INTRODUCTION
1. Please open your bibles to Matt. 27:50-54.
(1) In a few moments we will read this passage, which gives a report of a miraculous earthquake. We will study some things that will shake our hearts and cause us to have a stronger faith!
(2) Over the past two weeks we have received much from TV and different news sources about the natural disaster earthquakes and shaking effects that have occurred in Haiti.
(3) During the course of this lesson we will find out that the miraculous earthquake mentioned in Matt. 27:50-54 continues to have a heart shaking effect and causes many people in our world to have a stronger faith.
2. From January 21, 2010 8:57 AM EST News and from the Associate Press I read the following reports and some other things about the natural disaster earthquake in Haiti. I’ll paraphrase:
(1) The death toll is estimated at 200,000, according to Haitian government figures.
(2) As of Thursday 1/21/2010 it is estimated that 80,000 have been buried in mass graves.
(3) Earth-movers are being used to bury 10,000 earthquake victims in a single day while relief workers warn the death toll could increase.
(4) An Associated Press reporter counted 15 burial mounds at Clerzier's site, each covering a wide trench cut into the ground some 25 feet deep, and rising 15 feet into the air.
(5) "I have seen so many children, so many children. I cannot sleep at night and, if I do, it is a constant nightmare," said Foultone Fequiert, 38, his face covered with a T-shirt against the overwhelming stench of death.
(6) Medical clinics have 12-day patient backlogs, untreated injuries are festering and makeshift camps housing thousands of survivors could foster disease, experts said.
(7) "The next health risk could include outbreaks of diarrhea, respiratory tract infections and other diseases among hundreds of thousands of Haitians living in overcrowded camps with poor or nonexistent sanitation," said Dr. Greg Elder.
(7) The commission now estimates 2 million homeless, up from 1.5 million, and says 250,000 are in need of urgent aid.
3. As we all know on Tuesday, January 12 the magnitude 7.0 earthquake first hit Haiti. There have been additional tremors and shakes.
4. On Wednesday at 6:03 a.m. a magnitude 5.9 earthquake hit northwest of Port-au-Prince and sent soldiers and tent city refugees racing for open ground and clouds of dust arose in Port-au-Prince.
5. All of these reports tell of a natural disaster earthquake that continues to shake millions of people in many different and frightful ways.
6. In this lesson we will discuss how that the miraculous earthquake mentioned in Matt. 27:50-54 continues to have shaking effect upon people throughout the whole world and not just in Haiti.
I. FIRST, THIS MIRACULOUS EARTHQUAKE SHAKES OUR HEART TO HAVE A STRONGER FAITH AS WE LEARN THAT THE EARTHQUAKE OCCURRED EXACTLY AT THE TIME OF CHRIST’S DEATH.
1. Let’s read Matt. 27:50-54, “50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. 51 Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, 52 and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; 53 and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many. 54 So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God!”
2. This earthquake was not just a natural disaster that coincidently happened at the particular time that Jesus died.
3. The miraculous earthquake of Matt. 27:50-54 was an exclamation point by the Great God of the universe to communicate to the whole world the importance of the death of His Only-Begotten Son, Jesus, the Christ.
4. The earthquake occurred at the instant of Christ’s final great shout! It was a shout of His victory in fulfilling all that the Father had sent Him to do. At that instant death and the miraculous earthquake came at the same time.
(1) We must understand that the miraculous earthquake did shake, not because of the internal fires under the earth, but rather the shaking began due to the voice above the earth – the voice of God the Son!
(2) The shout of victory pointed out that the work of Redemption – the plan to save the lost had been accomplished from the standpoint of God and Christ providing the gracious death and blood of the Son!
(3) The shout of Christ was the shout of the Laborer entering into His position at the right hand of the Father to be head of His church and king of His kingdom and to be our mediator and high priest (Acts 2:30-34, 1 Tim. 2:5; Hebrews 4:14-16).
