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At the Foot of the Cross

At the Foot of the Cross

Words of Faith 2-15-19

Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2019

Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com

Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA) - Melbourne, FL      

2820 Business Center Blvd.

Melbourne, Florida 32940

(321)-259-7200

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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, and our website, and our church app excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2010 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.  

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Luke 23

    [44] It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, [45] for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. [46] Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last.

    [47] The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, "Surely this was a righteous man." [48] When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. [49] But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.

 

       Luke noted several things that occurred at the time Jesus died.  Two symbolic events took place while Jesus was on the cross. Darkness came over the whole land for three hours, from the sixth hour (noon) until the ninth hour (3:00 P.M.). The whole "land" could refer to all the "land" of Israel or, possibly, to the local area only.

      Luke does not say what caused the sun's light to fail nor does he say what significance should be given this fact.  Jesus had already told those who arrested Him that "this is your hour-- when darkness reigns."  Darkness was apparently allowed to reign briefly because of His crucifixion. The physical darkness may have even been nature itself grieving, or it was given to veil the judgment endured on our behalf by Christ.

       The other symbolic event was the tearing in two of the curtain of the temple, which separated the holy of holies from the rest of the temple. The curtain divided people from the place where God had localized His presence. The tearing from top to bottom (Matt. 27:51) symbolized the fact that now, because of Jesus' death, people had free access to God as they no longer had to go through the sacrificial system.  Jesus was the only sacrifice needed to enable people to have a proper relationship with God.

       Luke also tells us that Jesus' death occurred because He willed it. Breathing His last, He voluntarily gave up His life (John 10:15, 17-18).  Jesus was in control of these events.  Crucifixion usually took a very long time to complete.  He gave His life for you and me, it was not taken from Him.  Jesus chose the timing of His death.  John reports that it coincided with the sacrifice of Passover lambs and that it fulfilled the prophecy that no bone would be broken in Him.  The legs of the others were broken to hasten death before the Sabbath.

       The witness of this event was indelibly powerful.  Even a hardened Roman centurion who had surely watched many crucifixions noted that Jesus was a righteous Man.  He praised God, as did many others in Luke's Gospel.  The people who witnessed His death mourned.  Finally, after the mocking and cursing and energy of the day, it was quiet except for the sound of those who mourned.

        Is there a more powerful moment in all of history that this one?  If there is, I do not know it.  The Apostle Paul put it this way--  "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!  For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!  Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation" (Romans 5:6-11).

 

         O God, thank You for the cross.  Thank You for the gift You have given.  Thank You for reconciling me to You and making way for the forgiveness of my sin, even mine.  In Jesus' name.