Introduction
The Lord God Almighty spoke through the prophets of old about His plan of salvation for all humanity through the coming of His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. In the Book of Acts, we see how the plan of salvation for the Gentiles has been set in motion by the work of the Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus brought the law of grace, and through His sacrifice on the cross, anyone can be saved and have eternal life if they give their hearts to the Lord Jesus and follow His teachings. In Matthew 27:45-56, we read about the death of our Lord Jesus on the cross. In this passage, we witness the testimony of two types of people: unbelievers and believers. The unbelievers recount the glory of the Lord Jesus that they observed at the cross of the Lord Jesus, while the believers express their commitment and love for the Lord Jesus, even in His moment of suffering.
Comments on Matthew 27:45-56
45 Now, from the sixth hour, was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour.
“From the sixth hour ... until the ninth hour.” This is from noon until 3:00 pm, but it depends on what part of the country they are in; because in the upper part of the country and the lower part of the country, the time will be shifted. By tradition, they offer the daily sacrifice at the ninth hour. The daily sacrifice was a small amount for each family to offer; they set a portion for the daily sacrifice and also a portion for the family separately, which was done by tradition. Each village would have elders; the people would bring that small portion to the elder, and the elder would make the sacrifice; it was a tradition. (See Numbers 28:1-8).
“Was darkness over all the land.” What has happened has been shown to humans clearly. When the Son of God was to the point of losing His life on earth, even the sun couldn’t shine its light; that is how the sadness of the light would be. This act is plain anger from the Father for what humans are doing on earth, that even the sun couldn’t shine its light; this was not an eclipse; it is the hand of the Father blocking the light of the sun.
46 Then about the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? That is, My God, My God, why have Thou forsaken Me?
How sad heaven is when the Son cannot feel the Father! The death of the Lord Jesus’ human body had an impact on heaven as well because that human is the Son of Man, departing from the earth; there was sadness beyond what human words can explain (See Complementary Comments on Matthew 25:6). Because the Lord was in a human body, while at the point of death, the Father just stayed above watching; the Father was not in human form, but His feeling was impacted because of the human death in His Son’s body. There was sorrow beyond what human words can say when the Three in One felt separated; because the Son took human form, the death of the human body of the Son also impacted the Father. When the death of the Son happened, the Son went down to the death place to give light to the dark place. The Father will not go there; His glory will destroy the death there.
47 Then some of those who were standing there, having heard, said, This Man calls Elijah.
Because they don't understand, so they say what they believe it is; that is the way.
48 And straightaway one of them ran, and took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and having put it on a reed, gave Him to drink.
At that time, this was a way to torture criminals when crucifying them; they didn’t give them to drink wine, they gave them to drink vinegar, which was a way of torture.
49 And the rest said, Let be; let us see whether Elijah comes to save Him.
50 And Jesus having cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the Spirit.
The God of Three is the Father, The Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.
Related to this verse, one might wonder how we comprehend the Spirit of the Lord Jesus, as mentioned here. God of Three in One, but the Lord Jesus has taken the form of a human, and He has received the spirit as a human; all humans must have a spirit. Because the Lord Jesus takes the form of dust, He has a body, spirit, and soul to confirm human being in Him. The Trinity is always Three in One, but each one has a duty, and the Father is above all. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Father. The Lord Jesus in human form as the body, the soul, and the spirit is three in one as well. The body, soul, and spirit of the Lord Jesus can’t be separated; they are only as one because He is human. The Father, The Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are Three in One, yet they can be separated, but each is unique in their own being.
51 And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom; and the earth was shaken, and the rocks were split,
In this verse, we can explore the significance of the temple veil being torn in two from top to bottom. The curtain of the temple stands between God and humans, but with the death of the Lord Jesus, the curtain has been torn apart. Now, humans have a chance to approach God through the Lord Jesus. Through the Son of Man, humans have a chance to be closer to the Father. There is no more blockage between humans and the Father.
