Matthew 27:51
And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split,
–NKJ
On any level, the meaning of this verse is that barriers have been torn down in a dramatic way. We have ceremonies where a new store has a grand opening, complete with ribbon cutting ceremony and lots of fanfare. We have ceremonies to christen a ship with a broken bottle of champaine and all the cheers of the crowd. Maybe there’s a brass band, maybe there’s fireworks, but can you imagine any promoter staging an earthquake? Or rocks splitting? Or thunder storms, hail storms, tornados?
How would a person safely control one of those things that we normally call a natural disaster, or an act of God? Who in their right mind would do such a thing? God has the power to create any of them whenever he wants. Whenever God gets up and moves, and displays his presence in the world, for one he’s usually mad about something. The mountains quake and the hills melt when God has to get up and teach his kids a lesson they won’t forget.
God is slow to anger. He doesn’t often use such terrifying events to get our attention. My dad used to do this thing when us kids were acting up. He would just sit quietly by watching us. Suddenly eye contact was made and his eyes lowered. You follow his eyes down to where they were looking and you saw it. Dad was tapping ever so gently with his index finger on the buckle of his belt. The wise kid would immediately stop the horsing around.
Woe to the unwise kid. The next warning was the unbuckling of the buckle. Now worries, dad is still just sitting there with that calm, watchful look, but if a smart kid knows what is good for him, he will stop and make great pains at avoiding any sign of loud behavior. You knew all your chances were gone when dad sprang to his feet, belt leather clear of all loops in a split second. The storm would rage without mercy until dadleft no bottom unturned.
In the instance of our verse today, there is a grand opening event. An opening that had world wide proportions. To launch this profound occasion the body of Jesus was sacrificed and broken. He is the item of value that is sacrificed, as in times of old, to show the depth and intensity of the covenant being signed and sealed. A precious thing was lost. One that meant so much to God that he demonstrated his feelings by the darkening of the sky, there were earthquakes, rocks split, and the temple veil was torn in two.,
There is a comparison to Jesus and the veil. The veil was a barrier that separated men from God’s most holy place. Nobody could enter without taking special precautions. Only the best behavior would be tolerated, every act within that space had to be letter perfect. The veil is what kept men out.
Jesus is the veil. He is the model of perfection. He is the human form of what the veil stands for. Nobody is perfect, and there is no hope of approaching God. Jesus represents the top standard of what a person needs to be to get to God. He marks the boundary and our limits on drawing near to God.
The veil was ripped in two. Jesus body was broken. The torn veil now was an open door for people to get into the most holy place of God on earth. Where the broken Jesus is, now opens the door to get to the most holy spiritual place of God.
The door that Jesus opened is open for all people of all races and nationalities. God can be known, and now there’s no excuse not to. The only thing keeping you out is you. If you’re seeking him, come on in and get to know him.