Amelia Church of Christ - Christian Church in Amelia, OH near Cincinnati in Clermont County

Have you ever experienced something that made time stand still? Something that, as it was happening, you knew that you would remember this forever. You knew that you would never be the same because of what you were experiencing that very moment.

In some of those time-freezing moments, we see the very face of evil. All of us remember where we were when we first heard about the 9/11 attacks. The sights and sounds we experienced will never be forgotten.

Or maybe your moment is more personal. You’ll never forget what you felt the moment you learned that this person that you love has cancer…and it’s terminal. The moment is forever burned in your soul when your spouse said the words, “I want a divorce.” You will always remember the moment when your child quietly slipped from life to death.

Sometimes, in these frozen-in-time moments, we see the very face of evil. Other times, we see the very face of God.

You will never forget when the doctor handed you your new baby for the first time. You can’t forget how you felt when that relationship that had been so broken was finally mended. You’ll always remember the feeling when you knew you had achieved a dream that almost everybody else thought was impossible.

Sometimes, in these frozen-in-time moments, we see the very face of evil. Other times, we see the very face of God. And sometimes, we see both at the same time.

This morning you’ve been flooded with sights and sounds of the cross. The cross of Jesus Christ is the apex of human history. It is a moment frozen in time, when we see the very face of evil and the very face of God. The face of evil in the brutal, unrelenting cruelty of those who killed Jesus. The face of God in a loving Savior who willingly endured it all.

The Bible tells us in Matthew 27, “From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"—which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split.

The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, "Surely he was the Son of God!" (Matthew 27:45-46, 50-54, NIV)

Crucifixions were a normal occurrence under Roman rule in first century culture. The Roman government regularly carried out capital punishment by crucifixion. According to historical records, the Romans sometimes crucified as many as 2,000 people at a time. Imagine 2,000 crosses lining the roads of Palestine. It was a brutal, barbaric culture.

But out of the thousands upon thousands of crucifixions carried out by the Roman government, this one was different. The crucifixion of Jesus Christ stood out from the rest. How could it not?

As we break this story apart this morning, we’re going to notice several things that were ripped by the death of Jesus Christ.

First of all, when Jesus was on the cross, the sun was ripped away. But this wasn’t sunset. Things went black in the middle of the day. From noon to 3:00, an inexplicable darkness fell across the whole land.

This just doesn’t happen. If you walk outside at noon today and the sun just disappears and all of a sudden it is black as midnight, you’re going to freak out! You’re not rub your chin thoughtfully and say, “My, my…what an interesting celestial phenomenon. I must find out what could possibly cause such an astrological disruption.” You’re not going to do that. You’re going to wig out, dude!

Darkness has the power to flat freak us out, doesn’t it? It started when we were kids. Most of you probably slept with a nightlight because the darkness was just too scary. My son, Ryan, always makes sure that his Buzz Lightyear nightlight is working before he goes to bed. Darkness can be a scary thing.

About a month ago, Nicki and I went out to dinner, just the two of us. We went to Texas Roadhouse. Yeah, buddy. They built that place for carnivores like me. You say, “Well, I’m a vegetarian.” Good! More steak for me.

After dinner, we walked out to the car. The sun had set while were in the restaurant, so it was getting dark fast. I started the car, turned on the headlights, and then I got really irritated, really quickly. We had just replaced the battery in our car. I looked down at the lights on the dashboard, and they were really dim. It looked like they were barely on. And I went off… “I can’t believe this. This is a brand new battery. Look at these lights. This battery they sold us is a piece of junk.” I went on and on and on.

My wife looked at me and very calmly said, “The lights might look brighter if you took your sunglasses off.”

Yep. I’m a genius. And yep. My wife laughed the entire way home.

The darkness freaked me out. Things were dark and I immediately assumed something was wrong. You think the people of Jerusalem knew something was wrong the day Jesus died?

They woke up, thinking it was going to be an average Friday. Just gotta get through work and then it’s on to the weekend. And then at noon, blam! The sun goes out and everything goes dark. For three hours, they walked around in pitch black darkness.

And some of you know what that feels like. You walk around in the dark every single day of your life. Every time you think you’ve found a way to turn the light on, you find more darkness.

If I can just find the right man or the right woman, everything will be great. If we could only have a baby, my life would be complete. If I could get that raise or that promotion, things would really come together. If I could afford that bigger house, I’d be set. If I go on this huge vacation, things will be awesome. If I buy that new car, life will be sweet.

If I get this, if I can do that, then everything in my life will be great. I’ll get out of the dark, the light will come on, and everything will just be peaches and cream. And it never happens, does it?

