We have this very clear account of Jesus’s suffering and death. What happens immediately after Jesus’ death helps explain what His death was all about.

The curtain of the temple, which guarded the holy of holies, it being torn in two (v51), speaks of how Jesus’ death had opened the way into God’s presence. Jesus on the cross was dealing with the sin that separates sinners from God. Jesus alone is the way back to God.

The earthquake and the raising of dead bodies from the graves (v51b-52) was pointing forward to how Jesus’ death and then resurrection would lead to the victory over death for all of God’s redeemed people.

The centurion’s profession was the final event which points to its purpose (v54). Jesus’ death was to bring people to a saving faith in the Lord Jesus.

Jesus’ death calls for a response. We must trust in Jesus as the only one who can bring us to God, the only one who can deal with our sin, the only one who can give us victory over death.