What Christ's Death has Accomplished for Us

The phrase we often use to tell people how we are doing, “I’m hanging in there,” takes on a new and powerful meaning when we think of Jesus Christ hanging on the cross, put to death, to pay for the sins of all who would believe in Him. In His death, Christ didn’t die for naught. His death accomplished many great things. If you were a bystander at the crucifixion site of Christ, you may have concluded that Christ’s death accomplished nothing for the world. Or, like the Roman centurion who stood by watching Him die, you may finally confess the truth about Jesus’ identity, in the light of what was accomplished by His death.

From Matthew 27:50-54, we have the divinely inspired historical account of Christ breathing His last, and the events that followed this.

In Control of His Dying Breath

First though, notice the manner in which Jesus finally died. The Bible says, “And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.” The word “yielded,” doesn’t simply mean He breathed His last. It has much more weight than that. It means, consistent with other scriptures, that Jesus laid down His life voluntarily. (John 10:11 & 15:13) That is why other Gospel writers tell us that Jesus knew when it was time to die. He cried, “It is finished,” (John 19:30) and “Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit.” (Luke 23:46) Jesus, in submission to His Father’s will, was in control of when He would die. No wonder then, that the following 3 accomplishments helped the Roman centurion on that day, and help us today, to reach a conclusion about Jesus’ identity and the reason for His death.

His Death Granted Access

Immediately following the death of the Jesus, Matthew tells us, “And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split.” (Matt. 27:51) It was an earth-shattering death that all of Creation was responding to. Earlier in this chapter, we are told that the sun was hidden from normal view from about 12 to 3 pm. Isaac Watts said it beautifully,

Well might the sun in darkness hide
And shut his glories in,
When Christ, the mighty Maker died,
For man the creature’s sin."

The emphasis here however, is not so much on Creation responding to the death of its Creator, but that as the created order broke up, so did the old established religious order, symbolized in the tearing of the veil of the temple. In the old order, only the priests had access into the Holy Place, and only the High Priest into the Most Holy Place, bearing a perfect blood sacrifice for sin. Thus, a veil separated the Holy and the Most Holy. The veil was around 60 feet in length, and of significant thickness. When Jesus died, it tore, not from bottom to top, but from top to bottom, the Holy Spirit now signifying that access into the Most Holy Place was made available for all who would now come through the blood of Jesus Christ (see Hebrews 9:7-8 and 10:20-22). Today, if you believe in Jesus Christ, if He is your Savior and Lord, we have access into the very presence of God through His blood.

His Death Guaranteed Life

Following the tearing of the veil, Matthew inserts another accomplishment in the death of Christ. He tells us, “The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many.” (Matt. 27:52-53) Why does he report something anachronistically, that this, out of sequence? Why tell us something that happened after the resurrection of Jesus, while still reporting from the scene of His death? Well, first, the Bible is not primarily concerned with chronology. It is primarily concerned with theology. So, chill about the anachronism here! Second, and more germane to this context, Matthew wants to prove the point that it is only through the death of Jesus that we are guaranteed life after death. Yes, these tombs that were opened when Jesus yielded up His spirit saw their dead coming out only after His resurrection 2 days later, but it is necessary to report it in the same passage about His death, to prove the point that without His death, there would be no resurrection to life.

It is only because Jesus died that we who believe in Him are guaranteed life after death, we are guaranteed a resurrection. These “saints,”—true believers in God and in Christ—who were raised to life at Jesus’ resurrection were an early preview, or pledge if you will (over and above the pledge we have in the resurrection of Jesus Himself), to guarantee us who believe in a crucified Messiah, that we too shall be raised to life one day, just as Jesus was.

His Death Gave Light

Now imagine you are the centurion who saw all this happening: the voluntary giving up of Jesus’ spirit, the darkening of the sun, and the earthquake. What would you conclude? The Bible says, “Now the centurion, and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, became very frightened and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!” In that darkness, this centurion finally was given light through the death of Jesus. He was finally able to confess the truth about who Jesus was: the Son of God. Notice the word “truly…” The truth had dawned upon him.

But notice that truth came through the conduit of fear, for the centurion and those with him feared greatly or became “very frightened” before they could come to the knowledge of the truth. And what the world needs today is a holy fear of the living God—the God who shakes the world and the heavens—before they can come to the knowledge of the truth about His Son, Jesus Christ. Fear led to truth, just as fear of a fire burning a building down leads to the truth that the fire can destroy you if you walk into it. There is a good time and place for explanation and apologetics. Often however, the fear of God drives home the truth better than the kind entreaties of man. Hence the writer of Proverbs says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,” or “wisdom.” (Prov. 1:7 & 9:10)

If you have not come to the light, may God grant you that light through knowing about and reflecting on the death of Christ. May you, through all the happenings around us today, see God’s hand of control in it all, fear Him, and come to the knowledge of the truth about Jesus Christ, concluding with the Roman centurion, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

We have much to be thankful for, because the death of Jesus was not in vain. Through His death on the cross we are granted access into the very presence of God, guaranteed life after death, and given light, increasingly so. May we receive all this and more with hearts full of gratitude for what God through Christ has done for us.

© Kenny Damara, 2019