Jesus Rent

What Did Jesus Do?

And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.
Mark 15.38

“Jesus, rent!” was not what Peter advised when the Lord told a would-be disciple that, “the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” (Matthew 8.20) Rather it describes what happened to the curtain in the Jerusalem temple that had kept all but he high priest from the approaching the presence of God in the Holy of Holies, and him but once a year to make atonement for Israel’s sins. The death of Jesus, the one sufficient sacrifice to atone for all sins, resulted in the miraculous rending (tearing) of the barrier in the temple; Jesus had said he was the only way to the Father (John 14.6), and by his death he made the way clear for the relationship between God and Man, which had been broken in the Fall, to be restored. Man would have access to God unknown since the time of Adam and Eve.

“All Access” is a popular term nowadays. It denotes special privileges, like back-stage concert passes, 50-yard line Super Bowl seats plus the opportunity to visit the teams in the locker rooms. Internet services like Twitter are supposed to give folks unlimited access to who ever is doing the “tweeting.” All kinds of folks are offering something like 24/7 availability to their customers/fans. And, when we don’t have “All Access” privileges, we somehow feel we’re not getting the whole story.

Well, Jesus’ rending essentially was God’s way of giving all of us “All Access” to Him. Anywhere, anytime, God has made himself available to us. The Son has made the Father available to us all 24/7/365. God takes no vacations, never asks us to leave a message on His voicemail with a promise to get back to us as soon as He can, and is as ready to hear from us at 4 a.m. as He is at 4 p.m.

Before Jesus rent the curtain in two, and tore away the obstacle of our sins, specific times, and places, and people, controlled access to God. But God wants us to know Him “up close and personal.” God can use us who already know him to help rend what may be keeping someone else from drawing near to the Father, and the last thing God wants us to be is obstacles who get in the way of others.

It is safe to say that just about all of us know someone who is estranged from God at this very moment. What might we do to rend the barriers that keep others from having a personal, “All Access” relationship with God? Making such a rent so another can draw near to God could be costly, difficult, even painful. But thanks be to God, that’s what Jesus did.

S.D.G.

Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4