Day 35
Today’s passages
Luke 23:44-46, Hebrews 10:20
Experience
Start by taking a few minutes to watch today’s InsideOutXP Video
As far as I know, not very many of you are Jewish history scholars, which means very few of you can really understand the purpose of the torn curtain. But to a Jew who understood the layout of the temple, these few verses in Jesus’ crucifixion story would have been explosive.
The curtain referred to in Luke is none other than the veil that covered the entrance to the Holy of Holies in the temple. The Holy of Holies was the central room that no one could enter (except for one priest on one day of the year) because the glory of God was present there. That curtain was a huge stop sign, sort of like the security guards outside of the Oval Office. That curtain was present in the temple for fifteen hundred years as a sign to the Jews that God is holy… and separate from us as sinners.
With that in mind, think about how terrifying it would have been to all of the Jews present at the crucifixion. The curtain was torn! Who knew what would happen? But for the Jews, the curtain was ripped from top to bottom because there was no longer a barrier between them and God. No more priests to intercede for them, no more animal sacrifices. And the torn curtain meant something to us as present-day Christians, too. Actually, it means everything.
Because of the cross, the curtain was torn so we could have access to God at any time. In Hebrews, we are reminded that Christ’s torn body—torn by whips, thorns, a spear, the cross—represents our direct line to God, as well. The curtain equaled Jesus, and because of Jesus’ torn flesh, God’s door is always open to us, day or night, when you’re happy or upset, no matter how “unreligious” or broken or sinful you are. Because of Christ’s torn flesh, the curtain has been pulled back, and we are no longer separated from God.
I dont really understand why they had a HUGE curtain? I know that the Glory of God was there, so did they put it up to separate us sinners for that?
Yes. Exactly.
It was a big physical barrier to protect people from the full glory of God, which is so powerful no one can view it and be unchanged (think of the time Moses saw God and his face glowed)…but it was also a reminder that God’s Holiness (literally, His “set apart-ness) means we (as sinners) can’t just walk up to Him and survive. He has to make a way…which, thankfully, He did through Christ’s sacrifice.
That’s why the Veil was torn…and why we can’t approach God through prayer now!
Pretty cool, huh?
I meant “can” approach God. Whoops