Red on the Head

In Matthew 27, the story is told of the crucifixion of Jesus. One of the most amazing things about it for me is that the temple curtain, at the moment of Jesus' death, was split in half. But it wasn't torn from bottom to top, like a person would have done it. It was torn from top to bottom. God ripped the curtain.

That curtain separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple. It was considered to be God's special dwelling place in the midst of His people. It was sacred. It was where the most Holy God was.

The barrier was there to be sure that man couldn't carelessly and irreverently enter into God's awesome presence. Even the high priest had to take extreme measures before he entered: he had to wash himself, put on special clothing, bring burning incense that would provide smoke to cover his eyes from a direct view of God and bring blood with him to make atonement for sin.

But at the moment when Jesus cried, "It is finished!" that curtain was torn. The veil was too high for human hands to have ripped it from top to bottom. It had to have been done by God.

The point? Well…this is what Easter is all about. God RIPPED apart the separation between sinful man and Himself, and gave us direct access to Him. We can now enter the Holy of Holies – God's dwelling place – because of the sacrifice of Jesus. No other sacrifice is needed.

For Christ didn't enter the earthly version of the Holy Place; he entered the place itself, and offered himself to God as the sacrifice for our sins. He doesn't do this every year as the high priests did under the old plan with blood that was not their own; if that had been the case, he would have to sacrifice himself repeatedly throughout the course of history. But instead he sacrificed himself once and for all, summing up all the other sacrifices in this sacrifice of himself, the final solution of sin. (From Hebrews, Chapter 9)

God ripped that curtain to get to me. Wow. That's what I'll be celebrating this Easter.

Who needs the Easter Bunny?