When the centurion, who was standing opposite him, saw the way Jesus breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” (Mark 15:39)
It’s Friday morning during the first week of April, in the year 30 or 33 AD. Hundreds of thousands are in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover holidays (Exod. 12, Deut. 16:1-8). The day before, Jesus celebrated the Seder feast with his twelve disciples, their families, and the owners of the house (Jn. 13-17). After a night of slogging from the Sanhedrin’s religious trial to Pilate’s hearing to Herod’s civil trial, it’s around 6:00am and Jesus is back to Pilate for a legal trial with his enemies (not random people) waiting in the courtyard. Over the following 8 hours Jesus comes into contact with dictators, demagogues, politicians, perjured witnesses, self-righteous ministers, terrified friends, deployed soldiers, immigrants, pilgrims, shepherds, slaves, freedom fighters, criminals, and grieving family. He’s surrounded by people with skewed perspectives and mixed motives, who want to consolidate power by using Jesus to either stir up or avoid trouble with the Roman occupiers, with the crowds, or with God (Mk. 3:6, Lk. 23:12). These people put Jesus through physical, mental, and emotional abuse, spiritual idolatry, political injustice, and imminent murder. All that on top of knowing – because Jesus is the representative for Humans – He is about to face a Divine trial seeking acknowledgment and justice for Humankind’s monstrous list of harms (Rom. 3:10-22; 1 Thess. 1:10). He is about to answer for Adam & Eve, for the people mistreating Him that day, for you – and everyone in between.
Jesus navigates the intrigues, drama, and suffering by speaking wisely, avoiding manipulation, and going to the heart of things when answering a person (Isa. 53:7, Matt. 10:16). At this point, God’s plan included submitting to this travesty instead of defending Himself. So he undergoes the farces, the beatings, the mockings, the crucifixion outside the city walls, the sundering from God’s Spirit, and finally physical death (Isa. 52:13-53:12), which comes quicker than usual. Cultural rules about the Sabbath mean he needs to be buried before dusk, so around 4:00pm Jesus and the two dead men beside him are taken down from the crosses. Joseph from Arimathea (& Nicodemus) claim his body for an honorable burial, and Mary mother of Joseph & Mary from Magdala go along to the mausoleum-cave, despite the chance that they all could be arrested for associating with a criminal.
In the Temple about a mile away, people are terrified by the 60-foot high, woven curtain tearing apart from top to bottom. More than the awesome physics, worshippers are frightened because the barrier to the Holiest Place is no longer there to protect them from dropping dead in God’s presence (Lev 16, Heb 10:19-23). However, they survived because God’s point was never to wipe out heinous, heart-breaking humans with the wrath we deserve (Joel 2:12-14, Jn. 3:16-17). We’re his family, so He wants to interrupt the unending contagion of sin with “hesed” – love so shocking that it purifies, remodels, animates, and connects us to Him (Ezek. 36:22-38, Rom. 5). But those who watched Jesus die don’t realize this yet….
(To understand more about the significance of Jesus as humankind’s mediator with God, read the book of Hebrews. If you have questions, reach out to us for a conversation and study recommendations. If you are in danger relationally, legally, or otherwise – reach out to us for help and resources.)