Matthew 27:51

SIGNS AND CIRCUMSTANCES FOLLOWING THE DEATH OF THE LORD JESUS--HE IS TAKEN DOWN FROM THE CROSS, AND BURIED--THE SEPULCHRE IS GUARDED. ( = Mar 15:38-47; Luk 23:47-56; Joh 19:31-42). (Mat. 27:51-66)

And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom--This was the thick and gorgeously wrought veil which was hung between the "holy place" and the "holiest of all," shutting out all access to the presence of God as manifested "from above the mercy seat and from between the cherubim"--"the Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest" (Heb 9:8). Into this holiest of all none might enter, not even the high priest, save once a year, on the great day of atonement, and then only with the blood of atonement in his hands, which he sprinkled "upon and before the mercy seat seven times" (Lev 16:14) --to signify that access for sinners to a holy God is only through atoning blood. But as they had only the blood of bulls and of goats, which could not take away sins (Heb 10:4), during all the long ages that preceded the death of Christ the thick veil remained; the blood of bulls and of goats continued to be shed and sprinkled; and once a year access to God through an atoning sacrifice was vouchsafed--in a picture, or rather, was dramatically represented, in those symbolical actions--nothing more. But now, the one atoning Sacrifice being provided in the precious blood of Christ, access to this holy God could no longer be denied; and so the moment the Victim expired on the altar, that thick veil which for so many ages had been the dread symbol of separation between God and guilty men was, without a hand touching it, mysteriously "rent in twain from top to bottom"--"the Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was NOW made manifest!" How emphatic the statement, from top to bottom; as if to say, Come boldly now to the Throne of Grace; the veil is clean gone; the mercy seat stands open to the gaze of sinners, and the way to it is sprinkled with the blood of Him--"who through the eternal Spirit hath offered Himself without spot to God!" Before, it was death to go in, now it is death to stay out. See more on this glorious subject on Heb 10:19-22.

An Earthquake--The Rocks Rent--The Graves Opened, that the Saints Which Slept in Them Might Come Forth after Their Lord's Resurrection (Mat 27:51-53).

and the earth did quake--From what follows it would seem that this earthquake was local, having for its object the rending of the rocks and the opening of the graves.

and the rocks rent--"were rent"--the physical creation thus sublimely proclaiming, at the bidding of its Maker, the concussion which at that moment was taking place in the moral world at the most critical moment of its history. Extraordinary rents and fissures have been observed in the rocks near this spot.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Mat_27:51

And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain.

The rent veil

I. The event as literally recorded.

II. The event in its spiritual significancy. What did the veil represent? The human nature of Christ, which was now suffering for sin. The veil of sin which separated between God and us. The abolition of Jewish ordinances. The removal of all distinctions between the Jewish and Gentile nations.

III. The effects it should produce upon us. Reverence for the person and work of Christ. Confidence in His offering. How to present all our services to God. The necessity of the veil of sin being removed from our hearts. That the veil of our mortal flesh must be rent before we can enter the holiest of all. (J. Burns, D. D.)

The rent veil

I. The intimations conveyed thereby.

1. That the ceremonial dispensation was now abolished. Into the holy place none were permitted to enter but the high priest alone, and he but once a year, and only then with the blood of the annual atonement. But now it is exposed to public view. The design of its institution having been accomplished, God Himself has thrown it open, thereby intimating that it is of no further use, but that another way of propitiating Him is established.

2. That the barrier between Jew and Gentile is thrown down. The offerings presented in the holy place were for the Jewish people only. But now an atonement has been made for the whole world.

3. That the way to the holiest of all is opened. The way into the holy place was with the blood and incense; the way to heaven is through the blood and intercession of Christ, who has not only abolished separation, but brought life and immortality to light. The mists which hung over the future have been dissipated by the rising of the sun of righteousness, who has shed life, fertility, and beauty over the entire prospect.

II. The encouragement afforded thereby. In the rending of the veil we have exhibited-

1. The gracious designs of God concerning us. He would have us no longer to be on the outside of the temple, , far off from Him. He would have us freed from all the evils of separation; He would have us enjoy all the pleasures that are at His right hand for evermore. This event ought to teach us-

2. Frequently to approach within the veil. There is nothing to hinder our approach; we are not confined to stated periods; the more frequently we come the more welcome we shall be.

3. Let us place all our confidence within the veil. Let us have the anchor of our hope there, sure and steadfast; thither the Forerunner has entered. (Pulpit Outlines.)

The rending of the veil

I. As A miracle attesting the divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ.

II. As A Symbol of the putting away of the levitical dispensation.

1. There were many things about this veil which made it a very exquisite and beautiful type of the religion then existing. It was beautiful for appearance. Was there ever a system of worship that was more beautiful, more awe-inspiring, or more touching? On the outside of the veil there were pictured the things which really existed inside.

2. While the veil was very suggestive it was yet very obscure-it was one through which the glory streamed, and which, by and by, was to be broken down. This rending of the veil was, on the part of God, the glorious amen which the Father gave to the life of Christ.

III. As setting forth some of the great objects and results of the atonement.

1. It set forth the body of Christ, as the Apostle Paul tells us.

2. It gave men the truth about the old Levitical dispensation. It finished it, but did not abrogate it.

3. It is through the rent veil that a way was opened into the holy of holies. You can only get to the mercy-seat through the rent veil. It is through the rent veil that the Holy Spirit descends. The way is open to everybody. In the old dispensation only the high priest could go into the holiest once a year, and in a particular manner. Blessed be God, it is not so now! There is no veil now-nothing to keep you away. If there is a veil, you weave it with your own hands; it is in your own hearts. (S. Coley.)

Christ the only way to the Father

Theodore Parker, in one of his books, so flashingly bright with genius, but so awfully dark with infidelity, daringly asks why we cannot go ourselves before the All-Father, and speak to Him for ourselves, without talking by attorney, and whining about our Brothers name! Ah, he has made a great mistake. No, no; you can never get into that holiest place but through the rent veil, and you will be shut out for ever if you try to go in any other way. It is through Christ, and through Christ alone, that we can get access to the Father. I am glad to leave my case with Jesus. I am glad to go to the Father through my Saviour, and to use His name, which is ever fragrant with merit; but if any man shall go without that name, and should choose to stand OH the ground of bare justice, he will get justice, and he will not get any mercy. (S. Coley.)

The Divinity of Judaism

I should like you to notice that the very way in which God put away Hebraism, at the same time marked its Divinity. Supposing an Act of Parliament were passed in this year of the reign of Queen Victoria to repeal a law that was made in the time of Charles I.

do you not see that the very Act which would repeal the law would acknowledge that it was a law? for Parliament never repeals that which is not law, but the very form of repeal is itself an endorsement. So when God by a miracle repealed Hebraism, it was as if He had said that up to that moment it had been Divine. Thus, you see, in this way Christianity linksion with Judaism, and you are not to think that the New Testament throws any slur or slight upon the old dispensation. In fact, I should think that the Jews would have been quite right in keeping on their services if it had not been that God, by miracles, had put them away; for it was by miracle that He had instituted them, and it wanted the same authority to repeal as it did to enact. (S. Coley.)

The veil rent in twain

I. The event recorded. It meant broadly the end of the age of shadows: the end of the childhoods stage in mans education.

II. The special relation of the rending of the wit, to the event which it illustrated. The deep meaning is that it was rent at the crucifixion: it fixes our thoughts upon that death as the end of the incarnate life.

III. The light which this sign forecasts on the experience, the history, and the destiny of mankind

1. It proclaims that man as man has access to the heavenly temple.

2. That the powers of the world to come have entered into and possessed man and his world. The human is not an outer dependency but an inner province of the heavenly kingdom.

