It was an unnerving experience for the inhabitants of Jerusalem on that late Friday afternoon in spring. “The earth shook, the rocks split” (Matthew 27:51). This was no ordinary earthquake. No, this tremor signaled that the Son of God had died on Calvary’s middle cross.

“When Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people” (Matthew 27:50-53).

Three days later (according to the Jewish reckoning of time), the earth again moved beneath people’s feet. This was no ordinary earthquake either. No, this tremor signaled that the Son of God had risen to life in the tomb located in Joseph of Arimathea’s garden.

“There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it” (Matthew 28:2).

The Son of God dying? The Son of God rising to life? There are no more earth-shattering events than these, and God punctuated them with seismic activity that got people’s attention.

While you and I did not personally experience those earth-shattering days of Good Friday and Easter Sunday, we do live through earth-shattering days of our own. How so? Seismologists report that earthquakes occur regularly throughout the world. Dozens of tremors—strong enough to register on the lower end of the Richter scale but not to be felt by humans—rock the earth daily. Earthquakes of a higher magnitude make the headlines monthly.

As with the earthquakes on Good Friday and Easter Sunday, the earthquakes taking place in our lifetime are also filled with meaning. They announce that the crucified, risen, and ascended Lord will carry out his promise of returning visibly and gloriously to this world on the Last Day just as he said. But don’t take my word for it—take God’s.

On Tuesday of Holy Week, Jesus and his disciples spent time together on the Mount of Olives. In that setting, the disciples posed a question to the Lord: “What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3). Jesus informed his followers that numerous events comprise that sign, including “earthquakes in various places” (Matthew 24:7).

Jesus’ answer means each movement of the earth you might feel or hear about is a not-so-gentle reminder that the Lord’s visible and glorious return on the Last Day is still on schedule. Each earthquake points ahead to the “great earthquake” (Revelation 6:12) that will signal an end to this world as we know it.

But that last earthquake will encompass much more than destruction; it will usher in deliverance for God’s people—deliverance from a world thoroughly corrupted by sin. That last earth-shattering day will clear the way for “a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13).

The poet Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “We learn geology the morning after an earthquake.” He meant that earthquakes uncover—quite literally—information about the composition and structure of the earth.

Considering what Scripture teaches, it is not a stretch to say, “We learn theology the day of an earthquake.” What do we learn? “Christ has died! Christ is risen! Christ will come again!” (Christian Worship 824).

James Pope | FIC Editor

Author: James Pope
Volume 112, Number 04
Issue: April 2025