While the sign above the head of Jesus announced in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin why He was dying on the cross as the “King of the Jews,” those languages were only understood by those in Palestine. But as soon as His Son died, God the Father spoke in a universal language—a language that deeply resonates with every human conscience. It was the mysterious, awesome, and powerful language of miracles. Only the Creator can intrude upon natural laws to create such an unnatural disruption. God is speaking through three miracles to provide the world with His explanation of what the death of Christ accomplished.
Think of it: when Jesus died, no one stood at the cross to say, “You have committed a great sin; you are all wrong.” No human was there to announce that Jesus is the Son of God. And so, God Himself came to Golgotha to testify that this is His Son, that He has accepted His Son’s work, and to explain the achievement of Christ’s death through these miraculous signs.
We have already seen the first miracle: the heavy veil in the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom by the hand of God, conveying the glorious message that a holy God is now accessible through Jesus Christ. All earthly priesthoods and sacrifices are now unnecessary. God Himself opened the way to His presence through the rending of that veil.
The question of the ages is answered in the death of Christ: How can a sinful man enter into the holy presence of God and have a relationship with Him? Jesus said, “I am the way, the only way.” You can come to God only through Him and His work on the cross. We can now come with boldness to the closest communion a creature can ever have with its God. Through Christ, God becomes very near and real to every sinner. It is a glorious achievement.
Stop for a minute and adore your dying Lord. It was a miracle worthy of Christ. It makes my head spin to think that while mighty angels cannot even look upon Him—shuddering and veiling their faces for all eternity—you and I, depraved sinners, are imputed with God’s own perfect righteousness because of Christ’s finished work. With this, I can come boldly to God every day, and one day, I will behold the face of God in heaven. In His life, Jesus performed many miracles, but in His death, He accomplished the greatest miracle of all. He preached many sermons while He lived, but God preached the grandest sermon when He died.
There are two other miracles recorded only by Matthew. The second is that the earth quaked and the rocks were split. The third miracle involves the opening of graves and the resurrection of saints who appeared in the holy city after His resurrection.
Today, we focus on the second miracle:
- What is the miracle?
- What is God saying in this miracle?
- How does it apply to us today?
What is the Miracle? “Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split.” (Matthew 27:51)
First, there was a discernable earthquake—a seismos. This was so powerful that it did not just shake buildings; it split solid rocks. The shaking was so terrifying that even the crosses on the mountain must have tossed to and fro. Verse 54 tells us the centurion and the guards “saw the earthquake and the things that had happened.” They didn’t just feel a tremor; they saw the visual impact of the earth heaving beneath their feet.
The effect was profound. These hardened, pagan men were “feared greatly” and forced to confess: “Truly this was the Son of God!” Imagine these words coming from blind pagans. This trembling in the earth triggered a testimony in their consciences, proving the innocence and divinity of Christ.
We have seen the reports of the recent, terrible earthquake in Turkey, where over 20,000 people were killed and entire cities were flattened. People who experience such events often feel as though it is the apocalypse. It is a paralyzing experience to see the very symbol of stability—the earth itself—shaking and coming to pieces.
As soon as Christ yielded His spirit, the first discernable reaction at Golgotha was this supernatural intervention. Beyond the earthquake, the text says the “rocks were split.” Golgotha was a rocky, skull-shaped mountain. The most solid structures were rent into gulfs and chasms in a single moment. The word for “split” is exactly the same word used for the “rent” veil. Just as the veil was torn, the geological structure of the earth was torn. Fissures opened in the ground. Even today, visitors to Jerusalem report seeing rocks near that site that appear unnaturally split across the grain, in a way that would be impossible for man to replicate.
What is God saying through this miracle? Firstly, it points to the grand reality that the whole created universe is affected by what took place at the cross. This death has a universal impact on all of creation.
If we are to accurately understand this, rather than rely on our own imaginations, we must use the “analogy of Scripture”—comparing Scripture with Scripture to let it explain itself. If you do not learn to apply your mind to this method, you will be easily deceived by false teachings. The problem with many preachers today is a laziness in the Word; they want everything to be easy, and the people want the same. But when we labor in the Word, we grasp marvelous things that you will not find in standard commentaries.
The people at Golgotha—mostly Jews and Roman soldiers—saw the earthquake and the splitting rocks and understood that God was present; they knew this was an act of God speaking to them. They were not blinded by the scientific explanations that often cloud modern minds. Today, because we can explain cyclones or earthquakes through natural science, people fail to see God’s hand or hear His message in natural events. Satan uses this “blindness” to keep people from hearing God through the world around them.
The observers at the cross were not so blinded. As Jews, what would they have understood about this earthquake? What was God saying? There is both a positive and a negative message in the earthquake and the split rocks.
