diff --git a/content/bible_journal/luke_23:44-49.md b/content/bible_journal/luke_23:44-49.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..936af6b --- /dev/null +++ b/content/bible_journal/luke_23:44-49.md @@ -0,0 +1,44 @@ ++++ +title = "Luke 23:44–49" +date = "2023-02-20" ++++ + +### [Read the passage.](https://biblia.com/bible/esv/Lk23.44-49) + +The death of Jesus is accompanied by several supernatural signs, and Luke +doesn't tell us all of them that happened. The first is darkness from noon to +about 3 P.M. (Before you think "Eclipse!" like I did, know that Passover +happens during the full moon, and solar eclipses during the new moon.) The +second is the tearing of th e curtain in the temple. This curtain separated the +Holy Place in the temple from the Holy of Holies and would have been anywhere +from 10 to 30 feet tall. It was also thick enough that no one could see through +it. And yet, when Jesus died, it was torn completely in two from top to bottom. +Luke doesn't tell us about the earthquake or the saints rising from the dead on +Sunday, but they also heralded the death (and soon-to-be resurrection) of +Jesus. + +The fact that Jesus is able to call out with a loud voice right before He dies +is also something outside the natural order of things. Crucifixion is a death +by asphyxiation wherein the victim becomes too exhausted to take a breath. With +the arms stretched out, the diaphram can't pull in enough air unless the legs +are standing on the nail driven through the feet. But this a very painful +position, so one is constantly struggling between needing to breathe and +relieving what pain you can. The other two criminals had their legs broken so +their deaths would be hurried along before the Sabbath started. They wouldn't +have been able to support their chests in order to breathe after that. But +after three hours of torture, after being too weak to carry His cross up the +hill, Jesus is able to speak loudly, and then chooses to stop breathing +entirely. + +The centurion in charge of these executions was very experienced with executing +criminals this way, and he noticed that Jesus's death was not how it went, +ever. He recognized God's hand in the supernatural events going on around him. +The people who had come to see the specatacle of a public execution were also +disturbed and grieved by what they saw. Interesting, then, that we don't get +any reactions from Jesus's followers when they see their Teacher perish. They +merely bear witness. + +* * * + +Even in death, You are glorified. And Your victory over the grave proves Your +majesty.