Darkness came over the land for three hours before Jesus gave up his spirit. This signified God's forsaking of his Son on the cross. God hid his face from his Son. Jesus cried out, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" Then Jesus cried out again and then gave up his spirit. The Jewish leadership and the Romans thought they had defeated Jesus. But this wasn't the case! This was a momentous, global event. The whole earth shook, rocks split, tombs broke open, and many holy people were raised from the dead. All of this led one Roman solider to proclaim, "Surely this was the Son of God!" When we hear the story of Jesus' death, this should also be our response.

A disciple of Jesus, Joseph of Arimathea, bravely went to Pilate and asked for his body in order to bury it. He prepared the body and put it into a new tomb. Two Marys were sitting across from the tomb, waiting and praying. Pilate put a seal over the tomb in case someone stole the body in order to claim he had been raised.


Application: Father, thank you so much for Jesus, who died on the cross for us.
One Word: Jesus died for us