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O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!¹ He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.²

Come midday, for 3 hours there was darkness³ (the moment the Father who is light⁴ turned his back to his Son due to the sins that Jesus bore in our behalf⁵).  And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened.⁶ The centurion and his companions were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God.”⁷ They were clueless yet convinced that he was more than man. Perhaps they knew nothing of the promised resurrection. To them Jesus had died. Valid had it been so. But Jesus is the Christ. Death had no hold on him.⁸ He rose from the dead. “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.⁹

For forty days he appeared alive before his disciples and spoke to them about the kingdom.¹⁰ Before their eyes Jesus was lifted up and he ascended into heaven.¹¹ And proves Jesus is God; he is the fulfilment of God’s promise—“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel”¹²—which means God with us.

What we couldn’t do on our own, God accomplished through Jesus. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.¹³ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.¹⁴ When Jesus surrendered his breath, the three gospels mentions that the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom¹⁵ [To stress its importance it is repeated]—an indication that the new covenant is now in place. Whereas, in the old covenant only the high priest was allowed to enter the holy of holies once a year after purification rites. Now, to those who receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior, direct access to the Father is given.¹⁶

So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.¹⁷ He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.¹⁸ It is finished!¹⁹

Jesus fulfilled his purpose on earth. Through his death and resurrection, we may trust every word that he has said. He gave a promise and a premise that grants us access to the Father that we may hold-on to, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”²⁰ I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.²¹