The Torn Curtain

Introduction

Isn’t it ironic how we call today Good Friday? A day where we remember a bloody cross? A cross where Jesus of Nazareth was nailed to a tree. Nails driven through the arteries of each wrist to hold him to this wooden beam of the cross, then another nailed through his crossed over feet and the arteries there? A cross that would have collapsed the lungs of Jesus, forcing him to push up on those nails to raise up to take a breath. A cross that brought on the most cruel form of death there was with the longest lasting pain.

That Friday was a day of darkness, literally. For three hours, darkness covered the land. But it was also dark because Jesus was stricken, smitten, and afflicted on the cross. He became a curse.

Deuteronomy 21:23 “23 his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God. You shall not defile your land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance.”

And yet, it is in the darkness of these events where the love of God was poured out for us. For on the cross, the blood of Christ was shed to wash away our sins, that we might live. And this is what we want to consider this evening, on this Good Friday. Therefore if you have a Bible I want to ask that you take it out and open to Mark 15:37-39.

If you do not have a Bible of your own, you can take the Red Bible in the pew in front of you and find Mark 15:37-39 on page #1014.

We have already heard Mark 15:21-41 read this evening with our two scripture readings. Yet it is important for us to now come back and reflect on these three verses as we reflect on the Curtain and the Cross this evening. As we learn just how significant and how good Good Friday really was.

Therefore here is the main idea I hope that we take away from Mark 15:37-39 this evening, “In his death, Jesus rips open the curtain of separation between God and man so that we can now enter the holy place and live.”

We are going to unfold this idea in three points: (1) The Final Breath, (2) The Torn Curtain, and (3) The Surprising Confession

Point #1: The Final Breath

It was 9am local time there in Jerusalem on that Friday when Jesus of Nazareth was nailed to a tree. Nails were driven through the arteries of both his wrists and then one through the arteries of both feet in one, if not the most cruel forms of death in all of human history.

Those who crucified him mocked him. They insulted him. They asked how he could save others and not himself. Even those crucified with him reviled him.

Three hours went by on that Friday and darkness covered the earth between the sixth hour of the day, noon and the ninth hour, 3pm. This was to fulfill what was promised in Amos 8:9 “9 “And on that day,” declares the Lord God, “I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight.”

The darkness that covered the land was not by accident, it was the darkness of God’s judgment coming upon those who were crucifying his Beloved Son. It was the judgment against their sin. Judgment against their rebelling against God. And in this moment, Jesus cries out as put in Mark 15:34 “34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?””

Jesus on the cross identified with the cry of David from Psalm 22. He identified as one feeling as if he was forsaken on account of the Father’s purposes. For here on the cross, Jesus drinks the full cup of the wrath of the divine against all sin. Here on the cross, Jesus satisfies both the righteous wrath against sin and the righteous judgment against sinners. Jesus becomes the substitute. His blood is shed so that sinners may be redeemed through the washing away of their sins by the blood of Jesus.

And therefore with this final cry, Jesus finishes his mission and lays down his life. Verse 37…

Jesus endured all of this to the point of death, death on the cross. For it is here he breathed his final breath.

Point #2: The Torn Curtain

Mark 15:38…

What is this curtain that was torn in two? It was the curtain that separated the Holy place from the Most Holy Place as given in Exodus 26:31–33 “31 “And you shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. It shall be made with cherubim skillfully worked into it. 32 And you shall hang it on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold, with hooks of gold, on four bases of silver. 33 And you shall hang the veil from the clasps, and bring the ark of the testimony in there within the veil. And the veil shall separate for you the Holy Place from the Most Holy.”

You see, this is the curtain that our children’s story earlier in our time this evening talked about. It was the curtain with the warrior angels on it, the curtain that was a big keep out sign reminding the people that it was wonderful to live with God, yet because of our sin, we couldn’t come in.

In case any are unfamiliar with the story of the Bible. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. He spoke everything into existence. The heavens and the earth, the sky and the sea, the land and its vegetation. And then he created man and beast. And it was all good in the very good beginning.

