Matthew 28:8-10: “Death, where is your victory?”

“Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee,” Jesus to the women, Matthew 28:10. 

“Death did not overtake Jesus on that Friday. In the Garden He stalked death like a hunter. On the Cross He slew death like a soldier. ‘Fear not those who can kill the body,’ He told us.   And then He went ahead of us.  To show us how it's done. “(Pastor Ronnie Stevens, Danube Intl Church, Budapest, Hungary; Easter 2013) 

“…If you and I are friends, there is an expectancy that exists within our relationship.  When we see each other or are apart, there is expectancy of being together, of laughing and talking...  But what happens if I change that ‘expectancy’ to an ‘expectation’ – spoken or unspoken?  Suddenly law has entered our relationship.  You are now expected to perform in a way that meets my expectations.  Our living friendship rapidly deteriorates into a dead thing with rules and requirements.”  (William P. Young, The Shack, p. 205). 

Even though the women did as they were told by the angel (v. 7), when they departed quickly from the tomb, they were filled with the conflicting emotions of fear and great joy as they ran to tell his disciples (v. 8).    Mark says that the “trembling and astonishment had seized them and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid,” (Mark 16:8).

Maybe this is why Jesus chose then to make his first appearance at this time to the women.  Behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!”   And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him, (v. 9).  His appearing to the women and his admonishment, “Do not be afraid,” (v. 10) could very well have been to keep the women on task to “tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead,” (v. 7).   Also, Jesus’ words to the women (“Do not be afraid”) are consistent with how glorified beings speak to God-fearing humans, as noted in the previous devotion. 

Additionally, Jesus does not rebuke the women for worshiping him the way a mere prophet would rebuke worship directed toward himself.  (See Paul’s response to being worshiped in Acts 14:11-15).   Rather, Jesus receives their worship.  This is strong evidence for Jesus seeing Himself as deity, worthy of worship.  When the line is drawn between “worshiper” and “worshipee,” Jesus clearly puts himself on the side of those deserving worship (see also 28:17 and John 20:28).  The women worshiping Jesus here foreshadows all of creation worshiping Christ in Revelation chapter 5. 

Jesus continues: “go and tell my brothers…” (v. 10).   Did you catch that?  Jesus refers to the disciples as brothers.   In spite of their denials and lack of faith, Jesus calls the disciples brothers.   Furthermore, we have Jesus, conqueror of death, glorified in body, very God of very God, speaking of the weak and frightened disciples as brothers.  

What a beautiful picture of grace!    God’s grace is not about your performance or your appearance or your own goodness.   Grace is about drawing near, knowing that the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin.   Jesus has replaced failed expectations with glad expectancy.  He tells the disciples “to go to Galilee.”   Because “there,” Jesus says, “they will see me,” (v. 10).  He wants to see them there!  He wants to be with them, rejoice with them, fellowship with them.   

The disciples’ certain expectation of condemnation, death and disappointment from Jesus have been replaced with the expectancy of acceptance, forgiveness, relationships and new life.   Is it any wonder that from this point forward the disciples were willing to die for their Master?  What do you project in your relationships: expectancy or expectations? 

Additionally, “He is the first-born among many brothers,” (Romans 8:29).   “If the Spirit of him who raised Christ Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you,” (Romans 8:11).   The indwelling Spirit in us is “the guarantee of our inheritance,” (Ephesians 1:14), of our own resurrection since he is the “firstfruits” (1 Corinthians 15:20,23) of all who will rise again! 

Death is not the grim reaper ushering us to our grave.  Rather, death is now the butler that ushers us to our greatest love, Jesus.   Death becomes the ceremony where we will put on new wedding clothes.  “The perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on the immortality.” And we shall raise the anthem, “O death where is your victory? O death where is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:54-55).   We will look at each other and declare, “This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation!” (Isaiah 25:9).   He has risen!  He has risen indeed!  Hallelujah!  

Matthew 28:5-7: “Go Quickly and Tell.”

