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7 Miracles That Went Down At The Cross of Calvary

Matthew 27:45–54 · Mark 15:33 · Luke 23:44

Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" — that is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

And some of the bystanders hearing it said, "This man is calling Elijah." And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. But the others said, "Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him." And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.

And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.

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 27:45–54

Some of these seven miracles come from heaven above. Some of them are on the earth. And some of them are from under the earth.

But hear this — all seven of them are in a class of wonders by themselves.

The Seven Miracles at a Glance

1. Darkness over all the earth for three hours
2. The curtain of the temple torn in two from top to bottom
3. The earth shook and the rocks were split
4. The graves were opened and the saints were raised
5. The raised saints made themselves known in the city
6. Jesus's legs were not broken, and blood and water flowed from his side
7. The cross itself is preached as the gospel of salvation

Miracle #1

Darkness Over All the Earth for Three Hours

Matthew 27:45 · Mark 15:33 · Luke 23:44

Three gospel accounts confirm the same miracle. Luke 23:44 says it plainly:

"It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour."

The sixth hour is high noon. The ninth hour is three in the afternoon. God blotted out the sun at midday, and it stayed dark for three full hours.

This was not an eclipse. An eclipse lasts but a few minutes. This darkness lasted three hours — and it was sudden. Suddenly the whole earth is darkened. And then, no less suddenly, does the light shine again after the passing of the third hour. This is an intervention from heaven.

It was a darkness like the darkness in the land of Egypt. A darkness you could feel. A concentration of force.

Think of the darkest dark you've ever been in — a place where you could lose your balance, where you couldn't see your hand right in front of your face. That kind of dark. The kind where one small flame illuminates an entire room and you can see the expression on every face. That is what settled over the cross of Calvary at high noon on that Friday.

And it mattered — because of everything going on around that cross.

The soldiers were busy raising the three who were crucified. They were busy gambling at the foot of the cross for Jesus's garments. The crowd was passing up and down before the Lord, wagging their heads and tossing insults and taunts at him. The high priests were busy criticizing Pilate for the wording of the inscription nailed above the head of Jesus.

And then this unbelievable, unspeakable, awesome darkness hits — and the world goes silent.

Stunned silence.

No more taunts. All that was heard for the first while would have been the dripping of the blood of the wounds of our Lord and Savior. It was frightful silence. The people feared greatly.

So what is the meaning of this miracle?

Part of the miracle of the darkness was the covering of the immense agony of our King when he paid the price of atoning redemption for our salvation. There is a mystery in this darkness into which the human heart and mind cannot enter.

When God sacrificed his Son, Isaiah described it as smitten of God and afflicted. When God turned his face away, the Son cried out — "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani — my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

No human mind could ever fathom the depths of the mystery of the suffering of our God for our sins. And for three hours, God just shut it out. He blotted out the sun.

So immense and so terrible was the payment for our debt of sin — to rescue us from the permanentness of death — that God shut it out for three hours.

That is the first miracle of the cross of Calvary.

Miracle #2

The Curtain of the Temple Torn in Two from Top to Bottom

Matthew 27:51

The second miracle happens precisely when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.

At that moment — and behold — the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

You hear the word curtain or veil and you might think it's some light, flimsy thing. Guess again.

The ancient rabbis in the Talmud say the curtain was a hand's breadth thick — 60 feet long and 30 feet wide. It took 300 priests to lift it. And Josephus tells us it was so strong and mighty that teams of horses couldn't pull it apart.

Yet at the voice of the Lord — it is finished — God took that veil and tore it from top to bottom.

It was not seized by the hands of men and torn from the bottom to the top. They could not have done it. It was done by the hands of God, from the top to the bottom. Nor did the earthquake tear it. The sequence matters: the curtain was torn first, and then the earth and the rocks quaked and split. This was the immediacy of it is finished.

