This curtain hung between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place in the Temple. It’s function was to separate all men, even the Priests, from the presence of God. Only the High Priest was able to go beyond the curtain, and that was only once a year, on the Day of Atonement. The moment that Jesus breathed His last breath on the Cross this curtain was torn in an instant from above, downwards. The barrier that separated us from God was suddenly…gone! We no longer needed someone else to inquire of God for us…the middleman now was no longer needed. That open curtain had made a way for us to go confidently into the Most High Place…and to have intimate access to our Lord. That ripped curtain hung as a memorial to the Old Covenant, and the shed Blood of Jesus.
Tag: relationship with god
John 19: 23-24 ” When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took His clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. ‘Let’s not tear it,’ they said to one another. ‘Let’s decide by lot who will get it.’ This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled which said, ‘They divided My garments among them and cast lots for My clothing.’ So this is what the soldiers did. “
This inner tunic was extremely well made by someone highly skilled in weaving. The construction so far superior, that all the guards saw it as a prized possession, not to be torn into pieces. They decided instead to cast lots for it, which meant that they would all place a marked lot into a vessel which was shaken by one of them with his face turned away…the first lot to fall out would indicate the person chosen. This game of chance that the guards took part in was foretold of in Psalm 22:18, which is considered a Messianic Psalm…one pertaining to Jesus. Those guards had no idea they were fulfilling Messianic prophecy that day at Golgotha.
Luke 22: 19-20 ” And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave to them, saying, ‘This is My body given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ In the same way, after the supper He took the cup, saying, ‘ This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is poured out for you’ “
You’ve been invited to Dinner! The menu is quite simple, the fare not elaborate. The guest list is small… actually, there are only two names on the list…yours and the Lord. Come, now is the time to draw near to the Communion Table and allow the Lord to serve you. He will tear off a piece of the thin cake of bread and hand it to you, while saying,”This is My body given for you. My body given to save you from eternal death. Do this to forever remind yourself of what I have done for you, and you alone… If you had been the only person on the earth, I still would have gone to the Cross for you.” He will then hand you the cup while saying, ” This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is poured out for you. I have willingly shed My blood in order to give you new life, and a new covenant, not of the Law, but rather of the Spirit.” The table is set, your Lord is waiting…come to the table.
Luke 22: 3-4 ” Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve. And Judas went to the Chief Priests and the Officers of the Temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus.”
The Devil tempted Judas with a simple question…are you a lover of men, or money? Sadly, Judas chose the latter, and this “Blood Money” was his ultimate downfall. The Prophet Zechariah spoke of those thirty pieces of silver, which related back to the Mosaic Law, which stated that if a bull gored a slave and killed him, the owner must pay thirty shekels of silver to the master of the slave as compensation. Interesting enough, the price of a “quality slave” was twice that amount for compensation… Thus, Jesus was sold out by Judas for the price of a mediocre slave.
Luke 22:31 ” Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
Just like Job, Satan was asking permission to test Peter’s faith…wanting to prove him unfit for God to use. Satan wanted to sift him like grain in a sieve and see what would be left. But because of Jesus’s intercessory prayer on Peter’s behalf he didn’t lose faith…but he did have to return back to it after denying Jesus. Peter’s faith wavered, but was not broken…his faith was questioned…but never crushed. And this is why Jesus added those last words of affirmation and encouragement to Peter…”And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” Seeing the resurrected Christ cemented Peter’s faith into something that no one or thing would ever shake again… and as Jesus had said to him, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church.”
Matthew 21:5 ” Say to the Daughter of Zion, See, your King comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
If you would have asked most Jews, their idea of their King coming into Jerusalem to take it back from the Romans would likely be a very powerful man with thousands of troops, chariots, and horses rallied behind him…With pride and awe they would watch as the Romans would be defeated and driven from the city. But on that Palm Sunday, the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem was anything but that forceful takeover they were all envisioning. Instead, we see Jesus coming into Jerusalem without fanfare, mildly riding in on a donkey…not a rearing, snorting stallion, with just His twelve rag-tag Disciples walking behind Him. But regardless of how the Jews thought He would come… The Prophet Isaiah wrote…”The Lord has made proclamation to the ends of the earth: Say to the Daughter of Zion, See, your Savior comes!”
John 19:36 ” These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: ‘Not one of His bones will be broken,’ and, as another scripture says, ‘They will look on the one they have pierced.’ “
The Lord gave Moses many regulations and restrictions about the Passover Lamb, one being, the breaking of the lamb’s bones was forbidden. As it was with the Lamb of God…none of His bones were broken by the guards as He hung on the Cross. David prophesied this in Psalm 34:20 when he wrote, ” He protects all His bones, not one of them will be broken.” The Old Testament Prophet Zechariah gave us insight into the last bit of this scripture…”And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on Me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a first-born son.” God fulfilled to the letter what was foretold in the Old Testament about His Son.
Hebrews 13: 11-12 ” The High Priest carries the blood of animals into the Most High Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through His own blood.”
The Law specifically dictated how the body of the sacrificed animal was to be disposed of…it was to be burned outside the camp. And so it was with Jesus, who was taken by the guards outside the city gate to the place of the Skull…Golgotha. There, God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement…not only appointed as the place to come with our sins, but He Himself being the very means by which this atonement was made. The Church was now sanctified and made holy by the shedding of Jesus blood.
Matthew 16:21 ” From that time on, Jesus began to explain to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the Elders, Chief Priests, and Teachers of the Law, and that He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”
Jesus had just asked the disciples who they thought He was, and Peter had answered…”You are the Messiah, the Son of God!” So now Jesus was proceeding with the next aspect of His journey towards the cross. He started to make very plain to them the horrific experiences He would have to undergo at the hands of the Jewish Leaders…but on the third day He would be resurrected from the dead. I can only imagine that His disciples had a very difficult time wrapping their minds around the things He was telling them…not wanting to believe Him, but also remembering Isaiah’s prophecy…”He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces He was despised and we esteemed Him not. Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered Him stricken by God, smitten by Him, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed.”
Hebrews 10: 9-10 ” …Here I am, I have come to do Your will. He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
Unlike the other priests, Jesus didn’t have to keep offering sacrifices day after day for the people. He sacrificed for their sins, once for all when He offered Himself. He willingly gave Himself up as the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf, and by doing so destroyed the power of Death and the grave. As it says in I Peter 2:24 ” He bore our sins in His body on the tree so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed.” Jesus came to do His Father’s Will…once, for all.
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