Main news for 23 June 2025

Jesus dies on the cross. "The earth shook, and the rocks were split." Nature "feels" the significance of what is happening and marks the event, as it also marked His birth. But then there was the Christmas star, a joyful sign of hope, and now there is an earthquake, a fearsome warning to the people who killed the Author of life (see Acts 3:15).

But Christ's death is not only a crime of people, the temporary triumph of evil, but also God's creative act of Redemption. The torn veil of the Temple testifies to this, the veil that always separated people from the Sanctuary, the place of God's dwelling, symbolizing the impassable gulf between God's holiness and human sin. And now the death of the Son of God, who took our sins upon Himself, accomplishes redemption and reconciles us with God. The gulf is bridged, the veil is removed. The cherub guarding the way to the tree of life (Gen. 3:24) removes his sword.

Behind all our reasoning about the reliability of the Bible or about the pre-eternal Son of God, are we not losing sight of this reality that is absolutely important for our salvation: the lifeless body of the Son of Man hanging powerless on the cross against the background of a menacingly and mournfully darkened sky?