This past weekend, churches throughout the world celebrated the biggest, surrealist, supernaturalist story that involves the largest of life hero, Jesus, who became the smallest, unexpected hero to save the world from its greatest enemy: death.
“And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.
And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.” — Matthew 27:51
When Jesus died on the cross, something remarkable happened that gives us a hint at the meaning of his death: the curtain in the temple was torn in two.
You see, the Jewish temple was all about barriers. If you weren’t a Jew, there was a barrier you couldn’t cross. If you weren’t a man, there was a barrier you couldn’t cross. If you weren’t a priest, there was a barrier you couldn’t cross. And the curtain of the temple was the biggest barrier of all. We’re not talking about a curtain that was a one-ply piece of fabric you could easily tear apart, but a massive, 60 foot tall curtain that Jewish tradition said was as much as hand’s breadth thick.
Behind the curtain lay the Holy of Holies where one person (the High Priest) could enter one time a year with a blood sacrifice. The very structure of this whole system says, “you are not good enough to go in here, and only one may enter with a blood sacrifice.”
On the cross, Jesus became both our High Priest and our blood sacrifice because he is the only one who is truly good enough. In that moment, God himself ripped the curtain from top to bottom to declare there was no longer a separation between God and man.
Though the Easter story is filled with the mockery, suffering, and death of Jesus Christ, we can find comfort that the veil between us and God is no more because of His sacrifice. We can find an even greater joy because of His resurrection and the victory over sin, Satan, and death.