The Crucifixion of Jesus, Part 5

Jim ButlerMatthew 27:51–56

The death of Christ on the cross was not a bare historical event but a theologically charged act that immediately reshaped the covenant order between God and man. This sermon expounds Matthew 27:51–56, examining the three signs that followed the crucifixion — the torn temple veil, the earthquake and split rocks, and the resurrection of the saints — as divine testimony to the efficacy of Christ's atoning work and the inauguration of the New Covenant. The witnesses to that death, both the confessing Roman soldiers and the faithful women who had followed Jesus from Galilee, confirm that the one crucified is truly the Son of God. Believers are called to rest in Christ's completed atonement, which has opened access to the Holy of Holies for all who come through him, and to look forward to the bodily resurrection he has secured for his people.