Not everyone was filled with wonder and worship at the news that Jesus had risen from the dead. People aligned in two distinct groups during the first moments after the Resurrection—those who believed and those who did not. The divisions continued in the days and years ahead down to our generation.
The Resurrection created an epic crisis for one specific elite class of citizens—the Pharisees, elders, and chief priests. The life they’d carefully built and curated was dramatically interrupted, disturbing them to their core.
They had spent much of the previous three years trying to discredit and trap Jesus so they could get rid of Him. Once He was on the cross that Good Friday morning, they were finally relieved, satisfied that they had successfully eliminated the threat He posed to their way of life. Happily, I imagine, they returned to their duties performing Passover sacrifices in the temple now that the nuisance Jesus was gone.
Beginning at the third hour, or about 9 a.m., and continuing most of the day the priests were preoccupied with the messy work of killing lambs for the annual Passover sacrifice. One lamb brought to the temple per family meant multiple thousands of bleating, bloody animals butchered to atone for endless sins.
But this year, to the shock and horror of every priest in the holy place, the messy lamb killing in the temple on Passover was dramatically interrupted as invisible hands tore the massive temple curtain in half. The thunderous ripping sound echoed from every wall and revealed the never-before-seen Holy of Holies, the most holy room in the Temple entered only once a year by the High Priest.
It happened at precisely three o’clock in the afternoon, precisely when Jesus breathed His last ... precisely when the trumpet sounded signifying the end of the days’ sacrifices.
But I wonder.
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