On the door of the tomb in the Garden Tomb, a likely location for the burial and resurrection of Jesus, just outside Jerusalem.  (My photo taken April 2012)

“He is not here, for he has risen,” the angel to the women at the tomb of Jesus, Matthew 28:6

“Round the tomb of Him they'd slain.  They set a guard...In vain! In vain!”  (Charles Spurgeon)

These three great facts--the resurrection appearances, the empty tomb, and the origin of the Christian faith--all point unavoidably to one conclusion: The resurrection of Jesus. Today the rational man can hardly be blamed if he believes that on that first Easter morning a divine miracle occurred. (Dr. William Lane Craig, "Contemporary Scholarship and the Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ," www.reasonablefaith.org) 

The greatest tragedies in human history, the most deaths, the most mayhem, the most destruction has come when man has directly alienated himself from God and sought to govern and rule without him.   Man cannot hope in himself, others, angels or planet earth.  Man is bound as a prisoner to the chains of his own mortality.  He cannot escape his own futility; he cannot escape the grave.  But Christ has broken the chains!  He has reversed the curse; he has risen from the dead.  In him and him alone we can hope! 

But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid,” (v. 5).  Those words were not directed to the guards who “trembled and became like dead men,” (v. 4).  They were directed to the women.   Undoubtedly the women were afraid too, but, unlike the guards, they had good reason to not be frightened.     First, they were told by the heavenly messenger, “Do not be afraid.”   Another thread found in Scripture regarding mortal man’s encounters with a heavenly glorified being is that man is told, “Do not be afraid.”  (For example, see Luke 1:30, 2:10, Revelation 1:17.)

The second reason the women did not need to be frightened is that their faith was in the correct object. Their faith was small, like a mustard seed, but it was in the person of Jesus Christ.  The angel said, “for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified,” (v. 5).   Even in this hour of despair, even in what they thought were the worst of circumstances, the women still sought Jesus.  On the other hand, the guards were aware that the tomb was empty.  But instead of running to Jesus, they ran from Jesus (v. 11).

The angels then said the greatest words ever heard by man on this celestial piece of rock: “He is not here, for he has risen, as he said,” (v. 6).  And surely the women were not thinking resurrection when they arrived at the tomb, for they had come to anoint the body with spices (see Mark 16:1).   The angel had to remind them that Jesus had predicted his rising from the dead (see Matthew 16:21, 17:23, 20:19, 26:32).  Still the women probably responded with blank stares since they had neither expectation nor category for their beloved Lord to rise on the third day.   So the angel ushered them into the tomb and said, “Come, see the place where he lay,” (v. 6). 

"Come see the place where he lay," Matthew 28:6.   Inside the tomb at the Garden Tomb. 

The angel continued: “Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him.  See, I have told you, (v. 7).”  The time for worship will come.  But the women’s first immediate response is to “go quickly and tell.”   The greatest news ever has been given to humanity; how DARE we keep it to ourselves.   The only natural reaction is to “go quickly and tell.”  In this case it was to “tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead.”   Our Lord, in his mercy, did not hide this truth from those who denied him and who fled when he was arrested.    In fact, the weak disciples were the first to be told!  The mercy of our God! 

The angels had to repeat what the disciples never grasped, even though they were listening.   In Matthew 26:32, Jesus said, “But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.”  Much has transpired since Jesus said that to Peter and his disciples on Thursday night.   Therefore, the angels needed to repeat it and affirm it.   Sweet, sweet times of worship, rejoicing, fellowship and commissioning lay before them.   But it will be done away from Jerusalem and its animosity toward Jesus.  Our Lord, even in his glorified state, chose to be near his earthly home in familiar surroundings.

Let us not trust in ourselves; no amount of faith in our own goodness will save us.   But if we trust in Him and his power over death, then we will not be disappointed. This earth has no claim on you; death no longer has the final word over you! Soon and very soon we will be with our Lord forever! Until then, “go quickly and tell” a world enslaved by death that he has risen from the dead!   He has risen indeed! 

Matthew 28:1-4: Death Conquered

For an angel of the Lord…came and rolled back the stone and sat on it.  (Matthew 28:2)

Annibale Carracci The Holy Women at Christ's Tomb, circa 1597

“Mr. Graham, outside of the resurrection of Jesus, I do not know of any other hope for this world.”  (The response of Konrad Adenauer, chancellor of West German from 1949-1963.  In a meeting with Billy Graham, he looked Graham in the eye and said, “Do you believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead?” Graham, somewhat surprised by the directness of the question answered, “Of course, I do.” Can Man Live Without God? Ravi Zacharias, p. 164-165) 

The resurrection of Jesus is not an epilogue, rather it is the climax.   Christ’s rising is not a footnote or an appendix, it is the main event.  The resurrection validates all that Christ said, claimed and did; it affirms His miracles and His teachings.   If the gospels stopped at the cross, then we have a religion built upon the weak shoulders of just another good guy who came to a tragic end.   But the empty tomb has the final word; now we know we are forgiven and reconciled with Almighty God!  There is no lasting hope, deeper joy, or greater news, than Christ has risen from the dead! 