3. The final overthrow and abolition of death. The angel of death advances through the veil to meet us, to repay our tears with glories. (J. B. Brown, B. A.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat 27:51. And behold — Immediately upon his death, while the sun was still darkened; the veil of the temple — The inner veil which divided the holy from the most holy place; though made of the richest and strongest tapestry; was rent in two from the top to the bottom: so while the priest was ministering at the golden altar, (it being the time of the evening sacrifice,) the sacred oracle, by an invisible power, was laid open to full view: God thereby signifying the speedy removal of the Jewish ceremonies, the abolition of the Mosaic dispensation, the breaking down the partition- wall between Jews and Gentiles, who were both to be now admitted to equal privileges, and the opening a way, through the veil of Christ’s flesh, for all believers into the most holy place. And the earth did quake — There was a general earthquake, probably through the whole globe, though chiefly at and near Jerusalem: God testifying thereby his wrath against the Jewish nation, for the horrid impiety they were committing. And the rocks rent — Mr. Fleming (Christology, vol. 2. pp. 97, 98) informs us, that a Deist, lately travelling through Palestine, was converted by viewing one of these rocks. For when he came to examine the clefts of it narrowly and critically, he was convinced that the rent had been made in a supernatural manner, as he acknowledged to his fellow-travellers, saying, I have long been a student of nature and the mathematics, and I am sure these rents in this rock were not made by a natural, or ordinary earthquake; for by such a concussion the rock must have split according to the veins, and where it was weakest in the adhesion of its parts; for this I have observed to have been done in other rocks, when separated or broken by an earthquake, and reason tells me, it must always be so. But it is quite otherwise here, for the rock is split athwart and cross the veins in a most strange and preternatural manner. This, therefore, I plainly see to be the effect of a real miracle, which neither nature nor art could have effected. Sandys (Trav., p. 264) has given an accurate description and delineation of this fissure; and Mr. Maundrell (in his Journey from Aleppo, p. 73, 74) tells us, that it is about a span wide at the upper part, and two spans deep; after which it closes, but opens again below, and runs down to an unknown depth in the earth.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

§ 142. — THREEFOLD EFFECTS OF THE DEATH OF JESUS, Mat_27:51-54.

The temple vail rent in twain, the earthquake, and the resurrection of saints.

When our Lord proclaimed the atonement finished, the stroke of his power smote three realms; the realm of grace, of nature, and of death. In the first, the temple’s vail was rent, indicatively of the departure of the old dispensation and its nullity at the approach of the new. In the second, the earth was rent, indicating that the same power would destroy and renew again the face of nature. In the third, the dead rose from their open graves, indicating that the dominion of the destroyer should be destroyed, and the human race be raised from his power to a complete resurrection.

51. The vail of the temple — The interior of the temple was an extended oblong room, divided into two apartments by a large curtain. The front one of these apartments was called the Holy Place; and the further one, concealed by a second curtain or vail, was called the Holy of Holies. Into the Holy of Holies none entered but the high priest; and he but once a year, on the great day of atonement. Vailed in this Holy of Holies, the divine presence was supposed to dwell. When the temple’s vail was rent from top to bottom, it was declared in fact that God no longer dwelt there. There was nothing to conceal. It was but an ordinary room, and the vail was but a rent cloth. It was also shown that the separation was removed; and that Judaism and Gentilism were no longer two, but one in a universal Christianity, an irrespective and impartial Gospel. Judaism is now dead. From the top to the bottom — The vail or curtain was some sixty feet long; and it was impossible for it to be thus rent, as some have imagined, by the force of the earthquake. And the earth did quake, and the rocks rent — Those who maintain that this earthquake was a mere natural coincidence, might as well go farther and say that the resurrection that followed was also in some way natural. It is indeed very unnatural to say that the darkness, the rending of the vail, the earthquake, and the resurrection, were natural. They are plainly all narrated by the evangelist as supernatural attendants of the transactions of the cross.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Matthew

THE VEIL RENT

Mat 27:51.

As I suppose we are all aware, the Jewish Temple was divided into three parts: the Outer Court, open to all; the Holy Place, to which the ministering priests had daily access to burn incense and trim the lamps; and the Holy of Holies, where only the High Priest was permitted to go, and that but once a year, on the great Day of Atonement. For the other three hundred and sixty-four days the shrine lay silent, untrodden, dark. Between it and the less sacred Holy Place hung the veil, whose heavy folds only one man was permitted to lift or to pass. To all others it was death to peer into the mysteries, and even to him, had he gone at another time, and without the blood of the sacrifice, death would have ensued.

If we remember all this and try to cast ourselves back in imagination to the mental attitude of the ordinary Jew, the incident of my text receives its true interpretation. At the moment when the loud cry of the dying Christ rung over the heads of the awestruck multitude, that veil was, as it were, laid hold of by a pair of giant hands and torn asunder, as the Evangelist says, ‘from the top to the bottom.’ The incident was a symbol. In one aspect it proclaimed the end of the long years of Israel’s prerogative. In another it ushered in an epoch of new relations between man and God. If Jesus Christ was what He said He was, if His death was what He declared it to be, it was fitting that it should be attended by a train of subordinate and interpreting wonders. These were, besides that of my text, the darkened sun, the trembling earth, the shivered rocks, the open graves, the rising saints-all of them, in their several ways, illuminating the significance of that death on Calvary.

Not less significant is this symbol of my text, and I desire now to draw your attention to its meanings.

I. The rent veil proclaims the desecrated temple.

There is a striking old legend, preserved by the somewhat mendacious historian of the Jewish people, that, before Jerusalem fell, the anxious watchers heard from within the sanctuary a great voice saying, ‘Let us depart hence!’ and through the night were conscious of the winnowing of the mighty wings of the withdrawing cherubim. And soon a Roman soldier tossed a brand into the most Holy Place, and the ‘beautiful house where their fathers praised was burned with fire.’ The legend is pathetic and significant. But that ‘departing’ had taken place forty years before; and at the moment when Jesus ‘gave up the ghost,’ purged eyes might have seen the long trail of brightness as the winged servitors of the Most High withdrew from the desecrated shrine. The veil rent declared that the sacred soil within it was now common as any foot of earth in Galilee; and its rending, so to speak, made way for a departing God.

That conception, that the death of Christ Jesus was the de-consecration-if I may coin a word-of the Temple, and the end of all its special sanctity, and that thenceforward the Presence had departed from it, is distinctly enough taught us by Himself in words which move in the same circle of ideas as that in which the symbol resides. . .. You remember, no doubt, that, if we accept the testimony of John’s Gospel, at the very beginning of our Lord’s ministry He vindicated His authority to cleanse the sanctuary against the cavils of the sticklers for propriety by the enigmatical words, ‘Destroy this Temple, and in three days I will build it up,’ to which the Evangelist appends the comment, ‘He spake of the Temple of His body,’ that body in which ‘all the fulness of the Godhead’ dwelt, and which was, and is to-day, all that the Temple shadowed and foretold, the dwelling-place of God in humanity, the place of sacrifice, the meeting-place between God and man. But just because our Lord in these dark words predicted His death and His resurrection, He also hinted the destruction of the literal stone and lime building, and its rearing again in nobler and more spiritual form. When He said, ‘Destroy this Temple,’ He implied, secondarily, the destruction of the house in which He stood, and laid that destruction, whensoever it should come to pass, at their doors. And, inasmuch as the saying in its deepest depth meant His death by their violence and craft, therefore, in that early saying of His, was wrapped up the very same truth which was symbolised by the rent veil, and was bitterly fulfilled at last. When they slew Christ they killed the system under which they lived, and for which they would have been glad to die, in a zeal without knowledge; and destroyed the very Temple on the distorted charge of being the destroyer of which, they handed Him over to the Roman power.

The death of Christ is, then, the desecration and the destruction of that Temple. Of course it is; because when a nation that had had millenniums of education, of forbearance, of revelation, turned at last upon the very climax and brightest central light of all the Revelation, standing there amongst them in a bodily form, there was nothing more to be done. God had shot His last arrow; His quiver was empty. ‘Last of all He sent unto them His Son, saying,’ with a wistful kind of half-confidence, ‘They will reverence My Son,’ and the divine expectation was disappointed, and exhaustless Love was empty-handed, and all was over. He could turn to themselves and say, ‘Judge between Me and My vineyard. What more could have been done that I have not done to it?’ Therefore, there was nothing left but to let the angels of destruction loose, and to call for the Roman eagles with their broad-spread wings, and their bloody beaks, and their strong talons, to gather together round the carcase. When He gave up the Ghost, ‘the veil of the Temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.’