Some of you have been in the dark so long that you’ve taken a different approach. You’ve been in the dark so long that you’ve given up on trying to turn on the light. So instead, you turn off everything. If I drink enough, then I won’t feel anything. If I sniff, or smoke, or shoot up enough, then I won’t care that my life is nothing but darkness. I can’t find the light, so I’ll just turn off the dark. Feeling nothing is better than feeling the fear and pain of my dark life?

And it never works, does it? Eventually you wake up enough to realize that things are even darker than they were before.

Ready for some good news? You don’t have to stay where you are. You don’t have to stay in the dark. Check out what the Bible says in the book of Job.

“When he prays to God, he will be accepted. And God will receive him with joy and restore him to good standing. He will declare to his friends, ‘I sinned and twisted the truth, but it was not worth it. God rescued me from the grave, and now my life is filled with light.’

Yes, God does these things again and again for people. He rescues them from the grave so they may enjoy the light of life.” (Job 33:26-30, NLT)

As you take inventory of your life today, do you need rescued from the darkness? Are you tired of trying to fill the emptiness in your life with everything in the world? Your search can stop today. “God does these things again and again for people. He rescues them from the grave so they may enjoy the light of life.” How does he do it? Look at the next thing that was ripped in the crucifixion story.

“And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.” (Matthew 27:50-51a, NIV)

When Jesus died, the temple curtain was ripped apart.

That doesn’t sound all that impressive at first. You’ve got to understand the setting. The temple was the place of worship for the Jewish people in the Old Testament. The temple was composed of a series of courts or rooms. Gentiles, or non-Jews, could come as far as the Court of the Gentiles. Women could come a little closer, to the Court of Women. Jewish men could enter as far as the Court of Israel. Priests were allowed to advance a little further; they were granted access to the Court of the Priests. But the innermost part of the temple, the Holy of Holies or the Most Holy Place, was off limits even for priests.

This room, this Holy of Holies, symbolized the very presence of God. No one could enter the Most Holy Place, except the High Priest. And he could only enter one day a year, on the Day of Atonement. He would enter this room with the blood of an unblemished goat, whose death symbolically paid the price for the sins of Israel during the previous year.

There was a curtain in the temple that hung at the entrance of this room. It was there to block access to the Most Holy Place. And you’re thinking, “A curtain doesn’t seem like much of a barrier.” This was no ordinary curtain. Not like the drapes or valances hanging on your windows at home. Not by a long shot. This puppy was 60 feet long, 90 feet high, and 4 inches thick. It was so big and so heavy that it required 300 men to maneuver it. You’re not going to find this curtain at Bed, Bath, and Beyond.

And this curtain, this massive barrier, was ripped in two from top to bottom when Jesus died on the cross. This 90 foot high wall was ripped from top to bottom by the hand of God. And he had a great reason for ripping this thing apart.

When the Jewish people came to worship at the temple, this curtain always stood there as a barrier, a wall separating them from the presence of God. Instead of a welcome mat, they found a locked door. It might as well have been a flashing neon sign that said, “Keep Out.” “No Trespassing.” “Access Denied.” This curtain was God’s not-so-subtle way of telling common people that they could not come into his presence.

But then Jesus came. Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life. Jesus was arrested for nothing. Tried and convicted by a kangaroo court. Sentenced to be beaten within an inch of his life, and then hung on a cross with spikes driven through his wrists and ankles. By dying a death that he didn’t have to die, he paid the price for our sins so that we wouldn’t have to. He takes our sin, we receive his sinless perfection. All of a sudden, God looks at us and sees spotless, holy perfection. All of a sudden, in the blink of an eye, every sinful thought you’ve ever had, every sinful word you’ve ever spoken, every sinful thing you’ve ever done is wiped away. And since you have no sin, there is nothing separating you from God. The barrier between you and God has been ripped apart. You now have full, complete access to the very presence of God.

The Bible says it this way. “Then I will forget about their sins and no longer remember their evil deeds." When sins are forgiven, there is no more need to offer sacrifices.

My friends, the blood of Jesus gives us courage to enter the most holy place by a new way that leads to life! And this way takes us through the curtain that is Christ himself.” (Hebrews 10:17-20, CEV)

This is why we don’t have to wander in the dark anymore. Because Jesus paid the price for our sin by dying on the cross, the wall of separation between us and God has been ripped apart.

We have access to God, and the Bible says that, “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:5b, NIV)

Our lives were dark, but Jesus ripped down the wall of separation. Now we have access to the God of light. But it gets even better. Look at the next rip in the crucifixion story.

“The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life.” (Matthew 27:51b-52, NIV)

When Jesus died, tombs were ripped open. Just when the people of Jerusalem thought things couldn’t get any weirder, there was a huge earthquake. So powerful that rocks split apart. Tombs broke open and dead people started coming back to life. This was the ultimate Freaky Friday.

