity, no doubt, of our
blessed God and of our blessed Lord. And as we said, only the
high priest went into this veil, and that one time a year. Now,
here at the temple and the mercy seat where the priests put the
blood, and the significance and the connection between the death
of our Lord and the renting of that veil yonder in the temple. Now, I think it is significant,
first of all, in that three of the four Gospels were moved to
include it in their account. And again, let me say that as
soon as Jesus died, as soon as he dismissed his spirit into
the hands of God, that veil in the temple parted top to bottom. It was completely cleaved or
torn asunder. It split the full length of it. And this never occurred in conjunction
with any death of any of the high priests of Israel. They
had many who lived, who served there, and who died, yet never
did the temple veil rent when one of them died or when they
passed by it or through it with the blood of the sacrificial
animal. Some think that the Lord, our
Savior, died at the very time of the evening sacrifice made
in Jerusalem. And I think that I concur, I
agree with that. And yet the temple veil never
rent at the passing or death or action of any other man. But at 3 p.m., as we would measure
time, or the ninth hour, We see there the Jewish priests may
have been there in the temple going about their services, making
their sacrifices, and such like. The evening sacrifice being prepared
and offered by them, and it was the Passover, remember, and the
Lord died And that veil rent right there in their temple.
In Acts 3 and verse 1, it is called the hour of prayer, which
brought many to the temple. Therefore, it would be witnessed
by many who were there in the temple. Now, the veil did not
rend. It did not tear from its weight. It did not tear because of its
weight. It did not tear because of the
earthquake that ran outside. It did not tear because the timber
or the taches or the hooks that hold it up collapsed. And it
did not tear or break from rottenness or from old age. Let me say this,
and this is important. It rented, it tore in solemn
union with the death of our Lord as a witness to His great sacrifice,
soon as He died. And because He died, as a result
of His death, that veil in the temple did rent. Well then, what
is the significance of such a thing, the veil renting at the exact
hour of our Lord's death upon the cross? Well, the answer is
simple. Many have not learned it yet.
That is that Christ's death brought an end to Judaism. signified by the renting of the
veil in the temple. The renting of the veil declared
the abrogation of the mosaic and the ceremonial law, which
Christ took out of the way, nailing it to His cross. You can see
that in Colossians 2 and verse 14. The veil rent or tore or
split when Christ died, confirmed Him to be the long-promised Messiah. It was a sure sign that the Mosaic
Law had run its course, had served its purpose, and was now passed
away because of the death of our Lord, that they stood no
longer They are gone forever, the mosaic ceremonies and law. The types and the shadows have
been fulfilled by the literal substance and have passed away. Someone wrote this. published
in the mid-1800s, and I found it, quote, there was no more
need of an earthly priest and a mercy seat and the sprinkling
of animal blood and an offering up of incense. No more need of
a yearly atonement." Because these were but types, they were
but shadows which are gone when the substance is appeared. Now the two events, the death
of Christ and the renting of the veil signified that the one
great high priest is come and that one is Christ. The Passover
lamb has been killed. The great and eternal sacrifice
has been offered to God without spot or without blemish. We remember He is the Mercy Seat. The Mercy Seat just typified
Him, but He is the Mercy Seat. He is the true and the lasting
propitiation that is made. The high priest would soon enter,
not into the temple, but into the very presence of God in heaven
itself with a veil rented all the ceremonial laws became useless. And it is up to the author of
the book of Hebrews to open to us this great truth and put these
things in perspective. The first words of chapter 9
and verse 8, the Holy Ghost signifying seemed to refer that as the priest
served in the first tabernacle, and the high priest but once
a year went into the holy of holies alone, the scripture says
unto us, once a year with blood, that he offered for himself and
then for others. And as long as that stood, it
was not yet made manifest what our Lord did by His death upon
the cross. Only the high priest would enter
in behind that veil once a year on the day of Atonement. But
when the Lord died, it cleaved asunder. It opened up a new and
a living way, as Hebrews tells us. And Hebrews talks about the
veil of His flesh. that is the veil of our Lord. A new and a living way has been
consecrated for us by His flesh. It opens for us the entrance
into the holy of holy. Through Christ, by His merit,
by His blood, we therefore have direct communion with God by
and through our great High Priest. We rely on human priests no more. They are a usurpation of the
office of our Christ. To set up an altar, or to make
a sacrifice, or even establish a priesthood now of men is less
than lighting a small candle before the noonday sun. They
are useless. Let me say it as clear as I can,
Judaism died with Christ and their house is left unto them
desolate, saith the words of our Lord. Something else, the
middle wall of partition, between the Jew and the Gentile is broken
down by the death of our Lord, both of them, Jew and Gentile,
reconciled in one body. Oh yes. The veil is gone in the
temple, for Judaism is abolished. and the middle wall of petition
that stood in the law of carnal ordinances. Being abolished,
the middle wall, is broken down, Jew and Gentile reconciled in
one body. Yes, I close again by saying,
never man died like this man, having the effect that it had
upon heaven and upon earth, and bringing the people of God out
from under one or the old economy and bringing them into a better
way. And yet, how blind are some to
still seek to worship in a way that Christ ended and abolished
by His death upon the cross. Never man died like this. Never their death had such an
effect on so many things as did the death of Christ Jesus, our
blessed Lord.