Good Morning All!
Matthew 28:51; “And behold,
the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth
shook, and the rocks were split.”
“I’m kind of a big deal you know!” It was all I could do to keep from laughing
out loud. A couple of years ago I was listening to my great nieces and nephews
play at Christmas time. They are mostly quite young. One of them wanted to play
the way he wanted and a different one wanted to do something else. The first
one wondered why the second one got to decide what they were going to do. The
response, “Well, I’m kind of a big deal you know!”
When you are “kind of a big deal,” you tend
to think that the world revolves around you. When the one who says this is two
or so, it is funny. When the one that says this is 22 or 32, it is more troublesome.
Yet as we look at the events of our lives or the people of our lives there are
times when it was “kind of a big deal” to us. When I finally convinced the girl
of my dreams that I would try and be a good spouse and she agreed, it was kind
of a big deal. When each of our boys was born, it was kind of a big deal. When
each grandchild came into this world, it was a big deal. Marriages, births, and
deaths are kind of big deals in our lives.
So are health issues, job changes, graduations, empty nests, retirement,
and the like are kind of big deals.
Our verse is from Matthew’s account of
Jesus’ death. The moment he died, the curtain torn in two from top to bottom
and the earth shook and the rocks split. That would have been kind of a big
deal. Not only did this happen but graves opened up and many saints were
seen. The death of Jesus was kind of a
big deal. It changed mankind’s direction. For those of us who are the redeemed
children of God, this event brought an end to the devil’s tyranny. This event
took us out of the spiral of sin and lifted us into Christ’s resurrection. This
event paid our debt, a debt that we could never pay and put us righteous before
God.
The Temple curtain tore, top to bottom,
shoeing that God had destroyed the veil between us and opening up the path for
us to come to him directly as a loving child comes to his loving father. The earth shook and the rocks split; even
creation knew that this was a big deal. Christ took on mankind’s sin and paid
for it all. More importantly, Jesus took on your sins and mine. We are part of
this great blessing, this wonderful gift from God; it is kind of a big deal. We
have the promise of the Creator-Redeemer God that we will have eternal life
with him. This promise is renewed each day to us. It is given so that we may
not despair or live in fear but rather live in hope with the sure knowledge of
our salvation. That is kind of a big deal.
Dear Father, your
mercies are new to us every day. We give you thanks for the blessings of this
life especially for giving us the hope of salvation in Jesus. Be with those who
are in most need of your grace. In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.
God’s Peace,
Pastor Bret
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