Torn Curtain

July 12, 2012

The Life of Jesus; read today: Temple veil torn from top to bottom; Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45

ESV: Luke 23:45. while the sun's light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.

We read these words and think that it was nothing important. It was a curtain that was hanging and it got torn apart by some unknown quantity. We may even think it was eaten away by moths or something like that.

That is not how it was. This was a thick curtain. I have done theater and I picture to be like the curtain that opens and closes the acts of a play. It allows no light to pass, it is heavy enough that if you were hit with it coming down you would feel it for a few days.

In this case it was that and more. Not only was it one curtain, it was two that were overlapping. It was designed to keep people away from where God’s presence in the temple. Only a priest could go in there, and only after a serious cleansing ritual.

And now, as Jesus died, the curtain is torn. Now there is nothing to keep man from God’s presence.

That is why Jesus came, and died on the cross.

Read for next time: Earthquake; Matthew  27:51