The Layout of the Temple

To understand why this miracle is so significant, you have to understand what the temple was built to show. The whole tabernacle and temple were built to communicate two realities:

• The cast-outwardness of sinful man
• The unapproachable holiness of God

Here's the layout, layer by layer:

• A wall around the outside
• The court of the Gentiles — with a middle wall of partition
• The court of Israel — another wall
• The court of the priests
• The brazen altar
• The door into the holy place
• Inside: the seven-branch lampstand and the table of showbread
• The golden altar of incense
• And then — the curtain

Because beyond the curtain was the Holy of Holies. The Ark of the Covenant. The mercy seat. The very presence of God.

It is finished.

And God tore that curtain wide open from top to bottom. Every eye could now look sweepingly into the very presence of the Holy of Holies.

What the Torn Curtain Means

The middle wall of partition — in Christ — is broken down.

Any human anywhere, without priest or mediator, can now walk for himself into the very presence of God and speak to the Lord directly.

A kitchen counter is acceptable in God's sight. The seat of a car is equal and comparable to the most beautiful and ornate cathedral in all of the world. The way into the presence of God has been opened through the death and sacrifice of Jesus our Lord.

We are now invited to come boldly into the presence of God's throne of grace — to ask him for forgiveness, to ask him for anything in a time of need. And in his sovereignty he will choose what we can and can't have in this world. When we win, we praise him. When we lose, we praise him. Because we now have his presence and we now have his forgiveness — and that is worth more than anything this world has to offer.

Second Corinthians tells us that many are veiled because they are perishing. Many of the veiled are actually reading their Bibles and not understanding what it says. This is the key: reading the Bible for knowledge is good, but when you read it for Jesus, you will see something different. You will see him from Genesis 1:1 all the way through Revelation 22.

This is also why there is no need for a priest for confession. No need for new prophets or new apostles. At the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter, James, and John went up with Jesus and he was transfigured before them. Elijah and Moses appeared. And immediately Peter said, "Let's build three little houses — let's stay here, this is so awesome." A cloud came, and God spoke:

"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him."

We have the word of God. The closed canon of scripture is sufficient. We listen to him.

The torn curtain is the entrance. Everything you need to trust Jesus for your salvation is right there in scripture. Nothing else is required.

That is the second mighty miracle of the cross.

Miracle #3

The Earth Shook and the Rocks Were Split

Matthew 27:51 · Romans 8 · Revelation 21:1–5

"And the earth shook, and the rocks were split." — Matthew 27:51

When Jesus shouted his word of victory — it is finished — the earth responded.

Here's why that matters. In the giving of the law at Sinai, the lightning flashed, the heavens filled with the thunder of God's voice, and the wrath of Almighty God shook the earth. It quaked, it trembled, the rocks were split. That is the law of God — the law by which human beings, when we are tried, are condemned unto death. No man has kept the law to perfection. All of us have sinned and come short of the expectations and glories of God.

But on the cross at Calvary, the love and grace and mercy of God were poured out in atoning redemption for us.

All the tremors of Mount Sinai were absorbed on Mount Calvary.

The earth replied.

The response of the earth to the shout of the Lord is also a forerunner — an announcement and a promise of the regeneration of the earth, one glorious and climactic day yet to come. Paul writes in Romans 8 that all of creation labors because of the curse until the day when the Lord's chosen saints shall be manifest — when the Son of God appears in glory and in victory.

When Jesus shouted "It is finished," the whole earth shook in wonder at the regeneration that is yet to come.

Revelation 21:1–5:

"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.' And he who was seated on the throne said, 'Behold, I am making all things new.' Also he said, 'Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.'"

Even the earth being shaken is going to be renewed.

That is the third miracle of Calvary.

Miracle #4

The Graves Were Opened and the Saints Were Raised

Matthew 27:52 · Isaiah 61 · Revelation 1:12–18

"The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised." — Matthew 27:52

The fourth great miracle is the opening of the graves.

