Monday, April 2, 2007

Lent Bible Reading Challenge Day 36

The Crucifixion
Luke 23:44-49

The Crucifixion. Jesus dies and as he does Luke tells of the pain of the universe by describing darkness, earthquakes and the curtain in the temple being torn in two. He's not talking about the need to redecorate, but expressing the significance of this death. The world is crumbling at the death of the Victimized Son of God. The temple curtain, which separated the Holy of Holies (the holiest spot where God's spirit dwelt on earth) from the rest of the temple (into which human beings could come) symbolizes the destruction of the distance that separated or divided God from humanity. What would it have been like for the men and women gathered there, who called Jesus friend, healer, and master, who watched him die despite their deepest hopes. Is it any wonder that they have nothing to say, that they can only watch? How is it that the death of this one Man changes the universe, transforms our personal lives, and recreates relationship between God and humanity?