Torn Curtain

“And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.” (Mark 15:38)

Hello, my friend…

We find ourselves on the evening of Good Friday. Christians around the world are commemorating the arrest, trial, and crucifixion of Jesus Christ tonight. Good Friday.

I always wondered, as a child and young man, just how could you call today Good Friday – knowing what it represents? Jesus, the only Sinless One, the only begotten of the Father, our Savior, was wrongfully accused and put to death for bucking the religious system of His day. He never sold drugs to children on the playground, He never committed murder, He never stole from anyone. He lived a pure and sinless life and revealed to us the heart of our heavenly Father by the power of the Holy Spirit. Yet He was reviled, rejected, punished, and tortured according to the highest methods known to the Romans at the time.

As we read through the several chapters in the gospels that narrate this final twenty-four hour period, we get caught up in the big things – the betrayal of Judas, the arrest in the Garden, Peter cutting off the soldier’s ear, Herod and Pilate, and all the rest. The main storyline holds our attention as we zip through the account from the Upper Room to the Cross and the grave. Yet, there are so many touchpoints we frequently gloss over and neglect. One of those points is our text for today: the ripping of the Temple curtain.

If you have been around the Church very long, I’m sure you have heard references to this event, so I won’t bore you with all the details and minutiae. There are, however, two things I would like to highlight. First is the fact that the veil in the Temple was THE great symbolic divide between God and man. Once a year the High Priest was allowed to enter the Holy of Holies (behind this veil) into the presence of God – and he only once in his lifetime. This tearing of the veil, then, symbolized the end of the great divide between God and man. It being torn from the top down vividly displayed that God Himself tore it open. The veil was somewhere around 40 feet tall and is believed to have been about 6 inches thick – far beyond any human ability to destroy. The destruction of this barrier showed us so much more than simply the power of God.

Jesus stated over and over that He alone is the way to God. He came to break down the dividing wall, the barrier, between God and man through His sacrificial work on the Cross. Through one man, Adam, sin entered the world. Through one Man, Jesus, redemption and restoration was restored to all who would come through Christ. In showing us the heart of the Father, Jesus was revealing to us the great mercy God offers mankind. There is nothing we can do to earn God’s salvation or His love. Nothing. No amount of good works. No amount of money we can give. No holy-sounding prayers. Nothing. God, Who wrote the book (literally) addressing sin and salvation, made a Way for us through His One and only Son, Jesus. Ever since the Tower of Babel and before, mankind has striven to reach heaven by his own methods and wisdom. All throughout the Old Testament God provided rituals to achieve temporary acceptance and provisionary forbearance. Each part of the rituals, each action, pointed forward to the coming of the Lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world: Jesus.

With the completion of Christ’s work on the Cross, the Way was finally made open for us to approach God directly, thereby gaining permanent and complete forgiveness. Not just acceptance, not just forbearance. Forgiveness. Adoption. Redemption. Atonement. Shalom. As Christ died, He cried out, “It is finished.” This signaled that the plan of salvation God laid out was finally and forever fulfilled. With His blood, Jesus paid the price for mankind’s sin. With His body, Jesus took upon Himself the full price for our salvation and redemption from the effects of that sin. With His very life, Christ exchanged His all for our nothing. He became poor that we might become rich. He became sin that we might become the righteousness of God. He bore our sickness and disease that we might experience the wholeness God designed us to have.

Today, my friend, I don’t know where you stand with God and His Son, Jesus. So many people can openly talk about God. That is a generic term for Yahweh or Jehovah. But they bristle when you start mentioning the Name of Jesus. Maybe that’s you. I am praying that God will reveal Himself to you during this Easter season. May you feel a stirring in your soul like never before. May you experience the longing of your heart so deeply that you are finally willing to step out of your own way and accept God’s will and Way for you. That Way is Jesus. Perhaps you once went to church, but you have wandered away. The glittering lights and the shiny objects the world offers may have blinded you or tempted you to chase them. May you see these for what they are – merely plastic relics, childrens’ toys, shadows with no substance. May the Spirit of Christ reach deep within you and awaken a hunger and thirst that causes you to come to Him this season. I am praying for you. Come home.

Be blessed.