It seems as if the earthquake was intelligent — as if nature had gone beyond itself and was now selective. Think about it. The earth opened its graves, and only the saints came out. This godly man. This godly woman. They'd fallen asleep in the Lord, and their graves were opened for the select few.

What an incredible, marvelous miracle — and it's kind of like earnest money. A down payment. A foretaste of what is yet to be demonstrated of what Christ is and what he has done.

The timing is significant. It happened Friday afternoon. The Sabbath came at sundown. No work was permitted on the Sabbath. So those graves were open and visible — plain to see and to view — from Friday afternoon through Saturday and into Sunday morning. It was an open exhibition of the aliveness and power of our Lord to break the bonds of death and the grave.

Now, a lot of us want to be masters of our own existence. We want to dig our own hole and carry our own role. We want to have a say. We want to add to what God is doing instead of just walking out faithfully. But then you read this — and everything changes.

The God who created you came and died for you. And in his glorified state, this is the Jesus we serve.

John — the apostle whom Jesus loved, the one who stood at the foot of the cross, the first to reach the open tomb — saw the glorified, resurrected Christ. Nobody on the earth knew Jesus as John did. And this is his reaction to seeing the glorified King.

Revelation 1:12–18:

"Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me. And on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, "Fear not. I am the first and the last and the living one. I died, and behold, I am alive forevermore — and I have the keys of death and Hades."

He has the keys.

When he entered the realm of the dead, he became master of all of it. Graves were opened. Prison doors were opened. Isaiah 61 — I have come to set the captives free. And there is no stronger captivity than that of a grave.

The opened graves of the saints are God's open exhibition of that power.

That is the fourth miracle.

Miracle #5

The Raised Saints Made Themselves Known

Matthew 27:53 · 1 Corinthians 15:22–23

"And coming out of the tombs after his resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many." — Matthew 27:53

The fifth miracle follows directly from the fourth — and it is one of the most remarkably cool things written in the book of God.

These raised saints walked into Jerusalem and made themselves known. They became themselves again. They showed themselves for who they were.

That's all that's said about it. And the silence of scripture right here is as wondrous as the miracle itself — because the more you think about it, the more you have to put all of the power and the majesty in the Lord's hands.

In our inquisitive nature, we want to ask: Who were they? Had they just died or had they been dead for generations? How were they dressed? How did people know them? Was it an intuitive spiritual knowledge — like when the disciples on the mountain immediately recognized Elijah and Moses, even though those men had been gone for a thousand years? Scripture never says. God has hidden from our eyes the secrets of the mysteries of life yet to come. And I think many times for our own good.

By faith we please him. By faith we are saved.

The Order of the Resurrection

What we do know is the order the Apostle Paul lays out in 1 Corinthians 15:22–23:

"For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ."

Think of it like an army passing by — here goes a platoon, then here goes a platoon, then here goes a platoon. Each one in order.

These saints who walked out of open graves are God's declaration of what is coming. He marks the dust of his saints. And in some glorious day, he shall speak to that dust and raise it up to himself for glory.

It's a miracle of God — showing us the life-giving, awesome power of eternal dominion over all things.

That is who we worship. That is the fifth miracle.

Miracle #6

Jesus's Legs Were Not Broken, and Blood and Water Flowed from His Side

John 19:33–37 · 1 John 5 · Ephesians 5:26 · Luke 23:43

The sixth miracle is really two connected events — what the soldiers did not do, and what happened when they pierced him.

When the soldiers came by after a few hours on the cross, it was standard operating procedure to break the legs of the crucified. What it does is create suffocation — you can no longer push yourself up to get a breath, so you die quicker. They broke the legs of the first thief. They broke the legs of the second. But when they came to Jesus, they saw he was already dead — and they did not break his legs.

That fulfilled the prophecy: not one of his bones will be broken.

Then one of those soldiers took an iron spear and thrust it into the Lord Jesus. And out flowed blood and water.

