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Daily Devotionals
Day by Day Devotional - Year 3 of 5
Matthew 27:50-66
The work of atonement is completed; the victory is secured. It is with a mighty shout of triumph that Christ enters into death. God also gives other proofs of this victory: He rends the veil of the temple, consecrating "a new and living way" by which man will henceforth be able to enter into His presence with perfect liberty (Hebrews 10:19-21). He opens the graves, and vanquished death must yield up some of its captives.
Then God sees to the honour of His Son. In accordance with prophecy, the Lord Jesus occupies the tomb of a rich man who, in pious concern, has attended to His burial (Isaiah 53:9). Some women, whose devotion is recalled, are present during the whole of this scene. Love buries the One whom hate has crucified. From the beginning to the end of this gospel this hatred by man has pursued its relentless course against the Lord Jesus. While yet in His cradle, this hatred was seen in Herod. It pursued Him even to the tomb, which the Jewish leaders took pains to guard and seal. But the soldiers, the seal, the stone are useless precautions; they only serve to demonstrate in the most striking way the reality of the resurrection.
There is a sad detail here: the enemies of the Lord remember something which His own disciples have forgotten! (v. 63).