- Positively: God was drawing near at Golgotha to offer glorious New Covenant blessings.
- Negatively: God was announcing a forecast of coming righteous judgment.
This was a sermon from God Himself. By shaking the earth and splitting the rocks, He was announcing: “My Son has perfectly fulfilled all the conditions of My eternal covenant. I revealed these promises progressively—from the seed of the woman crushing the serpent’s head in Eden, to the blessing of all nations through Abraham, to the eternal kingdom promised to David. By His perfect life and atoning death, He has fulfilled it all. Not only can sinners enter My presence, but I am coming down to bestow the infinite blessings of the New Covenant upon all who trust in My Son.”
Conversely, the earthquake served as a warning: for those who reject this final covenant, there remains nothing but eternal wrath and destruction.
Proving the Message through Scripture
If you scan the entire Bible, you will find that earthquakes occur when God descends for two reasons: to give covenant blessings or to bring terrible judgment.
1. A Sign of Covenant Presence In Exodus 19, God brought His people out of Egypt and came to Mount Sinai to establish His covenant and the Ten Commandments.
“Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God… Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire… and the whole mountain quaked violently.” (Exodus 19:17-18)
This earthquake indicated God’s unique nearness as the God of the Covenant and attested to Moses as the mediator. Similarly, in 2 Samuel 22:8, David describes God hearing his cry in distress: “The earth trembled and quaked… because He was angry.”
In 1 Kings 19, when Elijah was discouraged, God passed by the mountain. While the Lord was not “in” the earthquake that shattered the rocks (as He chose to speak in a still, small voice), the earthquake still heralded His arrival. In Haggai 2:6-7, God promised that to fill His temple with glory, He would “once more shake heaven and earth… and all nations.” This shaking symbolizes His coming with the abounding blessings of the New Covenant.
In the New Testament, Acts 4:31 records that when the early church prayed for boldness, “the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.” This shaking was an assurance of God’s presence and the fulfillment of His promises.
2. A Sign of Final Judgment However, earthquakes also symbolize God’s nearness in fierce judgment.
“Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth will move out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord of hosts and in the day of His fierce anger.” (Isaiah 13:13)
In Jeremiah 10:10, we read that at His wrath, the earth trembles. This culminates in Revelation 6:12-17, where the opening of the sixth seal brings a “great earthquake” so terrifying that the kings and the mighty men hide in caves, begging the rocks to fall on them to hide them from the face of the Lamb.
The pagan soldiers at the cross made the connection immediately. They knew God was speaking, which led them to confess, “Truly this was the Son of God!” The Jewish crowds also understood. Luke 23:48 tells us that those who saw what happened “beat their breasts and returned.” They beat their breasts because they knew the Almighty God of the Covenant was present and speaking.
The message of the earthquake is clear: God has come to Golgotha with Covenant blessings for those who believe in the One crucified, but He also brings a foretaste of the Covenant curse for those who reject Him and remain eternally damned.
Application
How do we apply this today? This room is not rocking with an earthquake as I speak, and we do not see rocks splitting before our eyes. But, my friend, God is speaking through His infallible Word with a reality and authority as if that earthquake were happening right now.
With the full revelation of the Bible—the Book of Acts, the Epistles, and Revelation—we can understand the meaning of these miracles even more clearly than those who actually stood there. Just as we understood the rent veil through the light of the Book of Hebrews, we now understand the earthquake through the light of the completed New Testament. God is announcing two profound things through the shaking of the earth.
1. The Ratification of the New Covenant
God is saying: “I have come in the death of My Son to establish and confer the glorious eternal blessings of the final New Covenant of grace.”
The same God who descended on Mount Sinai in an earthquake to enter a temporary covenant with Israel now descends on Mount Golgotha to seal an eternal one. You have done the worst you could to My Son—I heard your mockery and I saw your cruelty. I allowed Him to drink the cup of My wrath until He cried, “It is finished.”
As soon as He yielded His spirit, God “Amen-ed” that work by shaking the earth. By that one sacrifice, all sins are atoned for, all justice is satisfied, and all obedience is fulfilled. The earthquake is the sound of the New Covenant being ratified and confirmed. God is signing this agreement with the blood of His own Son, promising to bestow inestimable blessings on whoever comes to Him.
Hebrews 8:9-12 tells us this is an eternal, irrevocable covenant. It will never be revoked.
2. The Magnificent Bounty of Covenant Blessings
What are these blessings? May the Holy Spirit make us see them in a fresh light. The great “umbrella” over all of them is this: “I will be their God, and they will be My people.” All that God is—His attributes and perfections—is now bound to you for your good.
