Luke 23:44-49

⁴⁴ It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon,⁴⁵ for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.⁴⁶ Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.

⁴⁷ The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.”⁴⁸ When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away.⁴⁹ But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things

“Father, into your hands…”

It is at this moment in history, about 2000 years ago, that Jesus, the Son of God, the one and only God of the universe, died on the cross. Our faith as Christians is not just a set of ideas. It is not just a list of moral rules to follow, or an obscure philosophy. Our faith is based in Jesus Christ, God, who became man, and who physically stepped into our world in history.

We as Christians worship a God who is completely radical and different from the idols of our world. Around Jesus’ time, all in the Roman Empire were forced to proclaim “Caesar is Lord.” These were rulers who ruled with iron fists, with fear, military power, and blood. We as Christians proclaim, “Jesus is Lord,” the only Lord. Jesus who came in love, humility, and care. Jesus who sat with children. Jesus who cared for prostitutes. Jesus who communed with lepers. Jesus who loves us so much that he took our sins upon himself and was crucified so that we can live with him in eternity. This Jesus is Lord. Romans 5:8 says: But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

I encourage you today: take time to meditate on Christ dying for you; remember his pain, remember his suffering, and most of all remember his love ─ the love that he has for you right at this moment.

But as we know, this is not how the story ends. God is triumphant over death. Jesus was resurrected bodily and is alive today. And this passage for today gives us hope and gives us a small foretaste of what is to come in the book of Acts: And the curtain of the temple was torn in two (Luke 23:45b). Through Jesus' death, and the forgiveness of sins that he offers, the curtain in the temple that separated humans from the presence of God was torn in half. Jesus has brought us into an intimate relationship with him, and into his presence. And just a short time later, at Pentecost, God the Holy Spirit alights on the believers. God has torn the curtain, and has made us, his followers, temples of the Holy Spirit. God is with us, and he is in us. Praise him!