When the tombs ripped open, God’s purpose really started to come into focus. Think about the progression of our story. We had been living in darkness, separated from God. Jesus’ death ripped away the wall of separation, so we see the light of God, a way out of our darkness. And that light allows us to see the new life that he wants to give us. God has the power to destroy darkness and death and to give new light and new life.

As I said in the video earlier, death is the most powerful force in our world. No matter what we do, death is still coming for us. You can eat the healthiest diet in the world. Eat nothing but twigs and tree bark, never touching red meat because you’re saving it all for me…and you know what’s gonna happen? You’re gonna die!

You can exercise like a madman. Run 20 miles a day. Do 5,000 sit ups every morning. You can yoga, tae bo, jazzercise, whatever you want to do…and you’re gonna die!

Death is inevitable. It’s the one unstoppable force in our world. Physical death is coming for all of us. But maybe you’re experiencing a premature death. You’re heart is still beating, your brain is still waving, but inside, you’ve flat lined. You’re dead. If that’s you, then your heart is about to beat out of your chest right now because you know I’m talking to you. You’re alive, but only in the physical sense. Everything else about you is dying or dead.

Let this Scripture speak into your life.

“God saved us and chose us to be his holy people. We did nothing to deserve this, but God planned it because he is so kind. Even before time began God planned for Christ Jesus to show kindness to us.

Now Christ Jesus has come to show us the kindness of God. Christ our Savior defeated death and brought us the good news. It shines like a light and offers life that never ends.” (2 Timothy 1:9-10, CEV)

You don’t have to stumble through a lifeless existence anymore. You don’t have to simply exist. Because of what Jesus has done for you, you can actually live! You can know what it’s like to have a new start. You can experience a forgiveness that is total, absolute, complete. You can go through the rest of your life knowing that, when you stumble, when you mess things up, you have a God who is always willing to give you a second chance. You can live a life that actually has purpose, and hope, and peace.

But it ultimately comes down to a choice that you have to make. That choice comes out in the last thing that was ripped in our story.

The sun had gone dark, the temple curtain had been torn in two, there was a huge earthquake, breaking tombs wide open.

And then the Bible says, “When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, "Surely he was the Son of God!" (Matthew 27:54, NIV)

The final rip? When Jesus died, hearts were ripped in two.

The centurion was the Roman military commander who was in charge of the execution. Everything that happened to Jesus happened because he allowed it. The beating Jesus received, the crown of thorns driven into his skull, the people who spat on him and mocked him, the spikes driven into Jesus’ wrists and ankles…everything that happened to Jesus happened on this centurion’s watch. He was in charge of the whole deal.

And this guy, the very one who presided over the vicious murder of Jesus, saw the sun go dark. He saw the violent earthquake. And he stood back and said, “What have I done? Surely this was the Son of God.”

The man who was responsible for the cross had his heart ripped open by the cross.

And nothing has changed. Who was responsible for the cross? You and me. We are the reason the Son of God endured such a torturous death. We are responsible for the cross. The only question is have our hearts been broken by the cross? Has your heart been ripped in two by the sacrifice that God’s Son made for you?

If it has, you need to know that your broken heart is not the end of the story. The cross of Jesus breaks our hearts. The resurrection of Jesus mends it back together.

The story of Jesus didn’t end at 3:00 on that Friday afternoon. Three days later, on Sunday, Jesus rose to life again. It was the full and final defeat of death. It was the full and final defeat of the devil. And it was the full and final defeat for the pointless, hopeless lives that many people are leading. Think about it…if God has power over death, the most powerful force in our world, then what is happening in your life that he can’t handle?

Your addiction? Your troubled marriage? Your disappointment? Your abortion? Your emptiness? Your loneliness? Your sinfulness?

If God can lay down his own life and three days later claim it back again, what are you carrying around with you that he can’t carry for you? You don’t have anything in your life that surprises God. You don’t have anything in your life that supersedes God. Whatever it is, he can handle it.

Has your heart been broken by the death of Jesus? He can not only mend your heart, but he can give you a new life. The Bible says in 1 Peter, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you…” (1 Peter 1:3-4, NIV)

Because of the death and the resurrection of Jesus, you can have a new birth. A brand new life, full of a living hope. You can know that your eternity is set. You will spend your forever in the presence of God, no questions asked.

It all comes down to this…God wants to rip into you. He wants to rip away your past and your present in order to give you a far better future.

Let the ripping begin.

Mike Edmisten

Tags: Ripped, cross, crucifixion, Easter, grace, Jesus,