A time of repentance was given. It was possible for the most guilty participator in that judicial murder to have his gory hands washed and made white in the very blood that he had shed; but, failing repentance, that death was the death of Israel, and the destruction of Israel’s Temple. Let us take the lesson, dear brethren. If we turn away from that Saviour, and refuse the offered gifts of His love, there is no other appeal left in the power of Heaven; and there is nothing for it after that except judgment and destruction. We can ‘crucify the Son of God afresh and put Him to an open shame.’ And the hearts that are insensitive, as are some of our hearts, to that great love and grace, are capable of nothing except to be pulverised by means of a judgment. Repentance is possible for us all, but, failing that, the continuance of rejection of Christ is the pulling down, on our own heads, of the ruins of the Temple, like the Israelitish hero in his blindness and despair.

II. Now, secondly, the rent veil means, in another way of looking at the incident, light streaming in on the mystery of God.

Let me recall to your imaginations what lay behind that heavy veil. In the Temple, in our Lord’s time, there was no presence of the Shekinah, the light that symbolised the divine presence. There was the mercy-seat, with the outstretched wings of the cherubim; there were the dimly pictured forms on the tapestry hangings; there was silence deep as death; there was darkness absolute and utter, whilst the Syrian sun was blazing down outside. Surely that is the symbol of the imperfect knowledge or illumination as to the divine nature which is over all the world. ‘The veil is spread over all nations, and the covering over all people.’ And surely that sudden, sharp tearing asunder of the obscuring medium, and letting the bright sunlight stream into every corner of the dark chamber, is for us a symbol of the great fact that in the life, and especially in the death, of Jesus Christ our Lord, we have light thrown in to the depths of God.

What does that Cross tell us about God that the world did not know? And how does it tell us? and why does it tell us? It tells us of absolute righteousness, of that in the divine nature which cannot tolerate sin; of the stern law of retribution which must be wrought out, and by which the wages of every sin is death. It tells us not only of a divine righteousness which sees guilt and administers punishment, but it tells us of a divine love, perfect, infinite, utter, perennial, which shrinks from no sacrifice, which stoops to the lowest conditions, which itself takes upon it all the miseries of humanity, and which dies because it loves and will save men from death. And as we look upon that dying Man hanging on the cross, the very embodiment and consummation of weakness and of shame, we have to say, ‘Lo! this is our God! We have waited for Him’-through all the weary centuries-’and He will save us.’ How does it tell us all this? Not by eloquent and gracious thoughts, not by sweet and musical words, but by a deed. The only way by which we can know men is by what they do. The only way by which we know God is by what He does. And so we point to that Cross and say, ‘There! not in words, not in thoughts, not in speculations, not in hopes and fears and peradventures and dim intuitions, but in a solid fact; there is the Revelation which lays bare the heart of God, and shows us its very throbbing of love to every human soul.’ ‘The veil was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.’

The Cross will reveal God to you only if you believe that Jesus Christ was the Incarnate Word. Brethren, if that death was but the death of even the very holiest, noblest, sweetest, perfectest soul that ever lived on earth and breathed human breath, there is no revelation of God in it for us. It tells us what Jesus was, and by a very roundabout inference may suggest something of what the divine nature is, but unless you can say, as the New Testament says, ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. . .. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth,’ I fail to see how the death of Christ can be a revelation of the love of God.

I need not occupy time in dilating upon the contrast between this solid certitude, and all that the world, apart from Jesus Christ, has to lay hold of about God. We want something else than mist on which to build, and on which to lay hold. And there is a substantial, warm, flesh-and-blood hand, if I may so say, put out to us through the mist when we believe in Christ the Son of God, who died on the cross for us all. Then, amidst whirling mists and tossing seas, there is a fixed point to which we can moor; then our confidence is built, not on peradventures or speculations or wishes or dreams or hopes, but on a historical fact, and grasping that firm we may stand unmoved.

Dear friends, I may be very old-fashioned and very narrow-I suppose I am; but I am bound to declare my conviction, which I think every day’s experience of the tendency of thought only makes more certain, that, practically for this generation, the choice lies between accepting the life and death of Jesus Christ as the historical Revelation of God, or having no knowledge of Him-knowledge, I say,-of Him at all; you must choose between the barred sanctuary, within which lies couched a hidden Something-with a capital S-or perhaps a hidden Someone whom you never can know and never will; or the rent veil, rent by Christ’s death, through which you can pass, and behold the mercy-seat and, above the outstretched wings of the adoring cherubim, the Father whose name is Love.

III. Lastly, the rent veil permits any and every man to draw near to God.

You remember what I have already said as to the jealous guarding of the privacy of that inner shrine, and how not only the common herd of the laity, but the whole of the priesthood, with the solitary exception of its titular head, were shut out from ever entering it. In the old times of Israel there was only one man alive at once who had ever been beyond the veil. And now that it is rent, what does that show but this, that by the death of Jesus Christ any one, every one, is welcome to pass in to the very innermost sanctuary, and to dwell, nestling as close as he will, to the very heart of the throned God? There is a double veil, if I may so say, between man and God: the side turned outward is woven by our own sins; and the other turned inwards is made out of the necessary antagonism of the divine nature to man’s sin. There hangs the veil, and when the Psalmist asked, ‘Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord; or who shall stand in His holy place?’ he was putting a question which echoes despairingly in the very heart of all religions. And he answered it as conscience ever answers it when it gets fair play: ‘He that hath clean hands and a pure heart, who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity.’ And where or who is he? Nowhere; nobody. Access is barred, because it is impossible that a holy and righteous God should communicate the selectest gifts of His love, even the sense of His favour, and of harmony and fellowship with Him, to sinful men, and barred, because it is impossible that men, with the consciousness of evil and the burden of guilt sometimes chafing their shoulders, and always bowing down their backs, should desire to possess, or be capable of possessing, that fellowship and union with God. A black, frowning wall, if I may change the metaphor of my text, rises between us and God. But One comes with the sacrificial vessel in His hand, and pours His blood on the barrier, and that melts the black blocks that rise between us and God, and the path is patent and permeable for every foot. ‘The veil of the Temple was rent in twain’ when Christ died. That death, because it is a sacrifice, makes it possible that the whole fulness of the divine love should be poured upon man. That death moves our hearts, takes away our sense of guilt, draws us nearer to Him; and so both by its operation-not on the love of God-but on the government of God, and by its operation on the consciousness of men, throws open the path into His very presence.

If I might use abstract words, I would say that Christ’s death potentially opens the path for every man, which being put into plain English-which is better-is just that by the death of Christ every man can, if he will, go to God, and live beside Him. And our faith is our personal laying hold of that great sacrifice and treading on that path. It turns the ‘potentiality’ into an actuality, the possibility into a fact. If we believe on Him who died on the cross for us all, then by that way we come to God, than which there is none other given under heaven among men.

So all believers are priests, or none of them are. The absolute right of direct access to God, without the intervention of any man who has an officially greater nearness to Him than others, and through whom as through a channel the grace of sacrament comes, is contained in the great symbol of my text. And it is a truth that this day needs. On the one hand there is agnostic unbelief, which needs to see in the rent veil the illumination streaming through it on to the depths of God; and on the other hand there is the complementary error-and the two always breed each other-the superstition which drags back by an anachronism the old Jewish notions of priesthood into the Christian Church. It needs to see in the rent veil the charter of universal priesthood for all believers, and to hearken to the words which declare, ‘Ye are a chosen generation, a spiritual house, a royal priesthood, that ye should offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable unto God by Jesus Christ.’ That is the lesson that this day wants. ‘Having, therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest of all, by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which He has consecrated for us through the veil, that is His flesh, let us draw near with true hearts in full assurance of faith.’

Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CHAPTER 28

CONCURRENT MIRACLES

Luk 23:45-49; Mar 15:38-41; Mat 27:51-56. Our Lord has already expired on the cross, and now we proceed to consider the concurrent miracles so overwhelmingly attesting His Divinity, and pouring a cataract of conviction on the multitude, which rankled like Scythian arrows in their spiritual vitals, preparing them for the glorious Pentecostal revival which followed at the end of fifty days. “And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.” The old dispensation was on the plane of justification, which is symbolized by the outer court of the temple, in which the shewbread had to be renewed frequently, as it would get stale and moldy, while the lamps had to be supplied with oil and lighted, or they would go out, thus in constant need of human agency and attention. Not so with the inner court of the temple, the Holy of Holies. There the manna in the golden pot was always fresh and delicious, while Aaron’s rod constantly exhibited swelling buds, evolving leaves, blooming flowers, growing fruits, and ripe almonds, delicious to the taste and ready to be eaten. Meanwhile the Shekinah, the symbol of the Divine presence, kept the temple bright as cloudless noonday all the time, so no one could discriminate the night as it went by, as perennial noonday did there abide, so wonderfully illustrating the truly sanctified experience. The moment Jesus expired on the cross, the dispensation of Christian perfection was inaugurated, God with His own hand tearing down the veil, and admitting all the inmates of His temple into the Holy of Holies, the Old Testament saints being priests and the New Testament saints high priests unto God. You see this veil was rent from the top to the bottom, showing that the sanctifying power always comes from heaven. When you get it by priestcraft or carnal ordinances, it is always spurious.

“The earth did quake, and the rocks were rent.” During both of my tours in the Holy Land, as Calvary had more charms for me than any other spot, I spent much time praying and meditating on this holy mount, where Jesus laid down His life for me. I could have no idea as to the number of my visits to that hallowed summit, or the time I spent there. Though one thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven years have rolled away, the footprints of the old earthquake that visited the land are still obvious. I saw them in the irregular ruptures of the great rocks.

“The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the sleeping saints did rise, and coming out from the tombs after His resurrection, did come into the holy city, and were made manifest unto many.” There is an Oriental tradition that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as well as other eminent prophets and saints, did rise at that time. We have no revelation as to what became of them. I doubt not but that they accompanied our Lord the ensuing forty days and ascended with Him to heaven. You see that though the great stone tombs were broken up by the earthquake, occurring at 3 P.M., Friday, when Jesus bowed His head and died, yet they did not come out of the tombs till after He arose at the early dawn the ensuing Sunday morning.

Good reasons for this: He was to be “the first fruits of them that slept,” the antecedent resurrections being abnormal and abortive, as the persons arose with their mortal bodies, and consequently died again. As these resurrections, above described, were subsequent to our Lord’s, they of course received their immortal bodies, no more subject to death, and consequently flew away to heaven, constituting a prelude of the glorious first resurrection, including all the members of the Bridehood, and taking place at the Lord’s premilennial coming. (Rev 20:4-6.)

Mar 15:39-41. “And the centurion, standing in front of Him, and thus crying out He expired, said, Truly this was the Son of God. And there were women from a distance looking on, among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the Less and Joses, and Salome; who , when He was in Galilee, were accustomed to follow Him, and minister unto Him; and many other women having come up along with Him to Jerusalem.” Luk 23:47-48 : “And the centurion seeing that which took place, glorified God, saying, Truly this was a righteous Man. And all the multitudes being present at this sight, seeing the things which took place, were going away, beating their breasts.” Mat 27:54 : “And the centurion, and those along with him, having charge of Jesus, seeing the earthquake and the events which took place, became alarmed exceedingly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.” Thus you see, an awful pall fell on the vast multitude, so that even the heathen Roman soldiers, who, under the rigor of military law, had been forced to execute this bloody work — stalwart men, who never knew fear on the battle-field — tremble and quake with paralyzing trepidation and heart-convulsing terror, confessing outright, “Surely this was the Son of God.” Among the Jews, “beating the breast” denoted the deepest sorrow and most terrible anguish. Luke says the multitudes who were present at that awful scene went away beating their breasts. O what a volcano of conviction came upon the Jews, who were there from all parts of the world attending the Passover, and returning to their homes in all lands were thus so wonderfully prepared for the coming of the apostles and the preaching of Jesus! As these Roman soldiers were Gentiles, and the time had arrived for the evangelization of the Gentile world, I trow the convictions fastened on them transformed them into prolific seed-corn, soon to germinate in many countries throughout the world-wide Roman Empire.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

27:51 The significance of the splitting of the curtain in the Temple is that the wall dividing people from God has been torn down by the death of Jesus Christ (see also Eph 2:11-22; Heb 6:19; 9:1–10:25). • The earth shook, rocks split apart: These are portents of the arrival of judgment (see Exod 19:18; Judg 5:4; Ps 18:7; Joel 3:14-17; Amos 8:8-10). Josephus records the appearance about AD 30 of a star resembling a sword and a spontaneous opening of the gates of the Temple (Josephus, War 6.5.3-4).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Mat 27:51. Ἐσχίσθη, κ.τ.λ., was rent, etc.) Therefore the approach to the Holy Places was now free.[1212]—ἡ γῆ, the earth) i.e. the globe (see Mat 27:45), but especially the Land of Israel and the vicinity of Jerusalem.[1213]—αἱ πέτραι, κ.τ.λ., the rocks, etc.) Travellers relate that rents in the rocks, the opposite sides of which correspond to each other, are still to be seen.

[1212] Matthew and Mark place this rending of the veil after the death of Christ. Luke places it before the words, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. Both events occurred at this same incomparable moment. Luke, inasmuch as combining the darkness of the three hours with the rending of the veil, indicates, (1) that after the darkness was ended, all the remaining events, up to the death of the Saviour, mutually succeeded one another in most rapid succession; and (2) that the rending of the veil, which occurred at the very moment of His death, has no less close connection with the supernatural darkness than with the subsequent miracles. To be left by God was the same to the soul of Jesus, as to die was to His body: the former was signified by the darkness, the latter by the rending of the veil. His quickening the Spirit followed immediately after He had drunk the cup of death the uttermost (1Pe 3:18), and that quickening produced the greatest effects upon things visible and invisible alike.—Harm., p. 576

[1213] Those great commotions in created things went on, in continuous succession, from the moment of Christ’s death to His resurrection, exerting their influence especially in the kingdom of things invisible.—Harm., l. c.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat_27:51 f. Not an ordinary earthquake, but a supernatural phenomenon, as was that of the darkness in Mat_27:45.

καὶ ἰδού] Hie wendet sichs und wird gar ein neues Wesen [at this point the history enters upon a fresh stage, and something entirely new appears], Luther. The style of the narrative here is characterized by a simple solemnity, among other indications of which we have the frequent recurrence of καί.

τὸ καταπέτασμα] הַפָּרֹכֶת, the veil suspended before the holy of holies, Exo_26:31; Lev_21:23; 1Ma_1:22; Sir_30:5; Heb_6:19; Heb_9:3; Heb_10:20. The rending in two (for εἰς δύο, comp. Lucian, Tox. 54; Lapith. 44), of which mention is also made by Mark and Luke, was not the effect of the convulsion in nature (which was a subsequent occurrence), but a divine σημεῖον, accompanying the moment of decease, for the purpose of indicating that in this atoning death of Jesus the old dispensation of sacrifices was being done away, and free access to the gracious presence of God at the same time restored. Comp. Heb_6:19 f., Mat_9:6 ff., Mat_10:19 f. To treat what is thus a matter of divine symbolism as though it were symbolical legend (Schleiermacher, Strauss, Scholten, Keim) is all the more unwarrantable that neither in Old Testament prophecy nor in the popular beliefs of the Jews do we find anything calculated to suggest the formation of any such legend. The influence of legend has operated rather in the way of transforming the rending of the veil into an incident of a more imposing and startling nature: superliminare (the lintel) templi infinitae magnitudinis fractum esse atque divisum, Evang. sec. Hebr. quoted by Jerome. See Hilgenfeld, N. T. extr. can. IV. p. 17. The idea underlying this legend was that of the destruction of the temple.

