One of my favorite moments in the Gospel of Matthew (27:51) is read every Holy Week, it is right after Jesus dies, “At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split.” This was never really a passage I cared about, the evangelical churches I was a part of tended to explain away this verse as something along the lines of “the spirit tore apart the space keeping the people from the Holy of Holies where God lived in the temple, so there would be no more separation between God and his people.” It wasn’t until a mentor of mine explained to me the ancient Jewish practice of kriah, or the rending of ones garments. After the death of a loved one, a common practice is to rend or tear ones clothes as a way to physically show their anger and grief at the loss of this person. The tearing of the garment was usually from the top down, as if you’re grabbing your shirt from your neck line. My mentor had explained this practice to me, and then paired it with the tearing of the temple curtain, as if God was lamenting the death of Jesus on earth.
God’s lamentation of the death of Jesus is such a raw and powerful image to me. It is a reminder that when justice is not served, we have space and practice built in to our traditions to lament this in a tangible and strong way. As we look to the resurrection of Jesus this Sunday, may we remember that God laments, is angry, and grieving with us in the dark nights of our souls, when I looks like all is lost, but that sunrise is on its way, and while it looks like evil is winning, it never holds its place for long.
Grace and peace,
George Benson (he/him)