Tuesday, February 12, 2008

It's Curtains!

As I read the passage detailing Jesus' crucifixion, I was reminded that Mel Gibson does not have anything on Mark. Though the book of Mark contains no moving images, it still is a chilling portrait of how brutal the process of crucifixion was. Jesus suffered mighty physical pain that you and I might be made right with God. It is hard to imagine that anyone would suffer death on a cross willingly. But Jesus did on our behalf. We truly serve a loving and merciful Savior.

It is not only the suffering of Jesus that strikes me here, however. I am also struck by that small detail of the tearing of the curtain in the Temple. The tearing of the curtain was no small feat. The curtain in the Temple was not like the ones hanging in your dining rooms. The Temple curtain was a heavy weave. It was tall, running from ceiling to floor. It was also very heavy, probably weighing hundreds of pounds. Yet, in an instant, it is rent.

This is not just a great physical feat. It is a spiritual feat as well. The curtain that was torn separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the Temple. The curtain was a roadblock that said keep out. The Holy of Holies could only be entered by one man, the High Priest of Israel. And he could only enter on one day, the Day of Atonement. In the religion of the Temple, there was no easy access to God. Sin separated humans from a holy God.

Mark is telling us that all that changed with the death of Jesus. Jesus' death paid the price of our sin. With Jesus' death, God was satisfied. And so now men and women- all men and women- could enter in to the presence of God. The great outcome of Jesus' work is that you and I now have an open access plan to God. Thanks to Jesus, we can know God in a very real and personal way.

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