What follows is peculiar to Matthew. The rocks in question were those in the immediate neighbourhood, and so also with regard to τὰ μνημεῖα. The opening of the graves is in like manner to be regarded as divine symbolism, according to which the death of Jesus is to be understood as preparing the way for the future resurrection of believers to the eternal life of the Messianic kingdom (Joh_3:14 f., Joh_6:54). The thing thus signified by the divine signa sign sufficiently intelligible, and possessing all the characteristics of a genuine symbol (in opposition to Steinmeyer, p. 226)was so moulded and amplified in the course of tradition that it became ultimately transformed into an historical incident: πολλὰ σώματα τῶν κεκοιμ. ἁγίων ἠγέρθη, κ.τ.λ. For a specimen of still further and more extravagant amplification of the material in questionmaterial to which Ignatius likewise briefly alludes, ad Magnes. 9, and which he expressly mentions, ad Trall, interpol. 9see Evang. Nicod. 17 ff. This legend respecting the rising of the Old Testament saints (ἁγίων) is based upon the assumption of the descensus Christi ad inferos, in the course of which Jesus was understood not only to have visitsd them, but also to have secured their resurrection (comp. Ev. Nicod.; Ignatius, ad Trall. l.c.). But it is quite arbitrary to assume that in those who are thus alleged to have risen from their graves we have mere apparitions assuring us of the continued existence of the departed (Michaelis, Paulus, Kuinoel, Hug, Krabbe, p. 505; Steudel, Glaubensl. p. 455; Bleek). Besides, the legend regarding the rising of the saints on this occasion is, in itself considered, no more incompatible with the idea of Christ being the ἀπαρχὴ τῶν κεκοιμ. (1Co_15:20; Col_1:18) than the raising of Lazarus and certain others. See on 1Co_15:20. It is true that, according to Epiphanius, Origen, Ambrose, Luther, Calovius (comp. also Delitzsch, Psych, p. 414), the dead now in question came forth in spiritual bodies and ascended to heaven along with Christ; but with Jerome it is at the same time assumed, in opposition to the terms of our passage, that: Non antea resurrexerunt, quam Dominus resurgeret, ut esset primogenitus resurrectionis ex mortuis; comp. also Calvin, and Hofmann, Schriftbew. II. 1, p. 492. In the Acta Pilati as found in Thilo, p. 810, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the twelve patriarchs, and Noah, are expressly mentioned as being among the number of those who rose from the dead. The names are given somewhat differently in the Evang. Nicod.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat 27:51 . καὶ ἰδοὺ , introducing solemnly a series of preternatural accompaniments, all but the first peculiar to Mt. τὸ καταπέτασμα , the veil between the holy place and the most holy. ἐσχίσθη : this fact, the rending of the veil, is mentioned by all the Synoptists, though Lk. introduces it at an early point in the narrative. It might have happened, as a natural event, an accidental coincidence, though it is not so viewed by the evangelist. A symbolic fiction, according to Brandt. The legendary spirit took hold of this event, magnifying the miracle. In the Hebrew Gospel the rending of the veil is transformed into the fracture of the lintel of the temple: “Superliminare templi in finitae magnitudinis fractum esse atque divisum” (Jerome, Com. ). καὶ ἡ γῆ , etc.: an earthquake, preceding and conditioning the greatest marvel of all, the opening of the graves and the resurrection of many saints (Mat 27:52-53 ). We seem here to be in the region of Christian legend. Certainly the legendary spirit laid hold of this feature with great eagerness, expanding and going into details, giving, e.g. , the names of those who rose: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc. ( vide Evang. Nicod. , c. 17, and The Acts of Pilate in Thilo’s Codex Apocryphus , N. T., p. 810).

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Which divided the holiest of all.

Christ, when he is dead, showeth himself to be God almighty, even his enemies confessing the same.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 51. The veil of the temple was rent] That is, the veil which separated the holy place, where the priests ministered, from the holy of holies, into which the high priest only entered, and that once a year, to make a general expiation for the sins of the people. This rending of the veil was emblematical, and pointed out that the separation between Jews and Gentiles was now abolished, and that the privilege of the high priest was now communicated to all mankind: ALL might henceforth have access to the throne of grace, through the one great atonement and mediator, the Lord Jesus. See this beautifully illustrated in Heb 10:19-22.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(51) The veil of the temple was rent in twain.—Better, the veil of the sanctuary, or, if we do not alter the word, we must remember that it is the veil that divided the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies that is here meant. The fact, which the high priests would naturally have wished to conceal, and which in the nature of the case could not have been seen by any but the sons of Aaron, may have been reported by the “great multitude of the priests” who “became obedient to the faith” (Act_6:7). The Evangelist’s record of it is all the more significant, as he does not notice, and apparently, therefore, did not apprehend, the symbolic import of the fact. That import we learn indirectly from the Epistle to the Hebrews. The priests had, as far as they had power, destroyed the true Temple (comp. Joh_2:19); but in doing so they had robbed their own sanctuary of all that made it holy. The true veil, as that which shrouded the Divine Glory from the eyes of men, was His own flesh, and through that He had passed, as the Forerunner of all who trusted in Him, into the sanctuary not made with hands, eternal in the heavens (Heb_10:20-21). All who fulfilled that condition might enter into that holiest place, but the visible sanctuary was now made common and unclean, and there too all might enter without profanation.

The earth did quake, and the rocks rent.—Jerusalem was, it will be remembered, situated in the zone of earthquakes, and one very memorable convulsion is recorded or alluded to in the Old Testament (Isa_24:19; Amo_1:1; Zec_14:5). Here, though the shock startled men at the time, there was no widespread ruin such as would lead to its being chronicled by contemporary historians.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

51. the vail of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom] St Luke has “rent in the midst.” The veil meant is that which separated the holy of holies from the holy place. The rending of the veil signifies that henceforth there is free access for man to God the Father through Jesus Christ. Cp. “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh” (Heb_10:19-20). The incident would be observed and made known to the Church by the priests, of whom afterwards “a great company were obedient unto the faith” (Act_6:7).

51–56. Events that followed the Crucifixion. (1) The Veil of the Temple rent; (2) the Earthquake; (3) the Saints arise; (4) the Centurion at the Cross; (5) the Watching of the Women

Of these, (2) and (3) are peculiar to St Matthew.

Mar_15:38-41; Luk_23:45; Luk_23:47-49, where the grief of the spectators is an additional fact. St John omits these incidents, but records the breaking of the malefactors’ legs and the piercing of Jesus’ side.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the graves were opened,.... Which were near the city of Jerusalem: this was a proof of Christ's power over death and the grave, by dying; when he through death, destroyed him that had the power of it, and abolished death itself; and became the plague of death and the destruction of the grave, taking into his hands the keys of hell and death:

and many bodies of saints which slept, arose: not that they arose at the time of Christ's death: the graves were opened then, when the earth quaked, and the rocks were rent; but the bodies of the saints did not arise, till after Christ was risen, as appears from the following verse; but because the other event now happened, they are both recorded here: these were saints, and such as slept in Jesus; and of whom he is the first fruits that now rose; and not all, but many of them, as pledges of the future resurrection, and for the confirmation of Christ's, and the accomplishment of a prophecy in Isa 26:19. And they rose in the same bodies in which they before lived, otherwise they could not be called their bodies, or known by those to whom they appeared: but who they were is not to be known; some have thought them to be the ancient patriarchs, as Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, &c. In the Septuagint on Job 42:17, Job is said to be one of them, and a tradition is there recorded, which runs thus:

"it is written, that he rose with whom the Lord rose.

But it should seem rather, that they were some later saints, such as Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, John the Baptist himself, good old Simeon, Joseph the husband of Mary, and others, well known to persons now alive. Some think they were such, as had been martyrs in the cause of religion; and so the Persic version renders the words, "and the bodies of many saints who suffered martyrdom, rose out of the graves".

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;

Ver. 51. The veil of the temple was rent] To show that there was an end to the Levitical liturgy, and that now there was free and open access for all saints to the throne of God’s grace, for the veil was a figure of the spiritual covering which was before the eyes of the Church till Christ’s coming.

And the earth did quake] To work a heartquake in the obstinate Jews, as in some it did; others of them had contracted such a habitual hardness, such a hoof upon their hearts, as neither ministry, nor misery, nor miracle, nor mercy could possibly mollify.