Paul, speaking of our hope because of the resurrection of the “First Fruits” (see 1 Corinthians 15:23), said: “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.” (Romans 8:11)  Therefore with great joy and courage we can say with Paul, “If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord.  So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s,” (Romans 14:8). 

Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb, (v. 1).   They were unaware that they were about to witness the greatest moment ever in the history of mankind!  The two Marys that Matthew mentions, along with several other women, shared the weak faith of the disciples, seemingly ignorant of His promise to rise from the dead.    In fact, they had come to anoint his body with spices and they wondered who would roll away the stone so they could enter the tomb (see Mark 16:1-3).

And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it, (v. 2).  The women had their answer but it was not among the list of options that they had considered.   But isn’t that like our Jesus?  Often times He answers our prayers in ways we don’t expect. The more we learn to trust Him, the bigger we see Him.  

The appearance of the angel was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow, (v. 3).   There are common themes in the Bible that describe what a glorified being looks like, whether an angel or even the Lord. When Jesus was transfigured “his clothes became radiant, intensely white,” (Mark 9:3).  Paul was blinded by a light from heaven that out shown the desert noontime sun when Christ appeared to him, (Acts 22:6,11).   Even Moses’ face shone after his encounter with God (Exodus 34:29-30).

And for fear of him, the angel, the guards trembled and became like dead men (v. 4).  Again, this is a common response when mortal man is confronted by a heavenly being.   The shepherds “were filled with fear,” (Luke 2:9); John fell at the feet of the glorified Jesus “as though dead,” (Revelation 1:17).   Man, both saved and unsaved, have a view of God that is way too small.   I have talked to “atheists” who say they cannot wait to challenge God on the Day of Judgment.   Fools!

But we, as his redeemed children,, have tasted the kindness of our God.   For He is the universe’s greatest expression of love, power, and justice.   The cross and the empty tomb speak of the wonder of our God.  Gaze into the night sky and worship the Creator of the stars!  He has conquered death!  Therefore may we live lives, not rooted in self-preservation, but in His resurrection!   “He is not here, for He has risen!” (v. 6)     

Matthew 27:62-66: The Faith of the Faithless

“that imposter said… ‘After three days I will arise.’” The chief priests and Pharisees to Pilate, Matthew 27:63. 

“Jesus was placed in a common grave, and covered over…In a very short time only some unmarked bones remained.  Even the bones were gone before too long.  Nature rather efficiently reclaims its own resources.”  (Episcopal bishop John Shelby Spong, Resurrection: Myth or Reality? p. 241) 

“If China was closed for 40 years to Western missionaries, it’s not because Jesus slipped and fell into the tomb. He stepped in.  And when it was sealed over, he saved 50 million Chinese from inside – without Western missionaries.  And when it was time, he pushed the stone away so we could see what he had done.  When it looks like he is buried for good, Jesus is doing something awesome in the dark.”  (John Piper, A Godward Life, Book Two, p. 124)

The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation for the Sabbath, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate (v. 62). The Moody Gospel Commentary states, “There must have been genuine fear in the hearts of these hypocrites for them to violate their own strict Sabbath observances to meet with the governor.” 

In 2012 I visited the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem.  Like everyone else, I had to enter through a metal detector.  A sign at the security check point said, “The chief rabbis of Israel have ruled that walking through the metal detector system does not violate Shabbat or festivals.”  The Jewish faith has always taken very seriously their laws regarding the Sabbath.  The religious elite criticized Jesus repeatedly for violating the Sabbath (Matthew 12:10, Luke 13:14, John 5:10, 9:16).  Yet they saw no conflict in setting aside the Sabbath laws when it served their purposes.

