Welcome to the “But first, Bible” daily devotional podcast with Dave Miers.
Our readings for today are Leviticus 18-19 and Matthew 27:32-66.
Today we will reflect upon the moment that the whole of Matthew’s gospel has been leading up to: the death of Jesus on the cross.
We will focus on a few verses from Matthew 27, but we will also refer back to yesterday’s Leviticus 16 reading to show how the Day of Atonement is a shadow of the events that are to come in Jesus’ death on the cross.
Let me begin by reading from Matthew 27:45–46,
[45] Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. [46] And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (ESV)
Darkness over the land at midday is not normal. Something supernatural was taking place. In the Bible light is a symbol of God’s blessing and darkness is a symbol of God’s judgement. The darkness that descends is a physical picture of the spiritual reality that is taking place at the cross. Jesus quotes Psalm 22 saying, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
God is acting in judgement and Jesus is being forsaken. What does that mean? This is an emphasis not just on the physical pain of crucifixion – verse 35 simply says ’they had crucified him’, but on the spiritual pain of THIS crucifixion. We’ve already seen back in Matthew 26 when Jesus prayed in Gethsemane that his soul was sorrowful even to death at the contemplation of drinking the cup of God’s wrath at the cross.
Continue reading “Feb 14 – Leviticus 18-19; Matthew 27:32-66 – THE DEATH OF JESUS”
