One Messy Saturday!

This morning I was laying in bed thinking about what Saturday must have been like in Jerusalem the day following Good Friday.  Random thoughts raced through my brain.  I was in a world that was reeling from the aftermath of the most horrible act known to man kind. It wasn't just a killing that took place.  It was God making Himself known to mankind and speaking to the world!

Yesterday, because of social media the whole Good Friday message was made known to the world.  Even if your friends and people did not care or know about it, they knew this was a day of focus for Christians.  Believers were somber and reflective, non-believers were 'what ever'.

Biblical accounts of Good Friday are consistent with history.  The Bible is a history book.  The account of the Crucifixion and other noted activities were also documented by historians of the time. These other activities are often over looked by the horrific unjust crucifixion. However, these other events are not to be ignored or overlooked.

*The earth was black from noon to 3 p.m. 
*There was a terrible earthquake.
*Tombs and graves were opened up (not all tombs and graves).
*Then within the Temple the Holy Place where the Jews worshiped and God met the High Priest once a year, at Passover, to accept sacrifices for the sins of man, the veil was torn from top to bottom.   Humanly impossible to do!

This last fact was staggering.  Just visualize this curtain!

The veil was:
60 feet high 
30 feet wide 
the width of the curtain/veil a hand breadth (about 4")
It was woven and very heavy.    Historians say that it took 300 priests to move it due its size and weight.  

Okay those are the 'other' things that happened on Friday.

What do you do about clean up.  FEMA did not exist! Nothing could be done until Sunday, that was the law of the land.   Saturday/Sabbath for the Jews was a day of rest and work was not allowed.  What do you do with the rubble, the injured, the missing, the mess? What if your house was one that was damaged?  What if your preparations for the Sabbath had been undone or destroyed in the quake?                                            

The Temple.  A beautiful structure that was the center of everything within Jerusalem had been rearranged by its owner and designer, God.   It is a mess in more ways than one.  The Veil, the Sacred Curtain that separated man from God was destroyed. Because the Messiah and Savior had come.  People could look into that place of awe and of mystery.  What does all of this mean?  Who could have torn this down?  Confusion must have been reigning. 

If this happened yesterday in our time and culture the news would have been Tweeted, News Coverage be it CNN or Fox would be running footage of the disaster. Head lines and Tweets would read:
#Friday's crucifixion caused riots
#Roman police pulled into the fray of Crucifixion
#Unexplained black out
#Scary Friday
#Astronomers trying to figure out why everything went black from noon to three
#Chaos
#3 hours of pure fear
#Earthquake
#Creepy, graves opened up
#Help needed Jerusalem is a mess
#Homes crumbled

A SIGN AT THE TEMPLE GATE. בית סגור    Temple Closed until further notice!

God spoke through out this crucifixion process.  The Old Testament prophecies this event.  God made Himself known through His son, Jesus. 

The thief on the cross saw that Jesus was more than a mere man.  He made Jesus his Lord and Savior.   The Roman Centurion noted that Jesus was no mere man.  God spoke through His creation and no one could ignore that this death, this day was beyond ordinary. 

This messy Saturday was in the face of everyone.  What do you do with man who claimed to be the Messiah, the I AM, God?  What do you when all natures revolts because one man has been crucified?

Sunday brings another set of issues for the people to face, but today, Saturday is a real mess.