They said, “Sir, we remember how that imposter said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise,” (v. 63).  The chief priests and Pharisees could not bring themselves to even say His name.   They found Jesus so offensive that they spoke of Him as “that imposter.”  After a lifetime of engaging others about Christ, Josh McDowell makes a similar observation: “You can talk about God and people don’t necessarily get upset, but mention Jesus and people want to stop the conversation.”  (Josh McDowell, More Than a Carpenter, p. 9)

Jesus spoke frequently of His coming resurrection: Matthew 12:40, 16:21, 17:23, and 20:19.  Ironically, it was the chief priests who took seriously these predictions of His rising from the dead while the disciples seemed to have forgotten them and fled when things got difficult (see 26:56).  

“Therefore,” the chief priests and Pharisees continued before Pilate, “order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead.’ And the last fraud will be worse than the first,” (v. 64).  In spite of His love, His claims, His miracles, His teachings, still the religious authorities of Israel considered Him a fraud.  Even His resurrection will not convince them.   The religious heart without the renewing work of the Holy Spirit is easily fooled by its own self-importance.

Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers.  Go, make it as secure as you can,” (v. 65).  Pilate’s statement “you have a guard” may mean that Pilate granted their wish and assigned Roman guards to the tomb.   However, it is possible Pilate’s response was cynical and implied, “Do it yourself.  Use guards from the temple and not from my soldiers.”  After all, the guards went first to the chief priests to report the resurrection (see 28:11).   

So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard. (v. 66) There is no way now that those feisty disciples can steal the body!   There is a wax seal that will break if anyone tampers with the tomb and there are guards stationed at the tomb as well.    But like Elijah calling for water to be poured on the sacrifice (see 1 Kings 18:33-35), the stage has been set so that only God can get the credit for what happens next! 

The chief priests and Pharisees had the facts right; they knew the Lord predicted His resurrected. Even the demons have their theology correct (see James 2:19).  But proper facts and theology do not imply a heart right with God.   On the other hand, the disciples had weak faith.  But their faith was in the correct object: Christ Jesus.   A head full of the right information does not imply a heart full of the Holy Spirit.   How is your heart?   Is your trust in yourself and your ability to live a religious life?   If so, then the cross will be foolishness to you (see 1 Corinthians 1:18).   Are you frustrated by your spiritual weaknesses and instead trust on Jesus?    Then you will know the power of God!   

Matthew 27:57-60: Joseph, Out of the Shadows

Sisto Badalocchio, The Entombment of Christ, 1610

“And Joseph took the body [of Jesus] and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud.”  Matthew 27:59

"I thank you for this. Tear off my old garment, for I will soon put on Christ's garment of righteousness."  (A Christian in India said these words to his persecutors as they skinned him alive; Radical, p. 35, David Platt.)

Joseph of Arimathea is one of the New Testament’s most overlooked saints, yet one of its most courageous. When it was evening  (v. 57) and his Master was crucified and dead, Joseph’s mind was a whirl of emotions. But his convictions would lead him to only one conclusion and one obvious action, even if it may cost him everything. 

Joseph was broken-hearted.  “This is the last straw,” he probably proclaimed to himself while gazing up at the lifeless corpse of Jesus.   Joseph had heard about the mockery of a trial that the fellow members of the ruling council of the Jews had given Jesus the night before.  He knew that they spit on Him, beat Him, mocked Him and found Him guilty of blasphemy and decided to put Him to death (see 26:65-68), even though the outcome was determined before the trial even began.

Or maybe Joseph was at the trial and was one of the few who, according to Luke 23:51 “had not consented to their decision and action.”    Regardless, Joseph was angry. And he no longer trusted those on the Council, of whom he was one. He was tired of their hypocrisy and power-plays.    Jesus was right: they are a “brood of vipers” (23:33).

Joseph was also scared.  What will they do to him when they find out he is a disciple of Jesus (v. 57)? Will Pilate hunt down His disciples and kill them too?  Maybe he should just slip away from Golgotha and disappear into the thinning crowd.  After all, being rich, from out of town (Arimathea was near Galilee) as well as a member of the Council, has its advantages. And Joseph doubted.  If Jesus was Messiah, then why was He rejected?  Why was the kingdom not restored to Israel?  Why did God let His chosen one die?

