Read Matthew 27:51-61, Mark 15:38-47, Luke 23:45-56 and John 19:31-42. Associated with the death of our Lord are several events. The darkness was lifted, an earthquake shook the city, the veil in the temple was torn in two, and the graves of some believers were opened. Whether these occurred right before our Lord’s death or immediately after it or, as is most likely, starting right before and concluding after it is not known for certain. What is certain is that they are closely tied with His death. That the veil was said to be torn from top to bottom simply means it was completely separated, not just partially torn.
1. From early Jewish literature, we are told the veil was not a thin curtain but was relatively thick, about the width of a man’s hand. However wide it might have been, it served to separate the Holy of Holies from the Holy Place. Only the high priest went through the veil into the Holy of Holies and that only once a year to offer atonement for sin. What, in your opinion, is the significance of this tearing of the veil before the Holy of Holies?
These related events, the lifting of the darkness, the earthquake, the separating of the temple veil and the opening of graves, which occurred at the death of our Lord, although physical in nature, were undoubtedly brought about the divine timing of the Father. They speak symbolically of unseen spiritual realities. The darkness lifting indicates the restoration of the spiritual life of the Son who had endured spiritual death for us. The veil, being completely torn apart, clearly seems to suggest that what separated sinful man from a most holy God had been dealt with and overcome once for all. Man no longer had to come to God through the mediation of an earthly priest but now had free access because of the sacrifice of Christ upon the cross.
2. Although our Lord was now dead physically, He was alive spiritually. During this time between His physical death on Friday afternoon until His physical resurrection Sunday morning, where did He go, and what did He do?
We know only snatches of the events that transpired during this period. For although our Lord’s dead body was in the tomb, He was not there for 1 Peter 3:18 tells us this: "For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water."
Ephesians 4:8-10 also hints at what our Lord did in this period. "Therefore it says, “WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH, HE LED CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES, AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN.” (Now this expression, “He ascended,” what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.)"
There are a wide variety of interpretations of these verses, with many excellent and respected scholars taking one or another of the many views that now prevail. It seems best to this student of the word to take the view held by the early church, which also fits the language and grammar of the early Greek manuscripts. When he declares, He was put to death in the flesh, Peter is referring without a doubt to His physical death on the cross. Knowing that as Christ hung on the cross, He was experiencing the punishment we deserved, not just physically but spiritually, we must accept that He was spiritually dead. His human spirit was separated from God, hence His cry, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” When He cried out, “It is finished!” and yielded up His spirit to His Father, the debt had been completely paid. His human spirit was then restored to fellowship with God; that is, He was made alive in spirit.
It was in the spirit, not His physically resurrected body, it should be noted, that He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison. He made proclamation (κηρύσσω); He did not preach the gospel (εὐαγγελίζω). He proclaimed or heralded the victory over the spirits, that is, the demonic beings who in Noah’s day sought to corrupt and defile humanity. These were imprisoned at the time of the flood in the abyss to await judgment.
Paul tells us that our Lord also descended into the lower parts of the earth. This seems to be a reference to Hades or the grave (ᾅδης), the place where the spirits and/or souls of those who died, both righteous and unrighteous, went following death. Whether it was literally located within the depths of the earth or simply a means of describing an extra-dimensional universe to people who had no such concepts, we cannot be sure. That our Lord’s spirit went here is seen from the passage in Ephesians and supported by Acts 2:31. This place is also described for us in the parable of rich man and Lazarus. It appears that in going here, He released all those who were of faith, taking these with Himself back to heaven or paradise and leaving behind all those destined for judgment. This is what is being described by the statement that He led captivity captive. It should be noted that our Lord told the believing thief who was crucified with Him that he would be with Him in Paradise that day.
The epistle to the Hebrews also gives a hint at what took place during this time. Chapter nine, verses 11-12 and 21-24, tell us this: "But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption...And in the same way, he sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry with the blood. And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. Therefore it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;"
It seems very likely that at least these three events, in some order, took place during the time Jesus was in the spirit before His resurrection:
— Our Lord, in spirit, entered the heavenly throne room and presented Himself to God as the sacrifice for sin securing our eternal redemption.
