THE CURTAIN WAS TORN

While Jesus spent time on earth, He healed many sick people, gave sight to the blind, and returned the dead to their loved ones again. By performing these miracles He opened the curtain to heaven slightly and gave us a peek into the heart of God. The significance of his death lies in the complete tearing away of the barrier between heaven and earth. If Jesus didn’t die, the barrier and division between heaven and us would not have been opened completely. If Jesus did not pay the full price for salvation, there was always the possibility that man could not experience the fullness of the presence of God. Matthew proclaims in chapter 27 that when Jesus died the curtain was completely torn in the middle and the barrier came down. Jesus ripped it so hard that it was split!

The temple consisted mainly of three parts: the courtyard where the people and even non-Jews could enter; the Holy Place where only the priests could enter and the Most Holy Place, where only the high priest could enter once a year to do penitence and atonement for the sins of all the people (Leviticus 16). The veil or curtain of the temple separated the Holy and Most Holy. Matthew 27 verse 51 records that after Jesus cried and breathed his last breath on the cross, the curtain between the Most Holy and Holy Places had torn from the top to bottom. The fact that it tore into two was symbolic that the divide between God and man was broken down by Christ's death. Now all people are free to relate to God directly because Christ paid the price for our sin completely.

The curtain was eighteen meter in length and ten centimetres thick and it was woven of durable blue, purple and red wool material and good linen embroidered with cherubs (Exodus 26: 31-32). The impressive size and thickness of the curtain makes the tear of it into two a dramatic event and emphasizes the relevance and meaning of Jesus' death. Direct access to God has been accomplished and the open relationship with Him with all people at all times is depicted symbolically.

The writer of Hebrews emphasizes the work of Jesus as High Priest in Hebrews 10. He explains how our relationship with God changed by comparing the work of Jesus with the high priest's work in the sanctuary. It is now possible for us, after the death of Jesus, to be our own "priest" and we can enter the sanctuary freely. The sanctuary embodies intimate, personal contact with God. Entering into the sanctuary does not mean that we have to go to a specific place like the temple to meet God but we can experience God's proximity and presence everywhere and we have personal contact with Him. By offering his body Jesus reconciled God with us and therefore the space behind the curtain, the Holy of Holies, is no longer forbidden to us. “And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. (Hebrews 10:19 and 20).

Now we can see God's love. Now we hear the voice of God's heart saying:

“You may be disobedient to me, deny me, hurt me. It might be that you strike and wound me, that you put a crown of thorns on my head; that you want to mock me, and spit me in the face. You might hate me and put me on a cross, divide my clothes by gambling for them, nail me to the cross ...... But I'll love you! I will love you, even though I die for my love. I will NEVER stop loving you!

We have an opened window to the heart of God ...... we can see how God ALWAYS is!

Now we have direct access to God's heart of LOVE.