5. Let’s observe a few things of great importance associated with the actual dying of Christ.
(1) The expression, "yielded up the ghost"[KJV] is an expression for 'yielded up His spirit.' [NKJV]. The expression is referring to the “the spirit” or “the soul” departing and leaving the body of the Man Christ
(2) The atheist do not believe that man has a spirit, but Matthew teaches that the Man – Jesus Christ had not only a physical body, but also a “spirit”.
(3) Luke, in 23:46 reports that Jesus said, "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit," and having said that, "he gave up the ghost".
(3) John 19:30 reports: "He [Jesus] said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost"
(4) In James 2:26, James teaches that at the time of physical death, for any and all people, the soul or spirit will depart from the body. James 1:26 says, “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”
6. The miraculous occurrence of the earthquake right at the last shout of Christ should shake our hearts to have a stronger faith in God and His word.
II. SECOND, THIS MIRACULOUS EARTHQUAKE SHAKES OUR HEART TO HAVE A STRONGER FAITH AS WE LEARN THAT THE EARTHQUAKE BROUGHT ABOUT THE MIRACULOUS TEARING OF THE VEIL!
1. Let’s again read Matt. 27:51, “Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split”.
2. The veil was the heavy and beautiful curtain that separated the Holy Place, located in the back part of the temple, from the Most Holy Place, which was located in the front half of the Temple.
(2) The priest officiated daily in the front part [the Holy Place] of the temple, but only the high priest were allowed to go into the back part [the Most Holy Place] of the temple only one day out of each year.
1) Hebrews 9:7&8 teach that the Most Holy Place was symbolic of heaven.
2) The moment that Jesus died the veil was rent or torn from top to bottom and made it possible for anyone who was in the Holy Place to see back into the Most Holy Place.
3) On that particular Friday at 3 p.m. darkness had been covering the land since noon. The priest that would have been performing their duties in the front part, the Holy Place, of the temple would have to have been using something to give them light where that they could see.
4) According to normal procedures there would have been a large number of priest present. They would have been the first group of priest to get to view inside the Most Holy Place.
5) In Acts 6:7, after the church had been established, we read, “Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.”
6) Most likely, from the group that would have been doing their tasks at the time of the miraculous earthquake and the miraculous tearing in half of the veil, would have been those of Acts 6:7 that were “obedient to the faith”.
(3) Interestingly, the tearing of the veil into two pieces, was not with human hands, starting at the bottom and tearing upward, but untouched by human hands and torn miraculously from the top to the bottom.
3. The “rending of the veil” at the exact time and manner that it happened should shake our hearts to have a stronger faith in our Great and Wonderful God and His Christ!
4. The rending of the veil signified several significant things: [You may use these in another lesson. Otherwise, to include them in this sermon may make it too long.]
1) 2 Cor. 3:14-16 and Heb. 9:7-10 teach that the tearing of the veil was symbolic of doing away the authority of the Old Testament.
2) Hebrews 10:1-14 teaches that the tearing of the veil was symbolic of doing away of the office of the high priest and the task of the regular duty priest of the Old Testament.
3) Eph. 3:1-11; Rom. 16:25-26 and Matt. 13:17 teach that “the rending of the veil” was symbolic of the mysteries of God's eternal plan of salvation for Jews and Gentiles becoming unveiled and understandable within the teaching of the New Testament.
4) 1 Timothy 2:5; 1 Peter 2:5,9; Matthew 23:8 and Revelation 1:6 teach that the “the rending of the veil” symbolized that no human priest is needed between God and man, but instead each Christian is recognized as a priest and all Christians have equal standing in going to God in prayer and thanking Him and praying for forgiveness.
5) Hebrews 9:6-17 teach that “the rending of the veil” symbolizes the fact that Christ, our High Priest, was about to enter heaven, and offer the atoning sacrifice for us. This means that we never need to offer animal sacrifice again.
6) Hebrews 9:8; 10:19-22 teach that “the rending of the veil” symbolizes that the way into heaven has been opened for those who become New Testament Christians.
7) The veil itself represents for us death by which we leave this world and enter eternity.
