07 Apr A Little-known, but Magnificent Event of Easter
Next Sunday, we celebrate Easter – Resurrection Day – the most spectacular and wonderful event in all of history. Christmas may be the happiest day of the Christian calendar, but Easter is the most magnificent!
There are many events at Easter that are well-known and regularly celebrated: The Triumphal Entry, Good Friday, the crucifixion, the resurrection!
But there is another event that is lesser-known and less celebrated, that deserves to be highlighted, that deserves to be appreciated, that deserves to be celebrated at Easter. It is the Torn Veil. Let’s set the stage and then look at the event.
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert
The story is told that in 1840, Queen Victoria, of England, married Prince Albert. Shortly after the wedding, they quarreled. Albert stormed out of the room and locked himself in his private apartment. Victoria hammered furiously on the door, and from the other side of the door came, “Who’s there?”
“The Queen of England, and she demands to be admitted,” shouted Victoria.
There was no response, and the door remained locked. Victoria hammered at the door again. “Who’s there?”
The reply was still, “The Queen of England.”
No response. More fruitless and furious knocking was followed by a pause. Then there was a gentle tap. “Who’s there?”
Victoria replied, “Your wife, Albert.”
Immediately the prince opened the door.
A closed door means separation. It means a breach in the relationship. It means distance and division.
The Torn Veil
Well, if you think Victoria and Albert were separated, think about God and Humanity. The Temple revealed – in its dramatic architecture – the degree of separation. It was a rectangular building that you entered from the narrow end, like a big, long church. It had only two rooms. The first room you entered took up two-thirds of the building. In this room were three items… a table with bread on it, a large lampstand, and an alter with incense burning on it.
Down at the other end was the veil; a large, heavy curtain, like a huge, expensive tapestry. It was made of blue, purple, scarlet and fine twisted linen embroidered with figures of angels (Ex. 26:31-37, 36:35). The veil was probably very thick, because it was so large… about 45 feet high and 30 feet wide. Behind the veil, in the smaller room equal to one-third of the building, was the Ark of the Covenant, which was symbolic of the presence of God.
The veil made an inescapable point: God and humanity are separated. God is on one side of the veil, humanity on the other. No one could come into the outer court outside the Temple unless they were Jewish. No one could come into the larger room of the Temple unless they were a priest. No one could go in to the smaller room of the Temple, into the presence of God, except the high priest of Israel, and that only once a year, and that, only after having scrupulously observed ceremonial cleansing.
Point: God is holy, humans are sinful. Humans’ sin separates us from God. Come to God on your own, and you die!
Tradition tells us that in some Old Testament times, the high priest tied a bell to the hem of his priestly robe, and tied a rope around his waist. That way, when he went into the holy place, the presence of God, you could hear him moving around by the sound of the bell. But if anything went wrong and you heard a “thud,” and silence, the other priests could pull on the rope and haul the body out. Otherwise, if they went in to remove the body, they, too, would die.
The whole architecture, the whole procedure, was a picture of how far above humanity God is, and how separated we are from Him by our sin.
But… on the day of the crucifixion, something astonishing happened. Matthew 27:50-51 reports that when Jesus cried out in a loud voice, and gave up His spirit, the veil in the temple was miraculously torn in two, from top to bottom.
The Picture of Reconciliation
And, it was torn in two, not by human hands, but by the hand of God. The rend was from top to bottom. Humans could not have torn it, because it was too thick. But if humans had torn it, they would have torn it from bottom to top, since they would be standing on the ground. This means that God Himself was satisfied with Jesus’ sacrifice, and removed the veil, Himself.
This was of towering importance! The picture was unmistakable: the barrier between God and humanity was now removed. Those who accepted Jesus as their savior could now enter into the very presence of God, “we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is His flesh” (Hebrews 10:19-20).
In Jesus, we are acceptable to God. That is the message of Easter. Jesus’ death and resurrection give us access to the very presence of the God of heaven. We are no longer cut off from Him.
All the other events of Easter are truly amazing. But this event, often overlooked in the story, gives us a magnificent picture of the results of the other events of Easter: through Jesus, we are no longer separated from God, we are accepted by Him and can go directly into His presence in prayer and fellowship.
As you contemplate the significance of Easter this year, accept His invitation to come into His presence. He tore the veil, signaling that you are free to come to Him.
Perhaps you need to come to Him for the first time for salvation (John 3:16). Or perhaps you are already a Christian, but are holding back because you somehow feel you are not worthy of His full acceptance. But there is nothing you can do to make Him love you more, and there is nothing you can do to make Him love you less. God tore the veil so you could come in. This Easter, feel free to enter His presence through Christ, to enjoy the love He freely offers you.
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