Matthew 27: 32-54
The sun draws back, casting darkness over all creation,
as the light fades from the creator’s eyes,
and evening drapes a veil of starry tears
across the midday sky while Jesus dies.
That face, that long beloved face, is bloodied, tired,
filled with anguish and abandonment,
reflecting the weight of sin carried to the cross
for the whole world–in place of all the people,
generations past, here present, and to come.
And so he who knew no sin, embodied sin,
so that those who had been separated
by that sin, from God,
might become the righteous, beautiful in His eyes.Jesus cries out, “It is finished,”
And his face reflects deliverance and abiding joy.
The separation, that long exile, is almost ended.
He is returning home to his Father at long last.The earth trembles, tombs open, the dead walk again
among the living, and the temple veil is torn in two.
At the foot of the cross, a Roman centurion exclaims,
Truly this was the Son of God,
while those whom Jesus knew and loved
watch . . . and wait.
