The Red-Letter Words of Yeshua ~ Part 177
The Crucifixion of Yeshua ~ Part 3
In our last post, we concluded Yeshua’s Trial Before Pilate. We continue to explore Yeshua’s Crucifixion in this post.
In our last post, Yeshua cried out loudly, “Father! Into your hands, I commit My spirit.” With these words, He gave up His spirit. [1] And, letting His head droop, He delivered up his spirit. [2]
The events that immediately followed are what we will explore in this post.
Miraculous Events
51 At that moment, the parokhet in the Temple was ripped in two from top to bottom; and there was an earthquake, with rocks splitting apart. 52 Also, the graves were opened, and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life; 53 and after Yeshua rose, they came out of the graves and went into the holy city, where many people saw them. [3]
The parokhet in the Temple. Exodus 26:31–35 describes this curtain as it existed in the desert Tabernacle. It separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. Only the Cohen HaGadol was allowed to pass through it into the Holy of Holies, and he could do only once a year, on Yom-Kippur, to make an atonement sacrifice for his sins and the sins of the Jewish people. When it was ripped in two from top to bottom, it symbolized that God was giving everyone access to heaven’s holiest place, as taught explicitly in Messianic Jews 9:3–9, 10:19–22.
It is safe to assume the parokhet was nearly 60 feet high. An early Jewish tradition says it was about four inches thick, but the Bible does not confirm that measurement. The book of Exodus teaches that this thick veil was fashioned from blue, purple, and scarlet material and fine twisted linen. [4] Can you imagine any human being capable of tearing that curtain apart by hand?
People Were Struck with Awe
54 When the Roman officer and those with him who were keeping watch over Yeshua saw the earthquake and what was happening, they were awestruck and said, “He really was a son of God.” [5] I have always wondered if this was the same centurion with whom Kefa shared the Gospel within Acts 10.
40 There were women looking on from a distance; among them were Miryam from Magdala, Miryam, the mother of the younger Ya’akov and of Yosi (Jose), and Shlomit (Salome). 41 These women had followed Him and helped Him when He was in the Galil. And many other women were there who had come up with Him to Yerushalayim. [6]
48 And when all the crowds that had gathered to watch the spectacle saw the things that had occurred, they returned home beating their breasts. 49 All His friends, including the women who had accompanied Him from the Galil, had been standing at a distance; they saw it all. [7]
Beating their breasts could be a sign of grief, though, in Luke 18:13, it appears to reflect repentance before the Lord. Significantly, the women talmidim from Galil, who had generously supported Yeshua’s ministry financially, are spotlighted among those watching Him die on the cross. They stuck with Him even after the male talmidim abandoned Him.
Yeshua Is Pierced
31 It was Preparation Day, and the Judeans did not want the bodies to remain on the stake on Shabbat since it was an especially important Shabbat. So, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies removed. 32 The soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man who had been put on a stake beside Yeshua, then the legs of the other one; 33 but when they got to Yeshua and saw that he was already dead, they didn’t break his legs. 34 However, one of the soldiers stabbed his side with a spear, and at once blood and water flowed out. 35 The man who saw it has testified about it, and his testimony is true. And he knows that he tells the truth, so you too can trust. 36 For these things happened in order to fulfill this passage of the Tanakh:
“Not one of His bones will be broken.”
37 And again, another passage says,
“They will look at Him whom they have pierced.” [8]
Preparation Day. The day before a Shabbat or festival when food is cooked and other preparations made since no work is to be done on the holy day itself. This Preparation Day was also the first day of Pesach (see Yochanan 18:28). But may one cook for Shabbat on a festival day? Yes, the halakhah (Talmudic law) requires an ‘eruv tavshilin, a special agreement allowing cooking for Shabbat on the festival day, provided it commenced before the festival began.
The Judeans did not want the bodies to remain on the stake after nightfall because of Deuteronomy 21:22–23.
The man who saw it... Either Yochanan is writing of himself in the third person, or friends are affirming his honesty, as at 21:24. The purpose of reporting that Yeshua did die is the same as the purpose of the whole Gospel (20:31) – so that we too can trust.
Exodus 12:46 specifies that no bone of the Pesach lamb is to be broken; Numbers 9:12 says the same thing. Yeshua is the Lamb of God (Yochanan 1:29, 36), our Pesach Lamb (1 Corinthians 5:8). Psalm 34:20 says: “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but Adonai delivers him out of them all. He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken.”
Yochanan quotes an essential Messianic prophecy in which Adonai says:
“I will pour out upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplication, and they will look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only son, and they will be in bitterness over Him as one that is in bitterness for a firstborn.” (Zechariah 12:10) [9]
In our next post, we will explore the Burial of Yeshua.
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[1] Luke 23:46.
[2] Yochanan 19:30b.
[3] Mattityahu 27:51–53.
[4] Got Questions.org
[5] Mattityahu 27:54.
[6] Mark 15:40–41.
[7] Luke 23:48–49.
[8] Yochanan 19:36–37.
[9] David H. Stern, Jewish New Testament Commentary
My Heart is for Israel 