Skip to main content

Easter Concert

             And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

            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. (Matthew 27:5o-52)

 

            I know. It’s Resurrection Sunday and the passage above comes from what happened on Good Friday. But it marked the beginning like so many other things that happened on Friday. Let’s focus on one of the images presented: the curtain of the temple was torn from the top to the bottom. If you were a priest in that temple, what would you have thought or done? No doubt, there had been little tears before, especially along the bottom hem. And when they were discovered, someone probably fixed them. But generally speaking, those are probably of a few moments of darning. But this was major.

            They might have found an old or temporary veil with which to replace it until the torn one was repaired or replaced. They might have set up ladders or scaffolding and done the repairs in situ. If they did the latter, they probably still put up some sort of curtain between the Holy of Holies so that those doing the repair wouldn’t be killed. Now, just for a second… there was an earthquake, rocks split (tore?), and the tombs broke (tore?) open. Bodies of many holy people were raised to life (tearing a different veil? And what happened to them?)

You know those magnificent pieces of music that repeat a chorus several times, each time getting a little louder, or a little more complex, until the last repetition when everything is fortissimo (ff or fff) and the soprano or tenor hits and holds that impossibly high note, or the alto or bass hits and holds the impossible low note (or both!)? Or, if you prefer something more classical, consider the 1812 Overture, which builds to the point of using canons as musical instruments. You know – those magnificent, pull out all the stops endings?

Well, it’s the morning of the third day, and as Jesus had warned them, the stone has been rolled away. The seal on the tomb was broken (torn.) And with that thought… enjoy the concert

 

Easter Concert

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen To Him

              The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him . (Deuteronomy 18:15)           Today, we switch from Jesus’ claims of “I am” to prophecies made about Him. My Bible platform is starting in Deuteronomy. I’d start in Genesis, where we would learn that the one who would save us would be a descendant of Eve (Genesis 3:15), of Noah (by default), Abram and Sara(Genesis 12:1-3). Isaac (Genesis 17:19), Jacob (Genesis 25:23), Judah (Genesis 29:8), and David (II Samuel 7:12-16). There were also references to a new covenant (Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:22-32). In addition, there were prophecies about when and where the prophet/Messiah would be born and what would happen to him.           Of course, naysayers will claim that Jesus’ life was retrofitted or reverse enginee...
Post a Comment
Read more