Sermon Tone Analysis

INTRO:

Let’s read our text for today.

We will be reading and you probably will want to put your finger in as well.

The author of Hebrews wrote,

(CSB) — We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.

It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain.

Jesus has entered there on our behalf as a forerunner…

This passage clearly defines what the anchor is.

It is hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain and the hope that entered in is Jesus, Himself.

Jesus is our hope that has gone behind the curtain.

First, he has gone as a forerunner—that means he went there and we will go there also.

And he went on our behalf—that means that his going beyond the curtain occurred so that in some way, we don’t have to go there.

We’ll unpack that as we go through the text.

This passage clearly defines what the anchor is.

It is hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain and the hope that entered in is Jesus, Himself.

Jesus is our hope that has gone behind the curtain.

First, he has gone as a forerunner—that means he went there and we will go there also.

And he went on our behalf—that means that his going beyond the curtain occurred so that in some way, we don’t have to go there.

We’ll unpack that as we go through the text.

So, the first question we need to ask about this text is, where is there?

Where did Jesus go?

And where is it that this passage suggests we will go?

Well it simply says that Jesus entered behind the curtain.

And it’s fairly obvious that the author of Hebrews is predicting that his listeners will know what that means.

Most preachers will rightly go to the Old Testament to talk about the curtain.

In the Lord’s temple in Israel, there was a heavy curtain that guarded the holy of holies, the most holy place, where it was believed that the essence of God would descend from the heavens to commune with God’s people.

The high priest would enter in behind the curtain once a year on behalf of all of the people to commune with God.

It’s interesting, though, because—bear with me here—Jesus did not go to the temple and go behind the curtain.

That’s not the curtain the author of Hebrews is talking about.

Not exactly, anyway.

See, the physical curtain was a representation of the spiritual curtain that they believed existed behind it.

In Hebrew thought, it was as if there was a soft spot between the natural and supernatural worlds that existed behind the curtain and it was important to keep that off limits to the people of Israel so that they would not be exposed to the full glory of God when His presence transcended realms.

It was as if there was a soft spot between the natural and supernatural worlds that existed behind the curtain and it was important to keep that off limits to the people of Israel so that they would not be exposed to the full glory of God when His presence transcended the realms.

By the way, I’m choosing my language carefully and I’m intentionally using language that sounds like science fiction.

Why? Because, as King Solomon notes, there’s nothing new under the sun!

This is weird stuff and it should sound weird.

All of the bizarre ideas in the sci-fi stuff comes from somewhere.

I’m not saying it’s all true.

I’m just saying people didn’t make all that up.

Ancient people believed in portals to the netherworlds.

And the ancient Jews really did see the holy of holies that existed beyond the veil as a portal into the spiritual realm that God occupies.

If we could call up an ancient Jew today and ask them questions about the curtain in the holy of holies, they wouldn’t talk about the curtain as a metaphor for the differences between the natural and supernatural worlds.

They would more likely describe something that sounds like it came right out of a sci-fi movie.

That’s how they thought about things.

If you haven’t seen the show, the Upside Down is actually the dark side of the spirit world where chaos and decay reign.

In the town that the show takes place in, things have gone on that caused a thin spot, if you will, in the veil, where people either slip into the upside down or where the darkness can slip into the world.

Train station in the matrix

Now, some translations don’t say, ‘behind the curtain,’ like mine does.

They actually say ‘behind the veil.’

I think for a number of reasons veil is a little easier for us to understand today.

The idea of a curtain conjures images like that of the Wizard of Oz, who was a fake, a fraud.

Curtains are used to hide things that you don’t want exposed.

It’s why you have curtains on your bedroom windows.

You’re keeping private things out of public view.

But, that’s not what this curtain is about.

God isn’t modest.

Some translations don’t say, ‘behind the curtain,’ they say ‘behind the veil.’

I think for a number of reasons veil is a little easier for us to understand today.

The idea of a curtain conjures images like that of the Wizard of Oz, who was a fake, a fraud.

Curtains are used to hide things that you don’t want exposed.

It’s why you have curtains on your bedroom windows.

You’re keeping private things out of public view.

But, that’s not what this curtain is about.

So, a curtain may not be the best analogy.

Instead a veil is about mystery and the mixing of two worlds.

When a bride comes down the isle she where’s a veil as a symbol of her virginity.

The groom has known his wife to be, but—in a ideal situation, at least—he has not fully known her; he has not been intimate with her.

When the veil is lifted at the end of the ceremony, it’s a symbol that the time of mystery is over and the time of intimacy has begun.

And that’s what happens with this veil that the author of Hebrews mentions.

Jesus went behind the veil.

He went beyond the mystery.

He entered into the presence of the Father.

The intimacy that the Father, Son, and Spirit had before creation came back into perfect unity when Jesus stepped beyond the veil.

Jesus entered into a perfect, intimate, and unified relationship with the Father.

The tearing of the veil is about unmasking the mysterious.

PAUSE

In many ways, is all about this veil.

John recounted Jesus’s prayer on behalf of the church before He died, rose, and ascended into heaven—before He went beyond the veil.

He prayed in verse 5,

(CSB) — Now, Father, glorify me in your presence with that glory I had with you before the world existed.

Jesus recognized that He previously had glory in the presence of the Father before the world existed.

But, read , He gave up that glory in order to come to earth as man.

He condescended the veil.

Jesus continued in verse 11,

(CSB) — I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you.

Holy Father, protect them by your name that you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one.

Jesus is no longer in the world, because he is going to the Father, but we—the disciples—are still in the world.

So, he prayed that we are protected in His absence for the purpose that we might be one, that we might be unified with Christ.

Jesus said that He is one with the Father and that he wants us to be one with them also.

Jesus reiterates this idea in verse 21.

(CSB) — May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I am in you.

May they also be in us, so that the world may believe you sent me.

Jesus prayed that just as He is one with the Father, that we might be one with them as well.

In other words, Jesus rose to heaven, he transcended the veil, in order to become one with the Father.

But it wasn’t just so he could be one, because he also prays for us.

Jesus transcended the veil as a forerunner so that we too might transcend the veil to be one with Jesus and the Father.

That is what is meant by forerunner.

He went before us to the place that we are eventually going.

But, there is something interesting in this John passage.

Jesus prayed that we would be one with the Father so that the world may believe that Jesus was sent to earth by God.