At Jesus’ Death, Everything was Shaken
A number of very unusual events connected with the Temple have been reported to have taken place, if not at the specific moment of Jesus’ death, at least very close to it.
Several references in the Talmud describe the events taking place “Forty years before the destruction of the Temple,” which took place in AD 70. At least six different extra-biblical sources have recorded one or more supernatural occurrences: Jerusalem Talmud,[a] Babylonian Talmud,[b] Midrash Rabbah, Tosefta,[c] Wars of the Jews (by Josephus), and The Lives of the Prophets (document in the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha).
Perhaps the most significant and interesting of those are (1) the breaking and falling to the floor of the massive lintel which held the veil, (2) large doors in front of the curtain opening by themselves, (3) the chief lamp being extinguished, and (4) the Sanhedrin moved from their special hall.
1. The Bible records that the curtains were torn from top to bottom[d]—completely severed. Other sources add that the estimated 60,000-pound lintel that held up the curtain splintered and fell to the ground. It is almost certain that other damage would have been created by this colossal crash—curtain torn and lintel broken. The earthquake not only shook up the outside, but it shook the internal essence as well.
The moment of Jesus’ death altered everything in creation. The foundations were shaken. The business of the world took on a complete rebuild. It was more than a change—it was a rebirth. The way God would relate to His creation took on a new life. The torn curtain was a miraculous sign that we now have free access to God. We can come boldly and without fear.
2. The huge doors that stood in front of the curtain (which were closed each evening and opened each morning) opened on their own. These doors, according to the Talmud, took twenty men to open or close, but now they opened on their own accord. Was it because they were attached to the lintel, which was now destroyed? Or was this a miraculous sign that God now comes to us through the veil of flesh? Not only do we have access to Him, but God’s Spirit now has access into our hearts and, through them, direct connection to the creation, just like in the garden of Eden. The curtain no longer keeps us out, and neither does it keep God in.
Forty years before the Temple was destroyed [i.e., 40 years before AD 70., or in AD 30]…the gates of the Hekel [Holy Place] opened by themselves, until Rabbi Yohanan B. Zakkai rebuked them [the gates] saying, Hekel, Hekel, why alarmist thou us? We know that thou art destined to be destroyed (Talmud, Yoma 39b).
3. The chief light of the menorah went out. It had miraculously continued to burn from evening until the next evening for as long as the priests could remember. The other lights were in need of cleaning and refilling at the end of morning sacrifices, but this one continued on through the day. It was the same size as the others and held the same amount of oil—approximately 5.5 ounces. It was considered a miraculous sign to the priests of God’s presence. This lamp was the one they re-lit all of the others from. It was the chief lamp, also called the western light. God’s Spirit had shifted from external direction through a light shining on the law. He was now writing His law on the hearts of His people—illumination from within instead of without. He had left the religion of old and had established a new covenant.
The cleaning and refilling of the lamps, except the two most easterly, were performed by a priest every morning. If the priest found them extinguished, he relighted them. The two eastern lamps were left burning till after the morning service, and were then cleaned and refilled (Tamid iii. 9; Yoma 33a). The Ner ha-Ma’arabi, also called “Ner Elohim” (I Sam. iii. 3), was left burning all day and was refilled in the evening. It served to light all the lamps. The Ner ha-Ma’arabi contained no more oil than the other lamps, a half-log measure (1 log contains the liquid of six eggs), sufficient to last during the longest winter night (Men. 89a); yet by a miracle that lamp regularly burned till the following evening (ib. 86b) (Cyrus Adler and J. D. Eisenstein, “Menorah,” in The Jewish Encyclopedia).
It has been taught: Forty years before the destruction of the Temple the western light went out, the crimson thread remained crimson, and the lot for the Lord always came up in the left hand. They would close the gates of the Temple by night and get up in the morning and find them wide open. Said [to the Temple] Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai, “O Temple, why do you frighten us? We know that you will end up destroyed. For it has been said, “Open your doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour your cedars!” (Zech. 11:1) (Tractate Yoma 6:3).
4. The evidence surrounding the Sanhedrin’s mysterious and sudden move is somewhat circumstantial, like much understanding that has been gleaned from the early days of Christianity. However, it is reasonable to conclude that after the earthquake that shook the Temple mount at the time the curtain was torn and the lintel crashed to the floor, the “Hall of Hewn Stone,” the magnificent meeting hall of the seventy-one members of the Sanhedrin, was damaged and no longer usable. The Talmud and Josephus tell us that “forty years before the destruction” of the Temple the Sanhedrin stopped meeting in this beautiful room in the Temple and moved to a space in the marketplace. Because the destruction of the Temple was in the year AD 70, that indicates this move took place in or close to the year Jesus was crucified. Along with this move, they stopped judging capital offenses.
Was this damaged room and lost authority to sentence people to death a sign that God was either through with them or that He was removing them for the role they played in crucifying His Son?
Forty years before the destruction of the Temple, the Sanhedrin was BANISHED (from the Chamber of Hewn Stone) and sat in the trading station (on the Temple Mount) (Talmud, Shabbat 15a).
If an earthquake of the magnitude capable of breaking the stone lintel at the top of the entrance to the Holy Place was occurring at the exact time of Christ’s death, then what would such an earthquake have done to the Chamber of Hewn Stones (a vaulted and columned structure) no more than 40 yards away from where the stone lintel fell and the curtain was torn in two?
There is every reason to believe, though the evidence is circumstantial, that the Chamber of Hewn Stones was so damaged in the same earthquake that it became structurally unsafe from that time forward. Something like this had to have happened because the Sanhedrin would not have left this majestic chamber (to take up residence in the insignificant “Trading Place”) unless something approaching this explanation took place.
If this is actually what happened (and I have no doubt that it did), we then have a most remarkable witness that God the Father engineered every action happening on the day of Christ’s trial and crucifixion. It means that the judgment made by the official Sanhedrin against Jesus within the Chamber of Hewn Stones, was THE LAST JUDGMENT ever given by the official Sanhedrin in their majestic chambers within the Temple! It would show that God the Father demonstrated by the earthquake at Christ’s death that the sentence of the Sanhedrin against Jesus would be the last judgment it would ever make in that authorized place! (Dr. Ernest Martin in his book, Secrets of Golgotha: p. 230-231)
Given the uncertainty of the rabbinic traditions, along with their occasional use of mystical and exaggerated language to convey thoughts, care must be given when establishing ancient historical events. Accuracy of extra-biblical sources must also be questioned. Accuracy is especially difficult to establish when the very events being examined are of a supernatural origin and, as such, defy reason to begin with. However, with those things in mind, the number of recorded witnesses to these amazing events leads us to the conclusion of God doing a great and wonderful thing to punctuate this most holy and perfect sacrifice and the birth of a new age—a new covenant.
Notes
[a] Jerusalem Talmud is the combination of the Mishnah, which was the oral law written down and rabbinical discussions regarding those laws. It was completed in the 4th century AD. Its compilation was brought about by the concern that because the Temple had been destroyed in AD 70, the heritage of the Jewish beliefs and culture would be lost to future generations. Therefore, the rabbis decided to put it into writing.
[b] Babylonian Talmud is the Talmud more often referred to today. It is longer than the Jerusalem counterpart and was not completed until AD 500.
[c] Tosefta A supplement to the Mishna written during the same period or shortly after.
[d] Curtain See the insert “The Curtain” in the book, The Time Line New Testament.