— In spirit, He proclaimed victory over all the demonic forces imprisoned in the abyss.
— In spirit, He descended to the grave and freed those who had died in faith who now belonged to Him and led them from there to paradise.
We often think everything was at a standstill during this interval, that the creation was holding its breath to see if our Lord was victorious or not. Some believe our Lord was suffering the fires of hell during this time, but such was not the case! With His cry, “It is finished!” and His yielding His spirit up to His Father, IT WAS DONE. Victory was secured! The enemy had been defeated! It only remained for Him to present the sacrifice to the Father, to declare the victory over those spirits imprisoned who would not have known it otherwise, and to free those He had redeemed from the grave.
3. The earthquake that shook the area at the death of our Lord opened some graves. One should remember that Jewish graves then were different from what we usually think of as graves today. Bodies were not placed in holes dug in the ground but in niches carved in the sides of a wall of a natural or man-made cave. The entrance was then walled off, or a large circular stone rolled in front of the door. The earthquake dislodged the rocks and stones which were sealing access to these tombs. They would not have been touched or resealed until after Passover and remained open until Sunday. Were these dead resurrected with our Lord? Did they accompany Him back to heaven?
These saints were resurrected in the same manner that Lazarus was resurrected. It was the restoration of the old physical body, not the resurrection with a new glorified body. They, like Lazarus, would still die again physically. We do not know how long they lived, whether a short period, appearing to many during this time or for an extended period of time. Their resurrection was a testimony, among other things, to the fact that victory had been achieved by the sacrifice of our Lord on the cross. He was resurrected as evidence of His being the Messiah.
4. What do we know about Joseph of Arimathea?
These passages tell us much about this man. That he was a wealthy person is ascertained from the fact that he had this new tomb prepared for himself. It would have been expensive to have this carved out of a stone cliff. We know he was a prominent member of the Sanhedrin and therefore was an influential Jewish leader. We are told he was waiting for the Kingdom of God, meaning that he was a man of faith under the Old Testament economy. He had become a disciple but had kept this quietly a secret, at least until this point because he feared the rest of the Jewish leadership.
The Applications:
What are the applications of these passages to our lives today? Identify as many as you are able.
1. The veil is torn; that is, the barrier which separated a sinful man from a holy righteous God has been removed. That barrier, which is symbolized by the veil, separating the Holy Place from the Holiest of Places, the place where God’s presence was represented by the Ark of the Covenant, was and is man’s sinful condition. Until sin was dealt with, the penalty paid, man could not approach God and could only look forward to the eternal judgment of God. The only approach to God that was allowed was through a mediator and that only once a year. But our Lord has dealt with our sin; He has opened the way so that we may approach God at any time. He is our mediator, and, through Him, we enter the very presence of God.
Many people still believe they need someone else to mediate for them other than our Lord, whether this mediator is a pastor or a priest, Mary, the mother of our Lord, or some other saint who has died and gone to be with our Lord. But there are no other mediators. There is no other work or effort, or sacrifice that can be made which will bring us or our petition into the presence of God. We either come before God by faith through the shed blood of Jesus Christ our Lord, or we face His judgment. The writer to the Hebrews states in chapter 10:19-27 this: "Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water...For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES."
The veil is down. This means anyone can now enter the Holy of Holies into the very presence of God at any time. But it can only be done in faith and only through the finished work of our great High Priest, Jesus Christ! If we try to get there any other way, knowing that the sacrifice of our Lord has been made once for all, the only thing that we can look forward to is the terrifying expectation of judgment.
2. Because of what our Lord did during those hours He was in spirit before His resurrection, we now, upon departing this earthly life, do not go to the grave, that is Sheol, but we go to be with our Lord in spirit in heaven. The apostle Paul states this in 2 Corinthians 5: "Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord—for we walk by faith, not by sight—we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord."
He also, in discussing the rapture and the resurrection of the dead in Christ, states this in 1 Thessalonians 4:14-16: "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first."
The spirits of those who have died in faith are now with the Lord, for we are told He will bring those with Him when He returns for us! What remains of their dead physical bodies might still be here, but they are now with the Lord.