VEIL OF THE TEMPLE WAS TORN IN TWO- TOP TO BOTTOM. MARK 15
Who dared tear the veil of the temple? How was it done, being 60 feet (18 M) high? Who could access the temple to coordinate such? Only a team of horses could accomplish this. The eternal God ruptured this veil in this historic, solemn moment, when the Lord Jesus cried, ‘My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me? Then the Lord of glory cried out, with a loud voice, and breathed His last.’ He died, the eternal One. The veil of the temple was torn (deliberately severed) in two from top (where the Lord presided over the solemn event) to bottom. Priests, standing nearby would be petrified, frozen stiff, gazing directly into the Holy of Holies,
(entered on pain of death) where the High Priest went only once a year, and only with precious sacrificial blood. An eternal reaction, surely. (Mark 15:38)
Matthew added, ‘when He had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up His Spirit.
He repeated the news, ‘The veil of the temple was rent in two from top to bottom; and then the surprising details, ‘the earth quaked, and the rocks were split. (27:51) and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves -note the timing- after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.’ The tearing of the temple veil triggered these events: a mighty earthquake, geological rocks splintered; with the resurrection of many Old Testament saints. This accompanied the liberating death of our Lord Jesus Christ. Mighty, significant, meaningful.
Let’s examine how God introduced the veil of the temple as given in Exodus 26:32.
‘You shall make a veil woven of blue and purple and scarlet yarn, and fine linen thread, significant colours for blue is heavenly, purple is royal, scarlet is atoning, and fine linen speaks of the white righteousness of our Lord.’ They all point to the life and human body of our Lord Jesus Christ. This miracle of the word of God was recorded 1600 years prior to His incarnation. They were instructed to ‘Hang it upon the 4 pillars of acacia wood, overlaid with gold;’ illustrative of the acacia bush used in the sprinkling of blood on the Passover night in Egypt. Acacia spoke of His humanity, born of the virgin Mary, while gold spoke of His eternal pre-eminence.
‘Their hooks shall be of gold, (heavenly grasp) upon four sockets of silver, which illustrates redemption.’ Remember that silver was refined by fire, and His great redemption purified through the fires of persecution, rejection, even crucifixion.
The veil alone significantly concealed the mysterious contents of the Holy of Holies.
‘You shall hang the veil from the clasps. Then you shall being the testimony in there, behind the veil. The veil shall be a divider for you between the holy place and the Most Holy.’ Then the pointed instruction ‘To set the mercy seat upon the ark of the testimony in the Most Holy.’ The mercy seat spoke of the atoning Saviour and His reconciling ministry, secluded by the veil of the temple. Christ is hidden, revealed only to such hearts which are open to the gracious enlightening of the Holy Spirit.
The physician Luke wrote, ‘About the sixth hour, there was darkness over the whole earth until the ninth hour.’ The whole gloomy world knew that God was angry, for ‘The sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two.’ (Luke 23:45) Each of three gospel writers tells of this tearing of the precious veil. This terrorized the priesthood, and shamed them that their eternal God had interposed, writing ‘ichabod’, the glory has departed, above the veil. Did the high priests tether the ragged veil to restore temple worship, disbanded by the atoning death of our beloved Saviour? The torn veil concluded the Old Testament sacrificial system; and disqualified the priesthood. Christ opened a new way into heaven.
Hebrews enlightens us, ‘Christ came as High priest, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.’ (9:12) No longer the veil of the temple separated the holy place from the Holy of Holies, for our high priest, even our Lord ascended to heaven, carrying the merit of His atoning blood. The writer continues, ‘Such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, separated from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for his own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. (7:26) The cross of Christ is the central theme, when the earthly body of God’s Son was offered for our sins, the veil of His holy temple was torn. He bears the scars of my sin and shame for eternity.
The horror and shame felt by the designing priesthood gave way to the joy and relief for every child of the King, entering heaven because of His precious blood.
‘The Holy Spirit indicated that the way into the Holy Place was not yet made manifest while the first temple was still standing.’ (9:8) The veil of the old temple had to be ruptured. This writer of Hebrews marvels at the privilege enjoyed by every believer, ‘We have boldness to enter the Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us through the veil, that is His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.’ (10:19)
Do you appreciate the miracle of the torn veil of His earthly body; and boldly enter into heaven where our Lord is seated? Many believers may not understand and enter into this glorious privilege. The Veil of Christ’s flesh demanded His virgin birth, incarnation, 30 years of growth and development, a life-time of holy living, leading to the hard-hearted rejection and His callous crucifixion.
We thank our Lord that an Old Testament account is fulfilled in the holy, sinless life of our Lord Jesus, and consummated in His dying and entrance into heaven for us.
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