Can you believe that it’s a little over two weeks until Thanksgiving? Wow, this year is really flying by! With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I thought it would be great if we reflected on some things in our Christian lives that we should be thankful for. I want to start with a passage of scripture that isn’t our main passage this morning, but it is the basis for our main passage. While it’s a very short piece of scripture, it’s extremely profound and every time I read it, I get chill bumps.
Mark 15:38
38 And the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.
This awesome event happened on Good Friday. Immediately after Jesus cried out one last time and gave up His life on the cross. To understand the significance of this event and why we should be eternally grateful for a torn curtain (or veil), we must go back and understand the role of the temple and the day of atonement in the Old Covenant.
In Exodus 25, God had given the children of Israel plans for the Tabernacle in which God would dwell in the presence of His chosen people. Since God is holy certain ceremonies must happen for an unholy people to approach a Holy God. We see one of the most important ceremonies laid out in the sixteenth chapter of Leviticus when God explains to Moses the Day of Atonement. Inside the tabernacle God’s spirit was present and was manifest on top of the cover of the Ark of the Covenant located inside the Holy of Holies. The place where the presence of God was manifested was called the Mercy Seat. The chief priest at the time (Aaron) was instructed not to enter the Holy of Holies whenever he wanted. If he did he would die. Instead Arron was instructed to only enter once a year on the Day of Atonement. Due to this restriction and the presence of God dwelling there, the Holy of Holies was separated from the Holy Place (the place of offering) by a thick veil. Once a year on the Day of Atonement the High Priest would be able to enter the Holy of Holies. In an overly simplified explanation of events that took place on the Day of Atonement, the High Priest would bring a sacrifice for himself first so he would be seen as pure before God. Then, he would sacrifice a goat, take its blood and enter into the Holy of Holies. After that, he sprinkled the blood seven times upon the Mercy Seat in order for the people of Israel to be seen as pure before God. This event would happen once every year. Jews still celebrate annually, although in a slightly different fashion since there is no temple at the moment.
The ceremony carried over into the temple once it was built. Every year the High Priest would go through the ritual time and time again as the children of Israel stood by watching this ceremony take place. That was all under the Old Covenant. This is where the verse in Mark comes into play, the old way of doing things was gone and the New Covenant had come through Jesus Christ once the veil was torn.
1. Through Christ we have Access – Hebrews 10: 19-20
Hebrews 10:19-20
19 And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. 20 By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place.
When we read the accounts of the worship and duty performed under the Old Covenant (the covenant given to Moses) by the priests, we see that the High Priest would be the one who would make everyone right with God. It wasn’t a perfect system because it had to be done constantly through smaller sacrifices and then once a year for all of Israel on the Day of Atonement. For the individual Jews, they had nothing they could do to come into the presence of God; it was only for the High Priest and only once a year. A relationship with God seemed like a distant thing until Jesus died and the veil was torn.
We see here that the writer of Hebrews tells us that it’s not just the High Priest, but everyone can now enter the Holy of Holies because of the blood of Jesus. It’s because of Jesus that we now have access that was never allowed before into the presence of God. We can come to the Mercy Seat and do so boldly.
Under the Old Covenant there was great apprehension during the Day of Atonement, for if the High Priest did not atone for his own sins properly, he would be struck dead. Since no one else could enter the Holy of Holies without dying themselves, they would tie bells and a rope to the High Priest to be able to bring him out. Everyone would wait outside in nervousness for the ceremony to be over. Now we can boldly come before the throne of God through the blood of Jesus, because our faith is in Jesus alone. He has opened a new way through the veil into the place where God dwells.
2. Through Christ we have Advocacy – Hebrews 10:21
Hebrews 10:21
21 And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house,
Throughout the Old Testament we see that the High Priests are the ones who go before God on behalf of the people. Now we no longer need a High Priest because Jesus is our advocate and High Priest. The Old Testament priesthood is over. It was finished when Jesus drew His last breath, no longer was man needed or an earthly temple (made by human hands) required to be made right with God. Now Jesus is our advocate, and it is freely available to all who will call on His name. This is one of the reasons the temple was destroyed in 70 AD, to show that once and for all the temple is not required to be made right with God because of our new High Priest, Jesus (Hebrews 8). We have someone who has a ministry far superior than any worldly High Priest has ever had. He is advocating a far better covenant than the Old Covenant that is now obsolete. Jesus advocates for us before the judge of the entire universe not on the basis of what we have done, but rather on His shed blood.
3. Through Christ we have Assurance – Hebrews 10:22
Hebrews 10:22
22 let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.
When I was traveling to eastern Europe there was a group of believers that don’t think you can have assurance in Christ. They believed you wouldn’t know until you got to heaven, but that’s not what the Bible says. When we had a chance to share with them the assurance we have in Jesus Christ, you should have seen the joy that came over their faces. There is just something about assurance that is so comforting. I appreciate the assurance of a car that I know should work, especially when I’m on a long trip. I appreciate the assurance I have that medicines I take when I’m sick will make me feel better, but oh how excited I am in the assurance of a Savior that has made a way for me to be clean in the sight of God. The writer of Hebrews tells us that because of this assurance we can do three things.
It’s all because of Jesus we can be assured in our relationship with God. We can be assured in our faith (it’s not a blind faith), and we can fully trust Jesus in everything.
When I read over this I can only imagine this was one of the verses in the mind of Fanny Crosby when she wrote the hymn, "Blessed Assurance".
Blessed assurance
Jesus is mine!
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God
Born of his Spirit, washed in His blood
Our assurance isn’t in a man performing a ceremony in the perfect way, it’s not in my ability to keep the law. It’s only in the blood of Jesus Christ that I can approach the Mercy Seat.
The tearing of the veil was a monumental event in the Bible. No longer do we need a priest to advocate for us, no longer do we need a temple for God to dwell, no longer do we need anything else other than Jesus. Everything changed in that one moment. Before the death of Jesus it meant certain death to enter into the Holy of Holies, but after His death, it means death to anyone who stays out!
