At a
meeting the other day, someone told a story that made everyone
laugh. Well, everyone
except me. I did not know
the people they were referencing,
so I did not get the joke. Sometimes,
when you lack the necessary background information, you miss the
point.
That
happens all the time when we read our Bibles.
We read them from a North American, 2018 perspective and,
therefore, we
often miss details that were huge to the early church.
For
example, when writing about the crucifixion, Matthew, Mark and
Luke all make a
point of saying, “At that moment (the exact moment of Jesus’
death) the curtain
of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom” (Matthew 27:51). Big deal, right? Odd, but not all that
significant to me. However,
the writer of Hebrews makes that
detail one of the centrepieces of his teaching. Obviously, I am missing
something.
For
almost a thousand years, the temple, stood on a hill in the
eastern part of
Jerusalem. To the Jews,
it was a
reminder that God was present among them.
The temple was the place where they came to worship and
make sacrifices. It was
the most special place on earth. However,
by its very construction, the temple also taught them something
else: “You must
keep your distance from God!”
The temple was
surrounded by a
series of courtyards and at each point another group of people was
eliminated. Anyone could
enter the
outer court, but only Jews could get into the next one. Jewish men could go beyond
that, but only
priests could go through the next gate.
As you came to the actual building, the priests could enter
the front
room (called “The Holy Place”), but only the High Priest could
enter the
smallest and most sacred room (“The Holy of Holies”). In fact, the High Priest only
went into that
room once a year and he did not go in without taking the blood of
a sacrifice
with him. If anyone
passed through any
of the gates and got closer to God than they should, the
punishment was death. The
message was clear and unmistakeable. You do not enter God’s
presence. You do not march
into the temple and do
whatever you want. You
stay back. You do not get
close to God.
With
that background, can you see why the early Christians made such a
big deal about
the temple curtain being torn?
The Hebrew writer
says it this
way: “Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to
enter the
Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way
opened for us
through the curtain, that is, his body… let us draw near to God
with a sincere
heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our
hearts
sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our
bodies washed
with pure water.” (Hebrews 10:19-22).
Do
you
hear the difference? No
longer scared,
but confident. No longer
unworthy,
rather made worthy by Christ. Not
“Stay
away”, but “Welcome home!” The
barrier
is gone! The doors are
wide open. You do not
have to run from God any
more. In fact, because of
Jesus’ death,
you are invited in!
That
little detail is a big deal!
“Let
us
then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may
receive mercy
and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).
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