“The rending of the veil” symbolizes the great truth that Christ, by his death, burial, resurrection and ascension into heaven, has won victory for us over death. Let’s read Hebrews 1:14f; Isaiah 25:7-8; 1 Corinthians 15:20-22, 55-57.
8) “The rending of the veil” certainly should shake our heart to have a stronger faith in God and have a stronger faith in the hope of getting to go and be with Him and Christ and all the redeemed in heaven.
III. THIRD, THIS MIRACULOUS EARTHQUAKE SHAKES OUR HEART TO HAVE A STRONGER FAITH AS WE LEARN THAT THE EARTHQUAKE BROUGHT ABOUT THE MIRACULOUS RENTING OF THE ROCKS.
1. Let’s read Matt. 27:51&52, 51 Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, 52 and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised”.
2. The earthquake coincided with the splitting of the rocks and the opening of the graves!
3. What is so strange about this earthquake is the fact that we do not have biblical record of it disturbing anything else!
1) As far as we know it did not shake the Cross of Jesus, the Christ, down.
2) It did not shake the crosses of the two thieves down - even though the area about Calvary or Golgotha was trembling violently and opening up some of the graves!
4. The rocks were rent or split and certain graves were opened, yet the great buildings and walls of Jerusalem, not more than a mile away, were left undisturbed.
5. In 1974 I visited Israel and as we were at the area of where the crucifixion was supposed to have taken place, the guide pointed to rocks that were thought to have been split by that miraculous earthquake.
6. Such a scene causes one’s heart to grow stronger in faith.
IV. FOURTH, THIS MIRACULOUS EARTHQUAKE SHAKES OUR HEART TO HAVE A STRONGER FAITH AS WE LEARN THAT THE EARTHQUAKE BROUGHT ABOUT THE MIRACULOUS OPENING UP OF THE GRAVES OF JUST SELECTED SAINTS.
1. Let’s read Matt. 27:52&53, “52 and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; 53 and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.”
2. Matthew chooses to mention the “opening of the graves” here because of its association with the rending of the rocks, which also opened the rock-hewn sepulchers or graves, in which the bodies of the saints had lain.
1) There has been much speculation as to what became of these resurrected saints.
2) We have no positive information, but most bible students think that their souls ascended into Paradise or to the realm of departed spirits mentioned in Luke 16:19&ff.
3) Luke 16:19&ff teaches that before their souls would have been united with their bodies and entering into the city of Jerusalem, that their souls would have been in Paradise, which is also called Abraham’s bosom. Their souls would have come from Paradise or hades (the realm of departed spirits) and been united with their bodies in the graves and then resurrected on the same morning that Jesus was resurrected.
3.The opening of the graves was for only some of those who were saints. The opening of graves of only some of those who were saints causes us to be more convinced that this was definitely a miraculous earthquake.
4. Our faith should grow stronger as we think of that earthquake having to be guided by the hand of the Divine and Living God and for Him to make the discrimination among the dead buried in the vicinity of Golgotha.
5. This demonstration of the divine power and knowledge of God reminds us that God is able to raise anyone from the dead that He chooses.
6. This reminds us of John 5:28&29, which teaches that at the end of time, all: saints and those who have not obeyed the gospel [2 Thess. 1:7-9] will all be raised on the last Great Day and then face the great judgment [Matt. 25:31-46 & Rev. 20:11-15].
6. Being made more aware of “the all knowing intelligence of God” causes me to have a stronger faith.
V. FIFTH, THIS MIRACULOUS EARTHQUAKE SHAKES OUR HEART TO HAVE A STRONGER FAITH AS WE LEARN THAT THE EARTHQUAKE BROUGHT ABOUT THE MIRACULOUS KEEPING OF THE SAINTS IN THE OPEN GRAVES IN THOSE OPENED GRAVES FROM FRIDAY AT 3 P.M. UNTIL EARLY SUNDAY MORNING!
1. Let’s read Matt. 27:52&53, “52 and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; 53 and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.”
1) Graves of certain dead saints were opened by this earthquake, and these arose and went into Jerusalem and appeared unto many. But they did not rise until Sunday morning.
