Reading through the book of Luke again. Today was Chapter 23, the trial, crucifixion, and death of my Lord. The other end of the Christmas story. Well, not the end at all. The climax, really.
Reading and reflecting on the child of the manger, child of prophecy and promise. Heralded by angels, worshipped by shepherds and Eastern kings. Rejoiced over by Simeon and Anna. The child of Christmas cards and carols and nativity scenes, now in Chapter 23 betrayed, mocked, beaten, stripped, scourged, nailed to a Roman cross to suffer and die as a criminal. Put there by his own Israel, forsaken by God the Father.
And the sky turned dark, and the ground shook, "And the curtain of the temple was torn in two."
And Jesus breathed his last. And it was all accomplished.
The images of a stable birth and a rent temple curtain most linger.
The Jewish temple, the center of their worship and life, had a thick, towering curtain separating the Most Holy Place where Yahweh Himself was present. But only one priest, once a year, could enter, having made painstaking atonement for the sins of his people and himself, according to the strictest prescription of the holy law.
This because God is blindingly, unapproachably holy, and cannot be in the presence of sin. And people, who sin, cannot approach God.
And the story of the Bible is God's plan to bring his people back to himself, to redeem them from the death of their sin and bring them back to true fellowship with Him--what we were made for. Not fellowship from the other side of a curtain, mediated by a priest. That was a temporary measure.
He promised in Ezekiel 37:
"My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.”
And throughout the Old Testament, God points forward to the One who will restore this relationship. And he comes in a stable. And the wise men bring gifts to the baby that prophetically symbolize his purpose: gold to honor the new and forever King; frankincense for the new and forever Priest; and myrrh, a perfume used in preparation for burial, for this baby was born to die.
And so he did. He, the only sinless one, the only one who could ever approach God on the merit of his own righteousness, in death took on guilt of the many, bore God's wrath upon the evil and injustice of the world. Felt the hell of being forsaken by the one with whom he'd shared unbroken fellowship for eternity. He paid for sin. He redeemed us from the death that is "the wages of sin" (Rom 6:23). He fulfilled the Old Testament law: He IS the atonement for our sin. The final atonement. The final sacrificial lamb.
So the temple curtain tore in two from top to bottom as the final Sacrifice wiped away the guilt separating the Holy God from his people. No more would a curtain, a law, the stain of sin keep God's people apart from him. All who are in Christ can now approach the Father in Jesus righteousness. The mission of God born as a baby.
"Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."
--Luke 2:10-11