But one day in this very good creation, the first man, Adam, and his wife, Eve, disobeyed God in eating of the one tree they were forbidden to eat from, the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Everything else was theirs to take, just not this one tree. For this tree represented that man was to obey God as their creator, as their king. Therefore in eating of this tree, Adam and Eve rebelled against their creator, they committed treason against their king. And from that moment on, sin entered the world. Sin affected all of creation, but most of all it affected man’s access to God.

Man in their sin could no longer have access to God, because he is holy. That is, God is without sin. Therefore no one could enter God’s holy presence and live. No one, because now born in Adam, all mankind is born in sin.

And yet, God wanted to remind people that it was good and wonderful and right to live with him. And because of this he chose a people for himself to dwell in their midst. But even then, this curtain must be made and hung as a warning for the people that they can’t come into God’s presence because of their sin. It was a warning sign warning them to keep out and their need of a rescuer, a deliverer.

A rescuer that the people hoped for in the coming Savior who would rescue them. A rescuer they thought would be a strong warrior to conquer. But instead, the savior we need is that of a lamb hung upon a cross. A lamb whose slain on a bloody cross. And in his breathing his last, the curtain of separation was torn wide open, from top to bottom.

Man could not tear the curtain from the bottom up in trying to earn their way back into God’s presence by their good works. Man could not regain access to a holy God by their righteous acts. Man could not regain access to a holy God by anything of their own doing. But the blood of Jesus satisfied the fullness of God’s wrath against sin, allowing those who were once separated to enter if they were washed with the blood of Jesus.

Who has been washed by this blood? Those who trust that Jesus and Jesus alone has granted us access to the Father! Jesus is our hope and confidence to enter.

Hebrews 10:19–22 “19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”

This is the power of the cross. Christ became sin for us. Christ took the blame for us. Christ bore the wrath for us. And because Christ did these on the cross, we can stand forgiven at the cross. It is our names in his wounds. It is through his suffering we are free. It is through his death that we are able to live.

Oh friends, let us leave here this evening marveling at the power of the cross and what Jesus has done on that bloody middle cross. And may it leave us to see he truly is the Son of God who has come to take away the sins of the world.

Point #3: The Surprising Confession

Mark 15:39…

In the manner that Jesus died on the cross, in the manner of his crying out to his Father in heaven, and in the way he breathed his last, a revelation came to one onlooker, the centurion.

This centurion likely had seen many criminals die by crucifixion. For he was part of the Roman empire as an officer in command. Therefore it was not in one simply dying on a cross that struck him. It was in all that he had seen and heard from Jesus, that he being mocked refused to curse at his mockers. It was in his truly feeling as one forsaken by God in the midst of his cruel death as one truly innocent. Whatever of these or combinations of these things pairing with any prior understanding he had, the centurion came to the place of him realizing that this Jesus truly was the Son of God. That this Jesus was who he said he was. That he was the one who had been sent by God to lay down his life and save his people from their sins. That he truly was the King of the Jews.

But the question that we must leave here with is, do we confess too that Jesus truly was the Son of God?

Friend as we draw near to the end of our time here this evening, if you have not yet believed that Jesus is the Son of God who has come to rescue us from our sins and grant us access to God, then I challenge you by asking you, why not? What is holding you back? If you continue to reject Jesus for who he says he is, if you continue to look to the cross and see that as your only hope of access to God, then you will continue to remain separated from God. And unless you repent and believe, you will one day bear the wrath of God for your sins, because you have rejected the one and only sacrifice capable of washing your sins away. Friend, make this Good Friday truly good for your soul by coming to the place of belief and trust in this Jesus who laid down his own life so that you could live.

Others, do you profess to believe in God and yet still tremble at the thought of drawing near, friend see what Christ has won in the laying down of his life. He has given you access into the Holy of Holies with assurance, the assurance of his blood spilt to wash away your guilt and shame. Rest in this hope.

And for all, let us remember that here on this Good Friday, Jesus was crucified, he breathed his final breath, he died, and was buried. But Sunday is coming. For on the third day, Jesus did not remain dead, he rose from the grave and the tomb, the tomb is empty.

Let’s pray….