2) Notice that the text says that their resurrection took place after the Lord was raised up from the dead.
3) But the earthquake, the rending of the rocks, and the opening of the graves occurred at the instant of the Lord's death! On Friday at 3 p.m.
2. The opened graves, according to Jewish law, had to be left open during, what was Passover weekend.
(1) It would have been unlawful for anyone to have filled a grave during that holy week.
(2) It would have been unlawful for anyone to touch one of the graves and/or one of the bodies.
3. God’s complete control over the “spirits” or “souls” of men and women should cause men and women to grow to have a stronger faith in our Great God.
VI. SIXTH, THIS MIRACULOUS EARTHQUAKE SHAKES OUR HEART TO HAVE A STRONGER FAITH AS WE LEARN THAT THE EARTHQUAKE BROUGHT ABOUT A VERBAL CONFESSION THAT TEACHES THAT GOD DEMANDS A WORKING FAITH AND NOT JUST “FAITH ONLY”!
1. Let’s read Matt. 27:54, “So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God!”
2. The centurion and the men with him lived in Jerusalem in the midst of the excitement about Jesus.
(1) They had that very day heard him charged with blasphemy for claiming to be the Son of God.
(2) They had heard the same idea expressed concerning Jesus during the time had been hanging on the cross (verse 43).
(3) The centurion and those with him would have been stupid indeed if they did not know what was meant by the declaration: “Truly this was the Son of God”.
2. The supernatural darkness and the earthquake, the rending of the rocks, the opening up of the graves coupled with the meekness and control of Jesus moved these hardened men to make “the good confession” and experience a fear and a reverence toward Christ.
3. “The good confession” is a must from anyone who would receive forgiveness of their sins, but “faith” and “the good confession” are not the only requirements necessary for man in the receiving of the forgiveness of one’s sins.
CONCLUSION
1. Turn to Acts 8:35-39. The background for this passage is that the eunuch, a religious man worshipping according the Old Law of Moses, had been to Jerusalem to worship.
(1) The eunuch was returning to his homeland, Ethiopia. As he traveled in his chariot, he was reading a prophecy from Isaiah chapter fifty-three that was a prophecy about the death and sacrifice of Christ.
(2) The eunuch ask Philip, who had come near the chariot, to come up into the chariot and explain the passage to him.
2. Let’s read and make brief comments relating to Acts 8:35-39, “35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. 36 Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?”
(1) Details relating to what Philip preached are not given. We are taught that the passage had its fulfillment in Jesus.
(2) The request of the eunuch to be baptized teaches us that when one properly understands biblical teaching about Christ, that there is an urgent need to be baptized.
(3) This passage does not teach that it is scriptural to wait a week or a month before being baptized once one believes and is willing to repent or turn from what has been wrong in their life.
3. Verses 37 & 38 teach us that one, along with faith and repentance must confess with their mouth that they believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Let’s read verses 37-39.
37 Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.”
And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
38 So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. 39 Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing.
(1) This passage teaches that biblical baptism is not sprinkling or pouring, but that it is being submerged completely under the water.
(2) This passage also teaches that the rejoicing that comes when one’s sins have been forgiven does not come right after belief, repentance, confession, but rather after all of those things plus one’s obedience to the command of baptism.
4. If this morning, the truths about the miraculous earthquake of Matt. 27:50-54 have shook your heart to have a stronger faith,
1) we encourage you to respond if there is a need to correct a weakness of faith that you might have had.
2) We encourage those who need to obey the gospel and become a Christian to come to the front as we stand and sing!
5. Invitation song: The Old Rugged Cross!
Acknowledgments for a lot of thoughts in the development of this sermon are to go to:
(1) Bob Winton CD Commentary on Matthew 27:50-54. 464 Ridgewood Drive Manchester, Tennessee 37355. If interested in CD covering many O. T. & N.T. books call (866) 753-8456.
(2) George R. Dillahunty preacher for the Freedom Fellowship (COG) 685 Grant Avenue Virginia Beach, Virginia 23452-3047
