Good Friday Earthquakes
This is a homily from our Good Friday service (2023). For the trellis of our service, we followed the physical signs that Matthew recorded that accompanied the cross.
The sky grew dark.
The temple curtain tore in two.
The earth shook.
Each of these physical signs mirrored a spiritual reality about the cross.
Here is my homily on the earth shaking.
Listen to Matthew’s account of what happened as Jesus of Nazareth hung on the cross.
51 And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. 52 The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, 53 and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. 54 When the centurion 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!” (Matthew 27:51b-54)
I have to be honest, this is one of the events I wish we had more details about. Not only was there a significant earthquake but tombs were opened and saints who’d died were raised. What? I would have loved to have heard their testimony. Didn’t they know they could write a bestselling book and make a ton of money?
It’s interesting that Matthew alone adds the details about the earthquake and the resurrection. He’s telling us that the center of history is focused on Calvary’s Hill. The crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth is earth-shattering in the truest sense of the word. Creation itself is witnessing AND experiencing the divine intervention of the cross. The earthquake is telling us among other things that the death of Jesus is unlike any other death that had taken place.
Last Friday I was watching my daughter play volleyball over in the gym and there was an earthquake. It was one of those moments where you look at the people sitting next to you and ask, “Was that an earthquake?” It felt like someone threw a massive medicine ball against the side of the gym and shook the whole building. We did what you do these days to check if it was an earthquake - we hopped on Facebook. I’m convinced that people think there is a prize for being the first person to post when they feel an earthquake. Sure enough, a 4.5 magnitude earthquake located near Palomar Mountain.
Earthquakes have a way of reminding us that we’re small. They call on us to recognize the fact that we live in a very complex and fragile world. It’s actually quite terrifying if you spend too much time thinking about it. Maybe more than just a fragile world - a broken world. As Paul wrote to the Romans,
20 For the creation was subjected to futility… (Romans 8:20)
Tectonic plates moving underneath our feet that send reverberating effects through our atmosphere are a sign of the curse of sin.
Can we agree that the fact that there was an earthquake AT THE SAME TIME JESUS WAS CRUCIFIED is NOT a coincidence? It’s a sign. The effects of Jesus’ crucifixion extend deep into the earth itself.
When John saw Jesus walking toward him, he famously shouted,
29 “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29)
On the cross Jesus certainly deals with my personal sin; he takes it away, praise be to God. But the word “world” that John used is the Greek word kosmos. You could translate the word “universe.” Listen to the verse again with that word in there,
29 “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the UNIVERSE! (John 1:29)
And that makes sense. After all, the effects of sin weave their way even into the dirt. Listen to Genesis 3,
“cursed is the ground because of you…” (Genesis 3:17)
The earth itself experiences the curse and the earth longs for its redemption. The curse has something to do with earth and therefore crucifixion and resurrection have something to do with dirt as well.
What’s an earthquake? It’s the pain of childbirth. Those aren’t my words, they’re Paul’s,
22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. (Romans 8:22)
But the pain of childbirth is followed by the joy of a child (most of the time). What are the implications? When Jesus dies on the cross, not only are our sins being forgiven, but sin's curse is being undone. The curse that found its way even into the dirt was being eradicated.
The cross is the epicenter of God’s COSMIC reversal of sin’s devastating effects. I love the way Fleming Rutledge put it when she wrote,
“The earthquake and the splitting rocks signify to us the definitive entrance of God upon the scene, halting the entropic spiral of creation toward death and extinction. God has not abandoned creation to its own fate.”
This was not an isolated event happening on a hillside outside of Jerusalem, this was a cosmic event reshaping the entire universe. God's future is invading the “present evil age.” (Gal. 1:4) One day God will heal and restore all brokenness… including the earth itself. My friend Forrest drew this picture of the cosmic implications of the cross. Let’s just pause and take it in.
What accompanies the earthquake? The saints rise. Life is given to the dead through Jesus’ death. It’s not a full resurrection of all, but a signpost pointing to the culmination of history. It’s significant that the opening of these tombs happens not at the moment of Jesus’ resurrection, but at his death. Matthew is telling us that the powers of death have done their worst and they cannot contain him.
Maybe the cross should shake us too. Maybe it should make our bones quake. It should shake us as we see the extent to which Jesus went to take away sin. Not with fear, but with hope. Not out of terror, but like a surgeon who’s slicing us so that he can heal us. As the haunting song states,
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Oh, were you there when they crucified my Lord?
(Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble) tremble tremble
Tremble at your sin. Tremble at his sacrifice. Tremble at redemption. Tremble. Just like the earth because we too are being remade. He promises,
“Behold, I make ALL things new.” (Revelation 21:5)
You and me and the entire cosmos.
Amen.