And the rocks rent] So they do wherever Christ makes forcible entrance into any heart. "I will shake all nations, and then the desire of all nations shall come," Hag 2:7. A man will never truly desire Christ till soundly shaken. God’s shaking ends in settling; he rends us, not to ruin, but to refine us.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The vail of the temple - This was doubtless the veil, curiously performed, which separated the holy from the most holy place, dividing the temple into two apartments, Exo 26:31-33.

In twain - In two pieces or parts. This was the time of day when the priest was burning incense in the holy place, and it is probable that he witnessed it. The most holy place has been usually considered as a type of heaven, and the tearing of the veil to signify that the way to heaven was now open to all - the great High Priest, the Lord Jesus, being about to enter in as the forerunner of his people. However, about the design of the tearing of the veil, the Scriptures are silent, and conjecture is useless.

And the earth did quake - Or shook. Earthquakes are violent convulsions of the ground, caused commonly by confined and rarefied air. This was probably, however, a miraculous convulsion of the earth, in attestation of the truth that the sufferer was the Messiah, the Son of God, and as an exhibition of wrath at the crimes of those who put him to death. It was not confined to Judea, but was felt in other countries. It is mentioned by Roman writers.

The rocks rent - That is, were torn asunder. Rocks are still seen at Mount Calvary thus rent asunder, which are said to be the ones that were convulsed when the Saviour died.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The veil of the temple was rent. As there were in the temple two parts of the sanctuary, so there were two veils, or partition walls. The first sanctuary, called the holy, was separated by a veil from that part of the temple called the court of the Israelites. Into this outward sanctuary, called the holy, entered every day the priests that were in office. The second interior sanctuary, called the holy of holies, was also separated from the outward sanctuary by an other veil. And into this holy of holies, no one was to enter except the high priest, and he but once a-year. Both these veils seem to have been rent at Christ’s death: and by their being broken down, was signified first, that the ceremonies of the ancient law were to be abolished by the law of Christ; and also that heaven should be open to all. --- The earth quaked. How far this earthquake was extended, is uncertain. --- The rocks were rent, and the graves were opened: and many bodies of the saints ... arose. St. Jerome takes notice, that these saints did not rise with their bodies till after Christ was risen; and so it follows, that going out of the graves, after the resurrection, they came into the holy city, (i.e. into Jerusalem) and appeared to many. (Witham) --- This event was a prophecy of the fatal destruction that was shortly to fall upon the temple; and also, that it should henceforth give place to things more noble and sublime. It likewise shews that greatness of Christ’s power. (St. John Chrysostom, hom. lxxxix.)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Mark, Mar 15:38, mentions only the rending of the veil. No more doth Luke, Luk 23:45. John mentions none of these things. It pleased God to give a testimony against this prodigious piece of wickedness by prodigious signs, both in the heavens and on the earth. In the heavens the sun, as we heard before, suffered an unusual, preternatural eclipse, which lasted three hours. In the earth, there was an earthquake, to that degree, that the rocks were rent by it. Earthquakes were sometimes no more than indications of God’s power and majesty, Psa 68:8; Joe 2:10; and some think, that by this earthquake Christ declared his Divine power. It is certain that the centurion concluded from it, this was the Son of God, Mat 27:54. But earthquakes were sometimes not only the indications of the Divine majesty and power, but also of his wrath, Psa 18:7,8; Joe 3:16; Nah 1:6. And such doubtless was this; to show that the earth abhorred what these men had done. Besides these,

the veil of the temple was rent: three of the evangelists mention it. It is not much material whether this were the outward veil, or the inward veil, or hangings, which parted the most holy place from the other part of the temple, though probably it was the inner veil. By this rending of the veil God testified his wrath against the Jews, and that he was leaving his temple amongst them. The veil also was a type of Christ’s flesh, Heb 10:20; the antitype being rent, it was reasonable that the type should also be so. By this also was showed, that the temple service was now at an end, and to continue no longer, and the partition wall between Jews and Gentiles was pulled down. For what Matthew speaks, Mat 27:52,53, of the graves opening, and the bodies of the saints arising, &c., probably it was not till Christ’s resurrection; only Matthew puts it in here, reckoning up together all the prodigious things that happened, for Matthew himself saith, Mat 27:53, they

came out of the graves after his resurrection, and it is not likely that the graves opened any considerable time before they came out of their graves. These now were the prodigies which attended the death of our Saviour.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Vers. 51-56. Signs following the death of Christ. (Mar_15:38-41 Luk_23:47-49)

And, behold. St. Matthew thus introduces his account of the portents which attended the death of the Son of God. The rending of the veil is mentioned by the synoptists as consequent on, and occurring simultaneously with, the completion of the ineffable sacrifice. The veil of the temple (tou naou). There were two principal veils in the present temple one between the vestibule and the holy place, and one other which is that here referred to, a constituent part of the edifice. This was the veil between the holy place and the holy of holies, which was moved aside only once a year to admit the high priest to the shrine on the great Day of Atonement. (Exo_26:33) It was large and costly, some sixty feet high, and made of rich materials. Josephus ("Bell. Jud:," 5:5:4) tells us of one of the veils in the temple, that it was a Babylonian curtain, embroidered with linen in various colours, woven together with wonderful art, such as the eye loved to rest upon. Was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. An apocryphal Gospel ("The Gospel of the Hebrews"), quoted by St. Jerome, in loc., asserts that the exquisitely carved lintel to which the veil was fastened was at this moment shattered to pieces, and in its fall tore the curtain asunder. The direction of the rent would show that no human hands had torn it apart, and the rending seems to have preceded the earthquake. The violent act was supernatural, and of a typical nature, as we are taught by Heb_9:6-12. The sanctuary enshrined the presence of God, from which the veil excluded every one but the high priest on one special occasion, thus denoting the imperfect reconciliation between God and his people, and that the way to the holiest was not yet made manifest. The rending of this veil betokened the opening of the access to heaven through the wounded body of Christ: as we read in Heb_10:19, Heb_10:20, "Having boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh." "When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death, thou didst open the kingdom of heaven to all believers." The distinction between Jew and Gentile was abolished, the mysteries of the old Law were opened and manifested, all rites and ceremonies were made of sacramental efficacy, and ministered grace. How soon this ominous occurrence was discovered, we know not. The priest who offered incense at the evening sacrifice about this same hour must have seen it, and spread abroad among his comrades the news, to which many would attach a meaning fatal to the security of their religion. But this was comparatively a private sign; the next one was of a more comprehensive and public character. The earth did quake, and the rocks rent. The last verb is the same as was used just before in the case of the veil. There was a local earthquake at this awful moment, as if the very land shuddered at the terrible crime that had been committed. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem is supposed to cover the Golgotha of the Crucifixion (see on ver. 33). "An opening, faced with silver, shows the spot where the cross is said to have been sunk in the rock, and less than five feet from it is a long brass open work slide, over a cleft in the rock, which is about six inches deep, but is supposed by the pilgrims to reach to the centre of the earth. This is said to mark the rending of the rocks at the Crucifixion" (Geikie, "Holy Land and Bible," p. 447). The fact of the earthquake is testified by Phlegon, whose words were quoted by Julius Africanus, in his "Chronographia" (fragments of which work have been published by Routh and others), and by Eusebius, in his "Chronicon" (the passage, no longer extant in the original, being preserved by Jerome, and in an Armenian version; see Morison, on ver. 45). The rending of the rocks is attested by St. Cyril, Bishop of Jerusalem ("Cateches.," 13:33), who speaks of the remarkable fissure in Golgotha, which he had often noticed.

Vers. 51-56. Witness to the Lord"s Divinity.

I THE WITNESS OF PORTENTS.