John — an eyewitness, standing at the foot of that cross — records it in John 19:33–37:

"But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. He who saw it has borne witness — his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth — that you also may believe. For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: 'Not one of his bones will be broken.' And again another Scripture says, 'They will look on him whom they have pierced.'"

John writes as though he hardly expected to be believed. He doubles down — this is true, and here is why it matters: that you also may believe.

And in his letter, John asks: Who is it that overcomes the world? The answer: it is he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God — and that Jesus came not by water only, but by water and blood.

To John, that was a miracle he saw with his own eyes. And here is what it means:

The blood — the crimson of life poured out — is the actual atonement for our actual sins. Jesus died a sacrificial death.

The water — the cleansing word. "You are clean through the word which I have spoken to you." Christ sanctified and cleansed the church with the washing of water by the word (Ephesians 5:26).

The water and the blood together carry the full weight of the gospel — the price paid, and the life given.

And notice — some push baptism so hard they say that if you're not baptized, you're not saved. But go back to the other thief on the cross. Jesus said to him, "Today you will be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43). That man didn't get down off the cross and get baptized. We baptize out of good old-fashioned obedience — but salvation is the free gift of God, received by faith.

Blood and water — the atoning crimson of life, and the gospel message that cleanses us from all our sins, and the Spirit of God that regenerates us and makes us new.

That is the sixth miracle of Calvary.

Miracle #7

The Preaching of the Cross as the Gospel of Salvation

Galatians 6:14 · 1 Corinthians 2:2

The seventh miracle is the one we live inside every day — which may be exactly why it's the easiest one to walk right past.

The cross was an instrument of execution. The same thing to the Romans as an electric chair is to us today. Rome invented crucifixion to punish people in the worst way they could possibly imagine — a penalty reserved for felons, traitors, murderers. Designed to be as degrading and as agonizing as human ingenuity could make it.

And yet that cross is the symbol of the saving grace of God.

Paul wrote in Galatians 6:14:

"But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."

And he wrote to the church:

"I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified." — 1 Corinthians 2:2

That should be our mantra as well.

What an amazing thing — that the instrument of execution in which Christ died should be on the top of our churches, just as high as we can raise it. The cross around our necks. On stained glass windows. It is always there. The cross of our King, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That's the gospel of salvation. And it is a flat-out miracle of God that we preach this cross as our salvation.

That miracle gets slapped upside the face when you stand — or have stood — at the foot of the cross. When you're there, it hits you. And it hits you hard. The God who created you came and died for you. He took the punishment upon himself and offers it to you freely.

We are never more humbled, ever, than when we stand at the foot of the cross.

He did this for me. A wonderful Savior.

What can we do to show our profound and everlasting thankfulness and gratitude? What can we do for the one who saved us, who died for us, who paid our debt and penalty of sin? Nothing seems to be enough. So what we do is offer the Lord the humble sacrifice and thanksgiving of our entire lives — and even that doesn't feel like enough.

So with the infinite love he puts in our hearts — a love that keeps growing — and with a huge welcome in our hearts, we wait for the return of Jesus Christ by giving him our whole lives.

We read the Bible for Jesus. We see him from Genesis 1:1 through Revelation 22. We see ourselves as never being worthy — but we see that he loves us so much that while we were yet sinners, he saved us. And everything we try to do out of gratitude isn't enough.

So we give him all of it.

Take me, Lord.

All Seven — In a Class of Wonders by Themselves

Darkness over the earth for three hours.

The curtain of the temple torn in two from top to bottom.

The earth shaking and the rocks splitting.

Graves opened and saints raised.

Those same saints walking into the holy city and making themselves known.

Blood and water flowing from the side of our Lord.

And the cross itself — that instrument of execution — preached across the whole earth as the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes.

All seven of them are in a class of wonders by themselves. And every single one of them points to the same truth:

He did this for you.