With Signs Following

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Pastor James May

WITH SIGNS FOLLOWING

Three days had passed since Jesus had died on the cross. For three days his body lay in that tomb. Three days had passed and the Passover Feast was ended, the Sabbath day was gone and the morning of the first day of the week came with the rising of the sun in all its beauty. The light of that sun flooded the earth with it warmth and comfort, awakening a sleeping world into a new day. And what a day it would be!

Mankind had been trapped in a never-ending place of utter darkness. Sin, death and the powers of Hell had reigned over the earth in a death grip that no man could break. Every newborn child, brought into this world since the fall in the Garden of Eden had been born with the mark of death already upon it. The power and final payment for the sin of man was devastating and unbreakable.

For a short time of 42 months there had arisen a ray of hope in the darkness. Jesus of Nazareth had walked the earth claiming to be Messiah, the Deliverer and the very Son of God who had come down to set men free from his chains of darkness, but he was dead.

On that terrible day when Jesus was nailed to the cross at 9 AM, the hope of all who trusted in him was destroyed. The despair and dread that had been replaced by hope suddenly came upon them again.

From 9 AM until 12 Noon, Jesus had struggled with the pain of the nails in his hands and his feet as he had to lift his weight against those nails time and again to just be able to draw a breath. The religious leaders and all those who hated him passed by one by one, looked up on the cross and cursed Jesus, blasphemed against him and shouted their accusations against him as he struggled.

Then things began to happen. At high noon, when the sun was at its peak, the sky went suddenly dark. It was as though the light of sun had been snuffed out. This was to show man that without the Light, Jesus Christ, the Light of the World, mankind would forever be engulfed in gross darkness as a result of his sin.

For three hours there was no sun, no moon, and no stars. It was as though all light had left the universe. The only light that could be had was that of candles, lanterns or torches but few could be seen because no one thought they would be necessary in the middle of the day. For three hours, the Father in Heaven had removed the light that he had spoken into existence and the world was cast into gross darkness. Perhaps this was to represent the three days that Jesus would lie dead in the grave, when the Light would not be upon the face of the earth.

Finally, the light came again at about the 3 PM as Jesus shouted "...My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? " That cry instantly brought forth the light once again. God had turned away as Jesus took upon him the sin of the whole world.

For 6 long hours Jesus suffered on the cross. Shortly after 3 PM he bowed his head and said, “it is finished” and allowed himself to die.

No man could kill him. Jesus had to give his life. When the full price of sacrifice for sin had been paid, he gave up the spirit within his body and allowed the flesh to die. He chose the moment of his death.

There was a tremendous earthquake. Coupled with the darkness that had just left, a great fear fell upon all of Jerusalem. Not only did the earth shake but graves were opened by its force and the bodies of many who had died in the faith were exposed. The veil in the temple that had separated man from the presence of God for so many centuries was ripped from top to bottom by the invisible hands of God. That curtain, some say was as much as 18 inches thick, was ripped like a piece of paper to signify that the power of sin that had separated man from God was eternally broken. The sin-debt was paid in full.