It was noon, and darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. The light from the sun was gone. And suddenly, the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn down the middle. Then Jesus shouted, “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!” And with those words he breathed his last.

When the Roman officer overseeing the execution saw what had happened, he worshiped God and said, “Surely this man was innocent.” And when all the crowd that came to see the crucifixion saw what had happened, they went home in deep sorrow. But Jesus’ friends, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance watching.

Now there was a good and righteous man named Joseph. He was a member of the Jewish high council, but he had not agreed with the decision and actions of the other religious leaders. He was from the town of Arimathea in Judea, and he was waiting for the Kingdom of God to come. He went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. Then he took the body down from the cross and wrapped it in a long sheet of linen cloth and laid it in a new tomb that had been carved out of rock. This was done late on Friday afternoon, the day of preparation, as the Sabbath was about to begin. (Luke 23:44–54)

Luke, along with Matthew, report that the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn down the middle just as Jesus died. That curtain in the sanctuary was what separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place, where the High Priest went only once a year to make atonement for the sins of the entire nation of Israel on the most holy day of the year, the Day of Atonement. “Atonement” is a word used to translate the Hebrew word “Kippur” which means to “cover” or to “purify.” By atonement, was meant the reconciliation of human beings with God: the replacement of punishment with forgiveness, the restoration of a relationship that had been broken.With Jesus’ death, the barrier that had stood between God and the human race, symbolized by that curtain, was finally torn down. Thanks to Jesus ultimate sacrifice, humanity and God were reconciled and the power of the Devil was once and for all destroyed.

Jesus passed from life to death and back to life again, showing us that the way past the end of our lives is safe, because the Father stands there waiting to catch us. He will not abandon us to the grave, but will instead bring us to our resurrection.

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