1. The rending of the temple veil. "Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us." It may be that Christ, the Lamb of God, yielded up the ghost on the day and at the hour when they killed the Passover. It was the hour of evening prayer. The priests as they entered into the holy place found the great veil, which hid the holy of holies from the eye of man, rent in twain from the top to the bottom. This had happened at the moment of the Lord"s death; it was closely associated with that tremendous event. St. Matthew and St. Mark mention the Lord"s death first, St. Luke puts first the rending of the veil; the two events were so very closely connected in time and meaning. The evangelists felt the deep spiritual significance of the rending of the veil; so doubtless did that great company of priests, who afterwards became obedient to the faith. It was a supernatural event, not the result of the earthquake or of any ordinary cause. It had a deep and blessed meaning. The holy of holies was the one spot in all the earth where God had been wont to manifest his immediate presence in a special manner. That manifestation had been surrounded with circumstances of awe. The sacred place where the Most High had dwelt between the cherubim was hidden from men by the great heavy veil, shrouded in awful darkness. Only on one day in the year might that veil be lifted; only one mortal being might dare to enter, and that with solemn rites of propitiation, with great fear and trembling. But now the veil was rent; it was rent at the moment of the Saviour"s death: and evidently by the Divine interposition. The solemn ritual of the great Day of Atonement was fulfilled in the one Sacrifice now offered upon the cross. Such rites were no longer needed. God himself opens the way into the most holy place. His people may draw near, very near, into his immediate presence. All may come, not the high priest only, but all faithful Christians; for he who washed us from our sins in his own blood hath made us priests unto God and his Father, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable unto God through him. But the rent veil figured also the pierced body of the Saviour; for thus saith the Scripture, "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which be hath consecrated for us, though the veil, that is to say, his flesh,...let us draw near with a true heart". (Heb_10:19-22) The Divine Word dwelt ("tabernacled," Joh_1:14) in the body of Christ. Now that tabernacle was rent. While he was in the flesh, that veil of mortal flesh hung, like the temple veil, between him and the true holy of holies. When it was rent, the way into the holiest was made manifest, and the Lord in his glorified humanity, "by his own blood entered in once into the holy place," that is, "into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us." There he is making intercession for us, and in the power of that prevailing intercession we may draw near to God. The veil is rent. There was a veil over all nations; (Isa_25:7, Isa_25:8) it was destroyed when death was swallowed up in victory. There is neither Greek nor Jew, barbarian nor Scythian, but Christ is all, and in all. The veil is rent. There was a veil upon the hearts of men, that veil is done away in Christ. They that are his, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

2. The earthquake. "The earth did quake, and the rocks rent." It might well be expected. Prodigies such as these are nothing in comparison with that greatest of all wonders which had just taken place. These lesser signs attested the tremendous power of that moral earthquake which the death of Christ would cause. Old beliefs would be shattered, old superstitions rent; there would be a great heaving in men"s hearts, a severing of old lines of thought, a mighty change in the spiritual order of the world.

3. The opened graves. There was a strange excitement in the realm of the dead. It might well be so. Isaiah represents the nations of the dead as stirred at the coming of the King of Babylon. (Isa_14:9-12) But what is the death of the greatest of earthly monarchs compared with the death of him who is the Son of God? "The dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God." The "loud voice" of the dying Jesus was heard in Hades. The graves were opened. And when he arose, who is the Firstborn from the dead, many bodies of the saints came out, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. A wondrous miracle, but not wondrous compared with that chiefest of all wonders, the death and resurrection of the Lord. It is not strange that smaller wonders should cluster round that great central wonder.

II THE WITNESS OF MEN.

1. The centurion and soldiers. They feared greatly, the centurion especially. It seems from St. Mark"s account that he was deeply moved, not only by the earthquake, but by the words and bearing of the Lord. He felt not only that the Lord was wholly innocent, (Luk_23:47) but that he was more than man; that that title which the mockers had ascribed to him in scorn was truly his; he was the Son of God. That centurion "glorified God;" he probably became one of that noble band of Roman soldiers, like the centurion at Capernaum and Cornelius of Caesarea, who believed in the Lord. The cross of Christ, and the Lord lifted up thereon, could draw all men unto him, even the Roman centurion, even the soldiers who had pierced him, who had sat dicing beneath the cross. May we, one and all, feel its constraining power!

2. The women. The Lord"s mother had stood by the cross; probably St. John had led her away before the Saviour"s death. But there were still many women beholding afar off good and holy women, who had followed Christ from Galilee, and ministered to him of their substance. Mary of Magdala was there, out of whom the Lord had cast seven devils, who loved him with the devoted love of deepest gratitude; Salome, who bad asked for her sons the chief places in the Saviour"s kingdom, and now saw the two crucified malefactors, one on his right hand and the other on his left. They had ministered to him in life, gladly giving their worldly means to supply his wants; now they were faithful even unto death. Let us imitate them in their loving almsgiving, in their holy steadfastness, in their watching round the cross. Christians should give freely, Christians should be faithful in danger and in death, Christians should ever gaze upon the cross of Jesus.

LESSONS.

1. The veil is rent. Use the Christian"s privilege; draw near in faith and love and reverence.

2. The cross won those Roman soldiers. Let us be ashamed of our hard hearts; let us pray for the strength of deep conviction.

3. Be faithful, like those Galilaean women.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Immediately upon his death, while the sun was still darkened, the veil of the temple, which separated the holy of holies from the court of the priests, though made of the richest and strongest tapestry, was rent in two from the top to the bottom: so that while the priest was ministering at the golden altar (it being the time of the sacrifice) the sacred oracle, by an invisible power was laid open to full view: God thereby signifying the speedy removal of the veil of the Jewish ceremonies the casting down the partition wall, so that the Jews and Gentiles were now admitted to equal privileges, and the opening a way through the veil of his flesh for all believers into the most holy place. And the earth was shaken - There was a general earthquake through the whole globe, though chiefly near Jerusalem: God testifying thereby his wrath against the Jewish nation, for the horrid impiety they were committing.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

veil

The veil which was rent was the veil which divided the holy place into which the priests entered from the holy of holies into which only the high priest might enter on the day of atonement, (See Scofield "Exo 26:31") Lev 16:1-30 The rending of that veil, which was a type of the human body of Christ Heb 10:20 signified that a "new and living way" was opened for all believers into the very presence of God with no other sacrifice or priesthood save Christ’s. (cf); Heb 9:1-8; Heb 10:19-22.

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Here we have an account of several extraordinary and wonderful things which occurred and fell out about the time that our Saviour died.

Observe, 1. The vail of the temple rent asunder, that is, the hanging which parted the holy from the most holy place, to hide the mysteries therein; namely, the ark of the covenant and mercy-seat, from the view of the ordinary priests. This vail was now rent from the top to the bottom, and the rending of it did impart these great mysteries:

1. That now our great High Priest was entering into the most holy place with his own blood, having made the atonement for us. By his own blood entered once into the most holy place having obtained eternal redemption for us. Heb 9:12

2. That the means whereby he entered into the most holy place, was by the rending of his humanity, his soul from his body, typified by rending of this vail; accordingly his body is called a vail. Consecrated through the vail of his flesh. Heb 10:20

3. That now by the death of Christ all those dark mysteries vailed up formally in the most holy place, as the ark of the covenant and mercy-seat are now unfolded and laid open, and the use of the whole ceremonial law at an end, and the Jewish temple-service ceased.

4. That now the kingdom of heaven, the most holy place, is open to all believers. Christ, our great High Priest, is entered in with his own blood, and hath not closed the vail after him, but rent it asunder, and made and left a passage for all believers to follow him, first in their prayers, and next in their persons. Having therefore boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way wich he hath consecrated for us through the vail, that is to say, his flesh; let us draw near with a true heart, &c. Heb 10:19-20.

Observe, 2. The earth quaked. As there was an universal eclipse, so likewise an universal earthquake, at our Lord’s crucifixion, which did awaken many of the saints (that died before our Saviour’s incarnation) out of their dead sleep. These arose both as witnesses of Christ’s resurrection, and also as sharers in it. But none of them arose till Christ was risen, he being the first fruits of them that slept. And those holy persons that arose with him, possibly attended him to heaven at his ascension.

From hence we learn, That Christ was the Saviour of those who believed in him before his incarnation, as well as those that believed in him since his incarnation: And that the former are partakers of the fruit and benefit of his death and ressurection, no less than the latter. Others conjecture, that those who rose out of their graves, were such as believed Christ, and died before him, as old Simeon, &c. Accordingly they understand, The hour is coming and now is, that the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of man, Jos 5:15 of this resurrection here mentioned. And whereas it is said they went into the holy city, and appeared to many; it is probable they were known to them unto whom they did appear: And if so, they must have lived in the time of their knowledge.