52 and the tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints having fallen asleep were raised;
First, because the Lord Jesus’s death happened, the saints who had died before according to faith in the Lord Jesus have received a chance to resurrect with their heavenly body, not with the body of dust that had disappeared. Another way to understand this resurrection is that these saints have been resurrected into their heavenly bodies.
Here, we can consider some thought-provoking questions. The body of the Lord Jesus was the same body that rose from the dead; how do we understand the resurrection of the saints in relation to the heavenly bodies? Is the resurrection of the saints a bodily resurrection in the same manner as the Lord Jesus’ resurrection? Answering these questions, we should not try to mix up the heavenly body and the body of a human being; the Lord has prepared the heavenly bodies as the Bible tells. Every believer has a heavenly body, but the Lord Jesus, His human body, was transformed from the inside out to be a heavenly body; His body did not decay. However, all of those saints became dust of the ground, but the Lord’s body has never seen decay. The Lord Jesus went into heaven as His body rose up and transformed instantly (See also Comments John 19:30).
“The tombs were opened.” The tombs must be open for the heavenly bodies to come out. When it was close to the resurrection time of the Lord Jesus, the Lord prepared the heavenly body for these saints for their return. Don’t forget that all the saints that have perished have a soul, spirit, and material body; the material body is gone, but the soul and spirit are still there. The soul has returned to the Father, but the spirit remains where the body has disintegrated; the tomb must be open for the heavenly body to come in and out from above (this action takes place in a twinkling of an eye). The Lord puts the heavenly body in the spot He wants, and that body joins with the saint’s spirit. How can the body get out of the tomb? The Lord has split the tomb open for the heavenly body to get out; the Lord has deposited the body down to be joined with the spirit, and after joining with the spirit, the heavenly body has substance and material like that of earth and that body comes out. When the judgment day comes, those who will resurrect at that time will join with the soul after being judged; the soul must be judged first. These saints came to appear to people, and they will be gone; a (heavenly) body without a soul cannot walk on earth. This was just to show to people that as the Lord departs, the dead rose, and humans could see the dead rising.
The comments on this verse raise further questions. Why do we say that the material is like that of the earth in the comment above? What happens to us when we die? The resurrected appearance has to be similar to the dead one; they just look alike, but they are not the same. All imperfections of the earthly body will not be reproduced in the heavenly body; everything that is imperfect is fixed, and those bodies will come out to meet people. When we die, our soul goes back to the Lord, the body goes back to dust, and the spirit stays inside the tomb in a different dimension of the tomb, waiting; tomb over the tomb. However, the spirits cannot come out to roam free; they stay in a different dimension waiting in order; note that there are different waiting places for the spirit and the soul of a person. Cemeteries are not places for the living to go and play around; the cemetery is used for different purposes in human life. You are still alive; why do you go there and fool around? So many go and bother the things that the living cannot understand; just leave where the dead die, leave it alone; no living need to do anything with the dead there. In terms of humans, we can say: do not disturb the peace of the resting. As the Bible tells, the dead can see the living but cannot cross back to be with or influence the living. Between dimensions, they cannot cross over; don't try to mix the truth with human talk; there have been make-beliefs about all sorts of false things.
53 and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection, they entered into the holy city and appeared to many.
These saints are the saints that have been buried; what is happening here is completely different than the end-time resurrection.
One challenging question here is: Why has the Lord allowed the resurrection of these saints at that time? These saints who resurrected here go to glorify the Lord Jesus before the completion of the closing time. That is why the Lord has created the parallel earth; these saints who were raised here will go on this parallel earth and are waiting there for the closing of the age.
“They entered into the holy city.” This city does not refer to the Jerusalem city of this earth. This city refers to the holy city of the parallel earth, which is called the earth upon earth in this commentary. Humans see it and want to go there, but not everyone can go.
“Appeared to many” means that the resurrected saints appeared for a short moment to many on this earth who had a chance to see the resurrected body of the saints and what it looked like. It looks similar to the human body, but the human eyes can notice it is not the same. It is different because those bodies will have something from the glory of God upon them; humans can notice that they look alike but are not the same (not the same flesh as human flesh have; See 1 Corinthians 15:35-44).