Yet Joseph was a righteous man, “looking for the kingdom of God,” (Mark 15:43; Luke 23:51). He surely drew courage from Moses who left Pharaoh’s household and decided rather to suffer “with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin,” (Hebrews 11:25).   There were men like Abraham, Noah and David, who followed God even at great risk and personal cost.   Even Jesus’ teaching about taking up one’s cross now had a whole new meaning as Joseph gazed upon him who they had pierced.  Joseph made up his mind to not be a man-pleaser but a God-pleaser (see Galatians 1:10).    His new resolve led him to insist that his Master have a proper and timely burial according to Jewish law (see Deuteronomy 21: 22-23).

Even though he “was a respected member of the Council” (Mark 15:43), Joseph had to summon all the courage he had as he went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus (v. 58).  Joseph was ready for whatever would be Pilate’s response.  Once his request had been given, Joseph closed his eyes and grimaced, expecting to be struck or seized, just like his Master had been the night before. Surprisingly though, Pilate ordered it to be given to him (v. 59). Pilate had not arrested him; Pilate even granted his request.   Joseph gave a heavy sigh; his faith had held.  

Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean, linen shroud and laid it in his own new tomb which he had cut in the rock.  And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away (vv. 59-60). He received help from his friend Nicodemus who was also on the Council, and who was likely among the few dissenting voices Luke mentioned.  Like Joseph, Nicodemus was a secret follower of Jesus (see John 3:1 and John19:39).  MacArthur captures this irony:  “Those who had followed Jesus in the light had fled into the darkness and those who had followed in fear in the darkness, now stepped forward courageously into the light.”   

His Master was now receiving a proper burial.  Now all he could do was to wait on the Lord, even though he didn’t know how or for how long.  Through the brokenness, fear and anger, Joseph’s weak faith flickered anew.

How is your faith being challenged?  How is God telling you to leave the shadows and follow Him?  Joseph is now among the great cloud of witnesses that surrounds us.  Therefore “let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is before us, looking to Jesus…”(Hebrews 12:1-2).  

Matthew 27:55, 56, 61: Jesus Values Women in a World that Doesn’t

Guercino's painting "Jesus and the Samaritan Woman at the Well" (1640-1641) from John chapter 4.   Jesus broke cultural and religious barriers just to speak with this woman.  

“There were also many women there…who followed Jesus from Galilee,” Matthew 27:55

“Lo, I shall lead her in order to make her a male, so  that she too may become a living spirit, resembling you males.  For every woman who makes herself male will enter into the kingdom of heaven.”  (The apocryphal Gospel of Thomas, claiming to be quoting Jesus)

All is now silent and dark.  The corpse of the Incarnate Son of God hangs on the cross.  People begin to wander away and leave.   But there were…many women there (v. 55) who stay.   During the crucifixion they were looking on from a distance (v. 55).   They had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him (v. 55).    Luke says that it was a group of women “who provided for” Jesus and His disciples during His public ministry “out of their means,” (Luke 8:3).

We live in a world that does not value women; Abortion, as dark as it is, has taken a hideous turn.   A rapidly growing abortion practice world-wide is “gendercide,” choosing to abort because the fetus is female.     Many women who survive the womb are born into societies that do not value them. 

In many cultures women cannot drive or vote.   In China, the “one-child-only” policy has led to many couples abandoning, even killing, their newborn daughters.   Women are disproportionately the victims in human trafficking and pornography world-wide, including in America.  

In Biblical times women fared no better.    An ancient Jewish prayer offered by men contained the phrase, “Blessed are you, O Lord our God, who has not made me a woman.”  Women were and are frequently used as a commodity to be consumed and discarded.

But Jesus did not act as the rest of the world.  He expressed dignity to women in a world that was cold and indifferent.  He redeemed prostitutes when others wanted them stoned. He spoke to women in public when others declared them unclean.  Doug Clark at.enrichmentjournal.ag.org, writes: “Twenty-four times in [the gospel of] Luke, Jesus either met a woman, talked about a woman, or mentioned a woman in a parable. All of these 24 times are instructive and positive.”

A woman who is a worshiper of Jesus Christ is truly a liberated woman, set free from the bondages of this world’s social, political and religious systems. 

Therefore it is no surprise that when His disciples had fled at His arrest (see 26:56), some women remained near Jesus all the way to the cross.  And beyond.  Among those at the scene of His crucifixion were Mary Magdalene from whom Jesus had casted seven demons (Luke 8:2) and Mary the mother of James and Joseph and the mother of the sons of Zebedee (v. 56).