Observe next, What influence and effect the sight of those prodigious things had upon the centurion convinced of the divinity of Christ, than the unbelieving Jewish doctors. Obstinacy and unbelief filled their minds with an invincible prejudice against Christ; so that neither the miracles done by him in his life, nor wrought at his death, could convince the high priests, that Christ was any other than an imposter and deceiver.

Observe lastly, Who of Christ’s friends were witnesses of his death: They are women, who followed him from Galilee, and ministered unto him: Not one of his dear disciples, except St. John, who stood by the cross with the Virgin Mary. What a shame was this for the apostles, to be absent from a spectacle upon which the salvation of the whole world did depend! and what an honour was this to the female sex in general, and to these women in particular, that they had the courage to follow Christ to the cross, when all the disciples forsook him and fled!

God can make women glorious professors of his truth, and arm them against the fears of sufferings, contrary to the natural timorousness of their tempers. These women wait upon Christ’s cross, when apostles fly, and durst not come near.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

51. The veil of the temple was rent. The curtain before the Holy of Holies separating it from the Holy Place.It took place about the time of the evening sacrifice and showed by symbol that the real atonement, of which the yearly atonement was only a type, had been offered and that the true High Priest had entered into the true Holy of Holies. And the earth did quake. A common event at Jerusalem, but now significant of the sympathy of nature with the great tragedy.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

Connecting Statement:

This begins the account of the events that happened when Jesus died.

Behold

The word "behold" here alerts us to pay attention to the surprising information that follows.

the curtain of the temple was split in two

This can be stated in active form. AT: "the curtain of the temple tore in two" or "God caused the curtain of the temple to tear in two" (See: Active or Passive)

The tombs were opened, and the bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised

This can be stated in active form. AT: "God opened the tombs and raised the bodies of many godly people who had died" (See: Active or Passive)

the bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised

Here to raise is an idiom for causing someone who has died to become alive again. This can be translated in active form. AT: "God put life back into to the dead bodies of many godly people who had fallen asleep" (See: Idiom)

fallen asleep

This is a polite way of referring to dying. AT: "died" (See: Euphemism)

The tombs were opened ... appeared to many

The order of events is unclear. After the earthquake when Jesus died and the tombs were opened 1) the holy people came back to life, and then, after Jesus came back to life, the holy people entered Jerusalem, where many people saw them, or 2) Jesus came back to life, and then the holy ones came back to life and entered the city, where many people saw them.

translationWords

curtain

temple

grave

godly

asleep

raise

resurrection

holy city

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

51–56. EVENTS THAT FOLLOWED THE CRUCIFIXION. (1) THE VEIL OF THE TEMPLE RENT; (2) THE EARTHQUAKE; (3) THE SAINTS ARISE; (4) THE CENTURION AT THE CROSS; (5) THE WATCHING OF THE WOMEN

Of these, (2) and (3) are peculiar to St Matthew

Mar 15:38-41; Luk 23:45; Luk 23:47-49, where the grief of the spectators is an additional fact. St John omits these incidents, but records the breaking of the malefactors’ legs and the piercing of Jesus’ side.

51. τὸ καταπέτασμα κ.τ.λ. The veil meant is that which separated the holy of holies from the holy place. The rending of the veil signifies that henceforth there is free access for man to God the Father through Jesus Christ. Cp. ‘Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh’ (Heb 10:19-20). The incident would be observed and made known to the Church by the priests, of whom afterwards ‘a great company were obedient unto the faith’ (Act 6:7).

ἐσχίσθη … εἰς δύο. Examples of this expression are given from Polybius, Lucian, and other late authors. St Luke has the more classical idiom, ἐσχίσθη τὸ καταπ. τοῦ ναοῦ μέσον.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

51-56.] Signs following his death. Mar 15:38-41.Luk 23:47-49Luk 23:47-49. The three narratives are essentially distinct. That of Luke is more general—giving only the sense of the centurion’s words—twice using the indefinite πάντες—and not specifying the women. The whole is omitted by John.

51.] The ἰδού gives solemnity. This was the inner veil, screening off the holy of holies from the holy place, Exo 26:33: Heb 9:2, Heb 9:3. This circumstance has given rise to much incredulous comment, and that even from men like Schleiermacher. A right and deep view of the O.T. symbolism is required to furnish the key to it; and for this we look in vain among those who set aside that symbolism entirely.

That was now accomplished, which was the one and great antitype of all those sacrifices offered in the holy place, in order to gain, as on the great day of atonement (for that day may be taken as the representation of their intent), entrance into the holiest place,—the typical presence of God. What those sacrifices (ceremonially) procured for the Jews (the type of God’s universal Church) through their High-priest, was now (really) procured for all men by the sacrifice of Him, who was at once the victim and the High-priest. When Schleiermacher and De Wette assert that no use is made of this event in the Epistle to the Hebrews, they surely cannot have remembered, or not have deeply considered, Heb 10:19-21. Besides, suppose it had been referred to plainly and by name—what would then have been said? Clearly, that this mention was a later insertion, to justify that reference. And almost this latter, Strauss, recognizing the allusion in Heb., actually does. Schleiermacher also asks, how could the event be known, seeing none but priests could have witnessed it, and they would not be likely to betray it? To say nothing of the almost certain spread of the rumour, has he forgotten that (Act 6:7) “a great company of the priests were obedient unto the faith?” Neander, who gives this last consideration its weight (but only as a possibility, that some priests may have become converts, and apparently without reference to the above fact), has an unworthy and shuffling note (L. J. p. 757), ending by quoting two testimonies, one apocryphal, the other Rabbinical, from which he concludes that ‘some matter of fact lies at the foundation’ of this (according to him) mythical adjunct.

ἡ γῆ ἐσείσθη] Not an ordinary earthquake, but connected with the two next clauses, and finding in them its explanation and justification.

αἱ πέτραι ἐσχίσθησαν] It would not be right altogether to reject the testimonies of travellers to the fact of extraordinary rents and fissures in the rocks near the spot. Of course those who know no other proof of the historical truth of the event, will not be likely to take this as one; but to us, who are firmly convinced of it, every such trace, provided it be soberly and honestly ascertained, is full of interest.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(M) 51. And behold the veil of the Temple was rent from the top to the bottom into two.] Mk. has: “And the veil of the Temple was rent into two from the top to the bottom.”—ἰδού See on 1:20.— τὸ καταπέτασμα τοῦ ναοῦ] Jerome says that the Gospel according to the Hebrews had superliminare for καταπέτασμα “In Evangelio cujus sæpe fecimus mentionem superliminare templi infinitæ magnitudinis fractum esse atque divisum legimus,” In loc. “In Evangelio autem quod Hebraicis literis scriptum est legimus non velum templi scissum sed superliminare templi miræ magnitudinis corruisse,” Ep. 120. 8. Jos. Wars, vi. 299, records, amongst other portents that preceded the fall of Jerusalem, the following: “At that feast which we call Pentecost … the priests felt a quaking, and heard a great noise; and after that heard a sound as of a great multitude, saying, ‘Let us depart hence.’” In B. Joma 39b it is said that, amongst other signs which happened forty years before the destruction of the Temple, “the doors of the Temple opened of themselves until Rabbi Jochanan ben Zaccai rebuked them, saying, ‘O Temple, Temple ! Why troublest thou thyself? I know that thy end is near.”’ Zahn may be right in suggesting that all these accounts are reminiscences of an event that happened at the porch of the Temple at the period of the crucifixion. A cleavage in the masonry of the porch, which rent the outer veil and left the Holy Place open to view, would account for the language of the Gospels, of Josephus, and of the Talmud.

Mt. here adds:

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The veil of the temple. According to the Rabbis this was a handbreadth in thickness, and woven of seventy - two twisted plaits, each plait consisting of twenty - four threads. It was sixty feet long and thirty wide. Two of them were made every year, and according to the exaggerated language of the time it needed three hundred priests to manipulate it. This veil was the one which covered the entrance to the holy of holies, and not, as has been asserted, the veil which hung before the main entrance to the sanctuary. The holy of holies contained only a large stone, on which the high - priest sprinkled the blood on the day of atonement, occupying the place where the ark with the mercy - seat had stood.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.