Darkness, Death, and a Shattered Door

Read Luke 23:44-49 and Mark 15:33-41.

These are parallel accounts of the same scene. They are written like a movie – you can see the whole scene in your mind: the lighting, Jesus at the center, the people close by and those standing farther away. Now, did you notice that there is one verse that is obviously designed to stand out? It says, “The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.”

This verse stands out because it does not fit the “movie scene.” It jumps us away from the scene for a moment to a completely different location. It seems like this verse shouldn’t be there, but it is. Why?

This verse is designed to explain the meaning of the whole scene. It’s very significant. It explains why this scene matters – to us.

Until that moment in history, you could never be close to God. You might even go to the temple where God was present, but you still could not go into His presence. There was a curtain that separated the place where God was present and the place where you were allowed to come. Only one person was allowed inside that curtain and that person was not you. Ever. So, you and I – even if we had gone to the temple – would still have been outsiders to God.

But the passages we are reading today say that when Jesus died, God ripped that curtain open. He literally ripped it apart, from his side in heaven down to earth. This is a demonstration that through Jesus’ death, God removed the barrier that stands between Him and us. There’s no more curtain. We are potentially no longer outsiders to God.

Now, if you are standing outside a locked door without a key, it makes sense that you don’t step inside. But if the owner of the building comes up next to you, says “Excuse me,” and proceeds to rip the door off its hinges and toss it aside, that seems like a pretty clear invitation to step inside. God is saying in this passage: “I’ve ripped the door open for you. What’s stopping you from being with me?”

The centurion – remember that he was there in the scene to kill Jesus – stepped through that open doorway when he put his faith in Jesus and said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”

Pray: Think of yourself as having a conversation with God. God has initiated the conversation by saying to you the things in Luke and Mark. Now he’s finished talking (for now) and there’s an awkward pause while He waits to see if you’ll say anything in response. So, say something. Tell Him what you heard Him saying. Tell Him what you think it means and how you feel about it.