The love and acceptance that Christ showed women was poured out across all segments of society, from the wives of fishermen to those in the higher rungs of power.  “Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s household manager “ (Luke 8:3) was counted among Jesus’ followers.  Lydia (Acts 16:14-15) and Phoebe (Romans 16:1-2) were women of wealth and prestige in the early church who followed Christ.  There is reason to suspect even Pilate’s wife was a follower of Jesus.

Regardless of their past and/or current social status, the hearts of these women had been won, their dignity restored.  They refused to leave Him, even at His burial when Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, were there sitting opposite the tomb (v. 61). Maybe this is why women were the first who witnessed the empty tomb on Easter morning and the first to witness the Risen Lord!    

Matthew 27:51-54: “Truly this was the Son of God”

“Truly this was the Son of God.” The centurion, keeping watch at the cross, proclaiming Jesus, Matthew 27:54

“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean…”  (Hebrews 10:19-22)

“Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people.’”  (Ezekiel 37:12-13)

The Lamb of God has been sacrificed.  At the moment of His choosing, Jesus “yielded up His spirit,” (27:50).  This is not just the death of one of God’s prophets; this is the death of the incarnate God that changes the entire course of history. As the ESV Study Bible says of this passage, “a new order of things…was now in the process of dawning.”  In order to emphasize this, Matthew records three extra-ordinary, supra-natural events that accompanied the physical death of Jesus.   Matthew also calls our attention to these events by beginning with And behold (v. 51).

The first of the three events is darkness (see v. 45).  The second is the curtain of the temple was torn in two (v. 51).   This was no mere damage report given to a local claims agent; the theological implication of the temple curtain being torn is IMMENSE.   There were two curtains in the temple, one separated the court of Gentiles from the court of the Jews; behind the second curtain was “the Most Holy Place,” (Hebrews 9:3) where the chief priest entered once a year “not without taking blood, which he offers for…the sins of the people,” (Hebrews 9:7). 

Matthew does not specify which curtain was torn.  But the meaning of either curtain being torn is the same.     According to Romans 8:3 (NASB), “What the Law could not do,” in providing a permanent forgiveness, “God did. Sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin,” the temple is no longer needed as the place of reconciliation.  And note the tear’s direction:  from top to bottom (v. 51).  God did it. D.A. Carson explains why, “Jesus Himself is the New Temple, the meeting place of God and man.” (See Revelation 21:22, Exodus 19:6, Ezekiel 11:16.) 

The third supra-natural event is that 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 (vv. 51-52). Matthew’s main objective of his gospel is to show that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Messianic prophesies.  Matthew includes this episode, while the other gospel writers do not, as a way of linking the prophecy of Ezekiel’s dry bones (Ezekiel 37) with its fulfillment in Christ.

This painting is from the walls of the Dura-Europos synagogue located in modern day Syria.   The painting is of Ezekiel's vision of the Valley of Dry Bones from Ezekiel 37.  Maybe I am reading (seeing) too much into this but even though Ezekiel speaks of the graves being opened, Matthew speaks of the rocks splitting as seen here in this painting. 

1 Corinthians 15:20 also refers to Christ as the “firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” Firstfruits is a reference to the Old Testament festivals where the first fruits of a harvest were given as a sacrifice (see Exodus 23:16, Leviticus 23:9-10, Nehemiah 10:35-37). The fact that the coming out of the tombs did not happen till after his resurrection identifies Christ as the fulfillment of Israel’s first fruits festival.  Once raised, they went into the holy city and appeared to many (v. 53). Essentially, Matthew’s point was, “Ask around and you will find someone who witnessed this resurrection.” 

A lot has happened over the past 24 hours, of which many of the Roman soldiers witnessed and even participated in: From the arrest of Jesus to the trials, to the beatings and tortures to the crucifixion.   They also witnessed the love, patience, self-control, forgiveness and determination that Jesus displayed.   Therefore it is no surprise that when the centurion, likely the soldier in charge of the crucifixion, 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!” (v. 54)

This man, who endured great injustice and pain, did so without uttering a curse.   He predicted His death yet did not flee.   Incredible events happened at the moment of His death.  Who do you say He was?  Just another good guy who was in the wrong place at the wrong time?  Or do you believe, like the centurion, that He is the Son of God?