The Rocks Split Open

And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!” (Matthew 27:51-54 ESV).

It is always wonderful and a bit surprising when a Scripture yields something new to me. It happens quite often even after fifty years of study. Today, that “new” thought comes from this unusual use of the phrase in our reading today when God “splits the rocks” at the death of Jesus. This in itself is not terribly unusual in the Scripture. We see it in the story of Elijah (cf. 1 Kings 19:12) also. However, when we see it in today’s reading there is something a bit different taking place. Jesus’ death changed history not only for human beings but also for the world God made. Through his life and death, Jesus broke the stranglehold that sin and death had over us as well as God’s creation (cf. Genesis 3). Jesus opened a new way for us to live so that we can have life to the full, as God intended from the beginning. The curtain in the temple had separated the people of God from the inner sanctuary, where God’s powerful presence came to dwell in Old Testament times. In this splitting open there’s a death and new birth all at once. It’s something like breaking open a geode: a gnarly looking rock that, when broken open, reveals beautiful crystals inside. Only by breaking the geode can the stunning creation on the inside be revealed. The least we can say is that the death of Jesus has effects on more than spiritual relationships. It produces effects in the natural world, the world of earth and rocks, human bodies. What has just happened on the cross has to do with the one who holds the earth in his hand and can shake it. And the one who holds boulders between his fingers and can split them. The earth was shaken and rocks split by a sovereign earth-controller and a powerful rock-ruler. Human deaths don’t shake the earth and split rocks. God does. Rocks don’t have a mind of their own. They do what God bids them do. And they shook and split. In Christ, God reveals the beau¬tiful life he intended for us all along. The Lord breaks through, showing his good and powerful love for us all. He has completed the first step of restoring His creation to perfection! Hallelujah!