45 (Mark 15:33; Luke 23:44). In Sympathy and Confirmation—The darkness upon the face of nature expressed her sympathy with Christ in His expiring agony. It evidenced to humanity that the Sun of Righteousness, the Light of the world, was withdrawing His beams from the once favored city of Jerusalem, and from the world. It was a miraculous testimony given of God, that the faith of after generations might be confirmed (The Spirit of Prophecy 3:167).
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God and Angels Clothed in Darkness—The dark cloud of human transgression came between the Father and the Son. The interruption of the communion between God and His Son caused a condition of things in the heavenly courts which cannot be described by human language. Nature could not witness such a scene as Christ dying in agony while bearing the penalty of man′s transgression. God and the angels clothed themselves with darkness, and hid the Saviour from the gaze of the curious multitude while He drank the last dregs of the cup of God′s wrath (Letter 139, 1898).
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45, 46 (verse 54; Mark 15:33, 34, 39; Luke 23:46, 47; John 19:30). Circumstances Sowed Seed—The conviction forced upon many at the time of Christ′s trial, at the time when the three hours′ darkness enshrouded the cross, without any natural cause for it, and when the last sentences were uttered, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”(Psalm 22:1; Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34) “It is finished,”(John 19:30) “Into thy hands I commend my spirit,”(Luke 23:46) was seed sown that ripened into harvest when at a future date the gospel was boldly proclaimed by His disciples. The shaking earth, the piercing cry, the sudden death which called forth in no whispered tones the cry, “It is finished,”(John 19:30) forced from many the words, “Assuredly this man was righteous”(Luke 23:47); “Truly this was the Son of God.”Matthew 27:54. Many who had scoffed and jeered at, and taunted the Son of God were terribly afraid that the shaking earth, the rent and trembling rocks would put an end to their own lives. They hastened away from the scene, beating upon their breasts, stumbling, falling, in awful terror lest the earth should open and swallow them up. The veil of the temple rent so mysteriously, changed the religious ideas of many of the Jewish priests, and a large company changed their faith. After the day of Pentecost, we read that “the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith. And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people”(Acts 6:7, 8)(Manuscript 91, 1897).
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Father Suffered With Son—In the scenes that transpired in the judgment hall and at Calvary, we see what the human heart is capable of when under the influence of Satan. Christ submitted to crucifixion, although the heavenly host could have delivered Him. The angels suffered with Christ. God Himself was crucified with Christ; for Christ was one with the Father. Those who reject Christ, those who will not have this man to rule over them, choose to place themselves under the rule of Satan, to do his work as his bondslaves. Yet for them Christ yielded up His life on Calvary (BE August 6, 1894).
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50 (Mark 15:37; Luke 23:46; John 19:30; Hebrews 2:14). Satan Overcome by Christ′s Human Nature—When Christ bowed His head and died, He bore the pillars of Satan′s kingdom with Him to the earth. He vanquished Satan in the same nature over which in Eden Satan obtained the victory. The enemy was overcome by Christ in His human nature. The power of the Saviour′s Godhead was hidden. He overcame in human nature, relying upon God for power. This is the privilege of all. In proportion to our faith will be our victory (The Youth′s Instructor, April 25, 1901).
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51 (Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45; Ephesians 2:14, 15; Colossians 2:14; Hebrews 10:19, 20; See EGW comment on John 19:30). The Mercy Seat Opened to All—Christ was nailed to the cross between the third and sixth hour, that is, between nine and twelve o′clock. In the afternoon He died. This was the hour of the evening sacrifice. Then the veil of the temple, that which hid God′s glory from the view of the congregation of Israel, was rent in twain from top to bottom.
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Through Christ the hidden glory of the holy of holies was to stand revealed. He had suffered death for every man, and by this offering the sons of men were to become the sons of God. With open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, believers in Christ were to be changed into the same image, from glory to glory. The mercy seat, upon which the glory of God rested in the holiest of all, is opened to all who accept Christ as the propitiation for sin, and through its medium, they are brought into fellowship with God. The veil is rent, the partition walls broken down, the handwriting of ordinances canceled. By virtue of His blood the enmity is abolished. Through faith in Christ Jew and Gentile may partake of the living bread (Letter 230, 1907).
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(Matthew 26:65; Daniel 5:5, 25-28; Hebrews 10:19, 20.) Israel a Nation Unchurched—In Christ the shadow reached its substance, the type its antitype. Well might Caiaphas rend his clothes in horror for himself and for the nation; for they were separating themselves from God, and were fast becoming a people unchurched by Jehovah. Surely the candlestick was being removed out of its place.
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It was not the hand of the priest that rent from top to bottom the gorgeous veil that divided the holy from the most holy place. It was the hand of God. When Christ cried out, “It is finished,”(John 19:30) the Holy Watcher that was an unseen guest at Belshazzar′s feast pronounced the Jewish nation to be a nation unchurched. The same hand that traced on the wall the characters that recorded Belshazzar′s doom and the end of the Babylonian kingdom, rent the veil of the temple from top to bottom, opening a new and living way for all, high and low, rich and poor, Jew and Gentile. From henceforth people might come to God without priest or ruler (Manuscript 101, 1897).
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(Hebrews 6:19; 8:6, 7; Hebrews 10:19, 20.) God′s Presence Withdrawn From Earthly Sanctuary—By the rending of the veil of the temple, God said, “I can no longer reveal My presence in the most holy place”. A new and living Way, before which there hangs no veil, is offered to all. No longer need sinful, sorrowing humanity await the coming of the high priest.
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Type had met antitype in the death of God′s Son. The Lamb of God had been offered as a sacrifice. It was as if a voice had said to the worshipers, “There is now an end to all sacrifices and offerings” (The Youth′s Instructor, June 21, 1900).
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A New Way Opened to Fallen Man—When Christ on the cross cried out, “It is finished,”(John 19:30) the veil of the temple was rent in twain. This veil was significant to the Jewish nation. It was of most costly material, of purple and gold, and was of great length and breadth. At the moment when Christ breathed His last, there were witnesses in the temple who beheld the strong, heavy material rent by unseen hands from top to bottom. This act signified to the heavenly universe, and to a world corrupted by sin, that a new and living way had been opened to the fallen race, that all sacrificial offerings terminated in the one great offering of the Son of God. He who had hitherto dwelt in the temple made with hands, had gone forth never again to grace it with His presence (The Signs of the Times, December 8, 1898).
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52, 53 (see EGW comment on Matthew 28:2-4). Resurrection Known to Priests and Rulers—The captives brought up from the graves at the time of the resurrection of Jesus were His trophies as a conquering Prince. Thus He attested His victory over death and the grave; thus He gave a pledge and an earnest of the resurrection of all the righteous dead. Those who were called from their graves went into the city, and appeared unto many in their resurrected forms, and testified that Jesus had indeed risen from the dead, and that they had risen with Him....
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It was well known to the priests and rulers that certain persons who were dead had risen at the resurrection of Jesus. Authentic reports were brought to them of different ones who had seen and conversed with these resurrected ones, and heard their testimony that Jesus, the Prince of life, whom the priests and rulers had slain, was risen from the dead (The Spirit of Prophecy 3:223).
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