54 Now the centurion, and those with him watching Jesus, having seen the earthquake, and the things that were done, feared extremely, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.
This portion of Scripture has clearly stated that human eyes have seen the glory of God in human nature. In the position of crucifixion, yet the Lord Jesus’ glory cannot be hidden. All these soldiers have seen the One they have tortured before His last breath on earth and how He has shown the glory of God within Him coming out. Human eyes noticed the difference between the two criminals beside and the Holy One in the middle. The eyes can make a clear comparison between humans and the Holy One that has been tortured, and that is the centurion and those with him who said that “this was the Son of God.” Look at this verse: the ones that have had a part in torturing the Holy One of God have accepted the truth, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God”; it was not the saints who said this, but it was a soldier who said it.
55 And many women were there beholding from afar, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him,
These women came from many places to follow the Lord Jesus. They followed the Lord and provided for His needs; by their own will, they gave all they had. They have been faithful to the Lord. They left everything behind and followed the Lord; they just followed and provided, and they didn’t expect to get anything in return; all they had they gave to the Lord. Now, you don’t have to give money to the Lord; just give your heart to the Lord; your heart is the most important treasure to the Lord, and He is happy to receive it. Some of these women had money on their own, and some did get work as they followed to make their living. And the majority of what they made, they gave to the Lord; that is why their names are written here, to remember them.
56 among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.
These women did not follow because their children followed the Lord Jesus but because their own hearts wanted to follow; they followed their hearts in all of these.
The testimony of the unbelievers is presented here to demonstrate that the Lord Jesus is indeed the Son of God, and that His miracles were witnessed not only by His followers. The mention of the women in this passage encourages us to reflect on our own love and commitment to the Lord Jesus. As we read and meditate on this Scripture, we should ask ourselves: what is the true reason for following the Lord Jesus? Do we follow Him because we genuinely love Him with all our hearts, or do we do so merely because we seek assistance in navigating life and building earthly treasures? While the Lord will undoubtedly help us, we must prioritize our devotion to Him. We can all recall moments in our past when we feared for our future or our lives. In those times, we often cried out to the Lord for help, and the Lord, in His mercy, understands our weaknesses, and He welcomes us in our struggles and helps us. However, we must grow spiritually and dedicate our hearts to Him first, trusting that He walks with us daily. If we stay grounded in the Word of God, He will provide for all our spiritual and physical needs.
Conclusion
The Lord desires our hearts and wants us to love Him sincerely, from our hearts, not just because we need His help with our earthly lives. The Bible contains numerous verses that emphasize this desire. Below, we post some of these verses to support the need to love the Lord from our hearts.
Matthew 22:37: And He said to him, You shall love the Lord Thy God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.
Matthew 6:21: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
1 Samuel 16:7: But Jehovah said to Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have rejected him, for Jehovah sees not as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but Jehovah looks on the heart.
Jeremiah 29:13: And you shall seek Me, and find Me, when you shall search for Me with all your heart.
Psalm 37:4: Delight yourself also in Jehovah; And He will give you the desires of your heart.
Many more insights about giving our hearts to the Lord can be found in the Holy Word. The heart is the most essential part of our being that we can offer to the Lord. By giving our hearts to Him, we also give Him our love. We must stay close to the cross of the Lord Jesus; the cross of the Lord Jesus should be like the Garden of Eden for us, and we should never depart from it.
Meditation Tasks
- We invite all our readers to explore our blog article titled: “Teachings about the Cross of the Lord Jesus: Persecution, Betrayal, Trial, Suffering, Crucifixion, Death, and Burial.”
- 2. Let us sincerely praise the Lord and express from our hearts, “Lord Jesus, I love you. I believe in Your work on the cross for my salvation. I give my heart to You; come, my heart is Your temple.” May we make our hearts true temples for the Lord.