- His Mercy is yours to pardon your sins.
- His Wisdom is yours to counsel and direct you.
- His Omnipotence is yours to guard you from every enemy.
- His Holiness is your fountain of sanctification.
- His Justice is your rewarder, to bestow heaven upon you.
The Specific Mercies:
- Total Forgiveness: “I will remember their sins no more.” Complete atonement for all past, present, and future sins. Not one of your sins can condemn you or meet you on the Day of Judgment.
- Perfect Justification: God sees you as perfectly righteous. This is the glory of the covenant—God imputes His own righteousness to a “horrible sinner” like you.
- The Peace of God: You will have a peace that the world cannot provide—peace like a river that removes loneliness and makes God’s presence real.
- A New Heart: You no longer have to “bite your teeth” to try and be good. God puts His laws in your mind and writes them on your heart. You become a new creature with new desires.
- Adoption: You become a child of God. Like a Father, He supplies all your needs according to His riches in glory (Philippians 4:19) and ensures that all things work together for your good (Romans 8:28).
- Eternal Life: You will never fear death again. Christ is the resurrection and the life; because He lives, you shall live also.
3. The Promise of an Unshakable Kingdom
Finally, God says by this earthquake: “A day is coming when I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” This earthquake at the Cross was a “foreigner” (a forerunner) of the final judgment. It guarantees that this cursed, groaning universe will one day be shaken apart to make way for a new heaven and a new earth.
By the Cross, Jesus earned the right to be the King of that new world. He alone can open the scrolls of history (Revelation 5). This earthquake is God’s guarantee that through this covenant, you will reign with His Son in a renewed, unshakable universe. The temporary shaking of Golgotha points to the eternal stability of the Kingdom of God.
My sinner friend, what more can I say to you? Whether you are young or old, man or woman, I have been pleading with you for years. People ask me why I call out to you every single week; it is because this is my work as God’s servant until the day you come to Christ or the day you die. I have begged you by the sufferings of Christ, by His wounds under darkened heavens, and by His cry of abandonment. I have pleaded with you to take seriously what God has done for sinners like you and me.
Last week, I pleaded with you about how God removed every hindrance to reach Him by renting the veil. He made a new way—not a way of worthiness or personal righteousness—but a new and living way through Christ. You can come as you are, in whatever state you find yourself. Come empty-handed, no matter how great a sinner you have been. I have pleaded with you regarding God’s willingness to accept even the most vile person.
The Message of the Trembling Earth
Today, I add to my pleas. I point you not only to His infinite agony but to the glorious message coming through the trembling earth and the torn rocks. God is announcing that He has come to bless sinners with New Covenant mercies through the death of His Son. This is the Gospel: glorious, life-altering blessings.
Christ is the mediator of this New Covenant. Come to Him! God has validated these invisible blessings by shaking the whole earth—using things we can see and feel to encourage us to lay hold of things that cannot be seen. You cannot touch forgiveness with your fingers, but you can feel the earth tremble. Through these visible miracles, God promises invisible, eternal covenant blessings.
My friend, what more can God say? Whether you like it or not, God deals with every man according to a covenant. Right now, if you are without Christ, you are being dealt with according to the Covenant of Works, which our forefathers broke. We are born under its curse. Why is there so much pain in this life? Why the family fights, the disobedient children, the job problems, sickness, and poverty? It is because we are subjected to a life of vanity and emptiness under that broken covenant.
Why do you love the fleeting, never-satisfying pleasures of sin? Why act like an “eternal fool” and lose truly satisfying blessings? What does this world give you that is worth refusing the glory of God? When will you come to your senses like the prodigal son and realize that the world only leads to the pigpen?
From Curse to Blessing
God calls you to redeem you from the curses of the Covenant of Works. This New Covenant makes every old curse a blessing. Under the old way, the family was plagued by strife, but in Christ, a husband and wife are saved and redeemed—the husband loves his wife, and the wife submits with joy. Children are no longer a burden of sorrow but a source of joy. Even your work, once a sweating burden, becomes a blessing. Every pain, sickness, and sorrow in this covenant becomes a means of sanctification, and even death becomes a gain.
But if you still refuse to come to God through Christ, mark that earthquake in your mind and never forget it. If you reject the work of the Son, only one thing awaits you: God’s eternal, infinite, and terrible wrath.
Those who come through Christ escape wrath because it was poured out on the Son. But for those who do not enter this covenant, that righteous judgment will fall on your own head. You will die in your sins. It is said that “cannons are the last argument of kings,” but the Cross is the last argument of God. If a dying Savior does not convert you, what will? If God opens the veil and pleads through the wounds of His Son and you are not attracted to Him, what hope is there? This is the greatest expression of the heart of God. If this doesn’t melt you, nothing will. “How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?”
