The veil of the Temple was torn from top to bottom

At the time, probably only the Jewish readers would’ve understood the significance of this event, recorded in Matthew 27:51, and it's probably why it’s missing from both Luke and John. It happened immediately after Jesus had given up His spirit to the Father, and died. The significance of course, was that the way into the holy of holies was now open to all. Previous to this, only the high priest could enter into the holy of holies, where the presenve of God dwelt. He could only do this once a year on the day of atonement, and he needed for himself to take a bowl of blood. They were never quite sure this would be accepted, and they used to tie a rope around the high priest’s ankle, in case he died so that they could pull him out if he did.

I don’t think any of us fully realize the full significance of the veil being torn. Part of this, is that it was torn from the top to the bottom. In other words God had done it, and he did it immediately after Jesus died, connecting the two events. Jesus had cried out “it is finished.” Part of His finished work was this very thing, the opening up of the possibility of sinful man and woman being able to come into the very presence of God.

Two things stand out here, the first is the incredible cost of God's action, namely the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross. The second is the reason for the necessity of the first. This has to do with God’s holiness, of which we can have a little more than a glimpse.

An illustration the Lord gave me while I was in India comes to mind. My friend's wife and I were on a bus traveling towards the river. The closer we got, the more overpowering the smell. The river of course was basically an open sewer. What was shocking was that there were people who were living on the very banks of the river, and they were so used to the smell that they didn’t even seem to notice it anymore. My friend’s wife’s remarks have stuck with me. She said “This is like sin, we get so used to it, that we don’t even notice it anymore.”

I find it helpful to consider what we need to get rid of, in order to be in heaven, and for heaven still to be heaven. In particular how much sin can there, how much anger or bitterness, or self seeking, or pride, or manipulation or punishing silences, or greed or hate, no unforgiveness? How much rejection, or hurtful comments, or of being the but of someone’s joke? And which one of us is not guilty of some if not all of these things? The point is, if heaven is to be heaven and stay heaven, then in order for us to be there, we need to be radically changed.

One of the wonderful things about God, is that He will not violate our self will. We can choose to reject His incredibly costly provision of our salvation. But in choosing to receive His salvation, and admitting just how far short we fall of His perfection, we are in fact giving Him permission to change us. That radical change starts now, and requires that we cooperate with Him in this process. But the biggest change will be when we see Him. The Scripture says “When we see Him, we will know Him, because we will be like Him.” We will be changed in the twinkling of an eye, into the very thing that he calls us to be, namely saints.

Father, help me never to take for granted what You have done in sending your Son to save us. When I’m want to have my own way, please remind me of these things. In Jesus name Amen