A Sober Warning
Watch your life over the next ten, twenty, or thirty years. If you refuse this covenant, the curses will only worsen. Your family life and your situation will grow darker. Whatever you seek to save in this world by rejecting Christ, you will lose. If the “green tree” (the innocent Christ) suffered so much for imputed sin, what will happen to the “barren tree” (the sinner) when inherent sin is punished?
A day is coming when God will shake the whole world one last time. When the earth is rocking and the rocks are rolling, people will run in desperation to be crushed by them just to hide from His face. But you cannot escape. Even if you are dead, He will raise you to account for your sins. The earthquakes we see in the news are but a foretaste of this. This world you love—its fashions, money, and pleasures—will all perish. Not one rupee or one relative will be with you then.
Do you really want to meet a God who can shake the universe while your sins are unforgiven? Do you want to stand before Him as a naked, wretched sinner, not wrapped in the righteousness of Christ? You will scream for all eternity. It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
I am not here just doing a “Sunday job.” No one pays me to prepare all week and preach these words. I do it because I truly believe the day is coming when God will punish sin. How sad it would be to realize, twenty years from now, that you heard the message but loved your sin more.
May God help you flee from the wrath to come. Christ died, God split the veil, and He shook the earth to say: “Come, the way is open.” Why will you die? Come to the cross and cling to Him today.
Believers, what a joy it is to realize the message of the earthquake and the splitting rocks for you! Not only is the veil rent and the way into the presence of God opened, but remember that this same God welcomes you like the father welcomed the prodigal son—with a feast of New Covenant blessings, a robe of perfect righteousness, the forgiveness of all your sins, and the ring of sonship. God promises that not one of your sins will meet you on the Day of Judgment. You may feel like a “horrible mess of sins,” crying out, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me?” as you struggle with remaining sin.
Here is the eternal oath and covenant promise of God through Christ for sinners like us:
“Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.” (Ezekiel 36:25-27)
It is a series of glorious promises: “I will, I will, I will.” What joy to come to a God who promises to work these things in our hearts!
An Unchanging Hope
When things go wrong—whether because of sin, sorrow, sickness, or the approach of death—and eternal blessings seem to grow dim, go back to Golgotha. Feel the trembling earth and see the renting rocks. The God of truth, who never lies, has shaken the earth and sealed a covenant with the blood of His Son. He has promised to forgive your sins, sanctify you fully, and take you into His kingdom. He will never fail in His covenant promise; your hope and mine depend entirely on it.
This covenant can never change or fail, regardless of what happens to you, what the world does, or how you feel. May this earthquake make us praise Him and confess our trust: “Lord, in response to the earthquake, I will never again—in any state or struggle—doubt Your word or Your promise.”
His oath, His covenant, His blood, Support me in the whelming flood; When all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay.
A Gospel to Shake the World
Secondly, what an encouragement this is for us to preach the Gospel! We might ask ourselves, “How can we ever move a community for Christ? How can we shake a city like Bangalore?” Let this earthquake open your eyes. The Gospel of Christ’s death is so glorious that God even shook the earth to mark it. This earthquake signified the fatal blow given to the devil’s kingdom.
The Apostles never asked, “How shall we ever move the world?” They had unshakable confidence that the Gospel was the only thing that could turn the world upside down. Do we have that same conviction for our city today?
Bangalore is a vast city with traditions and religions that have roots going back thousands of years. We often tell ourselves we cannot do much against such ancient prejudices. But think of the earth—it was thousands of years old, yet it had to shake when the Redeemer died. Twelve men once shook the oldest beliefs of the world through the preaching of the Cross, and that same Gospel can shake our city today.
The Power is in the Message
The problem is not with the Gospel; it is the “power of God unto salvation.” The problem is with our lack of trust in that power. Let us not believe the lies of modern churches that claim the simple preaching of Christ’s death is not enough. They try to “aids” the Cross with music, skits, and human inventions until the message is buried beneath the wisdom of man.
Let us be a church that believes and preaches the “old, old story.” It is the only story needed to reconcile man to God: Jesus died in the sinner’s stead—the just for the unjust. This is a magnificent display of God’s grace and justice. If we keep to this alone, we will see the victory.
Just as those rocks split on Golgotha, even the hardest, most stubborn hearts can be split by this message. The Cross is the “rock-render.” Do not be discouraged as you pray for careless family members or children. Never lose hope; the Gospel has the power to melt their hearts and bring them to repentance.
Brothers and sisters, go on teaching the love of the dying Son of God. Go on preaching Christ. We will break the tallest mountains of tradition and the granite hills of religion with this message.