Saturday, September 18, 2010
The Veil is Torn in Two!
11:19 AM | By
Pastor Harold Warner
Note: I was asked to write an article for
our Bull’s Eye publication on the theme of The God of Relationship. I thought I would post it here as well. As if the Apostle John was the correspondent!
I will never forget the day and
that history confirms, it was the “day
that changed the world!” I don’t
think anything could have prepared me for the events that occurred that day,
and I realize that words are almost inadequate to describe them all. I’ve already told you that “we beheld his glory, the glory as the only
Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” What I do know is that it was an extremely
long and grueling day. In fact, the day
really started the night before, and events just kept on building and
propelling us into the following day.
It all began at the Passover
meal the night before. I’d observed our
sacred Passover celebration every year.
I knew this would be like no other when I heard Jesus say, “You've no idea how much I have looked
forward to eating this Passover meal with you before I enter my time of
suffering. It's the last one I'll eat
until we all eat it together in the kingdom of God.” In spite of the arguments that erupted among
us about who was the greatest (looking back, I’m ashamed to have to admit
that’s what we were doing) it was still wonderful to spend such intimate time
with the One I had come to know and love as the Christ, the Son of the living
God! I’m not sure how I managed to
weather the shock of hearing Jesus say that night, “one of you shall betray me!”
You’ve got to be kidding, that’s impossible! How could that be, or more importantly, who
could do such a thing? That’s why in the
end I had to be honest enough to ask, “Lord,
is it I?” The words almost stuck in
my throat. While I didn’t get a direct
answer there was some kind of exchange that Jesus had with Judas. I was the one lying closest to Jesus at the table
and Peter (who always wanted to be in the know) kept nudging me to ask “Lord, who is it?” I still wasn’t sure who or what he meant
completely, even though Judas at that time said he had to leave early to take
care of some urgent business.
I forgot all about it though,
when Jesus changed the conversation by talking to us about the “new
covenant” in his body and his blood!
Wow! Who could forget the promise we’d held to for
centuries of a new covenant that God would make with his people! I had almost memorized Jeremiah’s words, "Behold, the days are coming, declares
the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel .... I will
put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be
their God, and they shall be my people.
And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother,
saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they shall
all know me, from the least of them to the greatest....for I will forgive
their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” Then Jesus took the bread and blessed it,
breaking it and giving it to each of us, and he did the same with the cup after
supper, telling all of us “do this in
remembrance of me.” All this seemed
to seal the almost sacred atmosphere we were experiencing that night. I hated to see it all end, but we eventually
sang a hymn of praise together, and then went out with the Master into that
fateful night.
You talk
about feeling special! I was stunned and
honored when Jesus asked me and my brother James, and of course Peter, to
accompany him to a place which he frequented for prayer, a place called Gethsemane. He asked us to “watch with him” as he was obviously troubled over all of these
converging events. Jesus had always been
a rock-like personality to me, always concerned for others more than himself
and willing to help bear their burdens.
That night he seemed to be carrying some burdens none of us could fully
grasp or comprehend. I wish I could give
you a more detailed account of that precious moment but, well, to be honest...I
kept falling asleep. I know it
disappointed the Lord, but after that long day I just couldn’t keep my eyes
open. Even with my acknowledged
drowsiness I did sense that something pretty momentous was taking place. I’m sure I heard him pray, “nevertheless, not my will but yours be
done!” If you saw his demeanor the
way I did, you too would’ve known that he definitely meant it! There was no wavering about him when we
departed from that garden.
The rest of the night dissolved
into pretty much of a blur because things started happening so fast. The night was suddenly interrupted by the
noise and the torches of a large group of men approaching us. We noticed that there were also soldiers
among them, along with officials from the chief priests and Pharisees. They were asking for “Jesus of Nazareth,” which seemed odd to me since they’d seen him
at the temple all during this week of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Now you may not believe me, but I was there
and saw it with my own eyes. When Jesus
said to them, “I am (he)” they were
all like bowling pins that had been knocked down by a perfect strike! They all drew back and fell to the
ground. It was pretty awesome to see! I didn’t know it, but Peter was
“carrying”...he had his sword with him.
He drew it and attempted to lop off the head of one of the
intruders. Thankfully, he missed, but
the guy’s ear was missing and was a bloody mess. Jesus instantly took command and told Peter
to put away his weapon, and then, amazingly, he healed the man’s ear! In the end, we were greatly outnumbered and
overpowered and felt pretty helpless, as they took Jesus into custody and led
him away. The rest of us were left standing
there bewildered and asking, “What’s
going on? Where are they taking Jesus? What had he done wrong to be arrested and
treated that way?” In the end, to
our shame, we all just turned away and tried to distance ourselves as much as
possible from this chaos and the threats it carried. It was not our finest hour.
Because of my family connections
I discovered that they had taken Jesus in the middle of the night to the house
of Annas who was the High Priest’s father-in-law. I can’t even begin to describe the mockery of
justice that followed! This wasn’t a
legal trial by any stretch of the imagination.
It was more like a “kangaroo court” as they shuffled Jesus about from
the High Priest, then over to Pilate, the Roman governor. I even heard that they made a quick trip over
to the palace of Herod of all people!
When the verdict came back “crucify him,” I couldn’t believe what I was
hearing. Death by execution, for
what? What crime had he committed? Was it loving the unlovely, or healing the
sick, or giving people hope? Was it
because he kept choosing to operate outside of the establishment’s accepted
guidelines? I have to tell you, my head
was swirling with all the things that seemed to be snow-balling out of
control.
Things really started to turn
ugly. The degree of hatred and animosity
fueled by obvious envy was beyond belief.
The only way to describe it was there was something downright demonic
about it. Pilate issued the order to
have Jesus scourged! That meant 39
lashes that tore at a man’s flesh. While
scourging doesn’t always kill the prisoner, for the one under-going this brutal
suffering, they almost wished it had!
The Roman soldiers had a field day as they put a robe of purple on his
battered body, and a reed-scepter in his hand, as they proceeded to hit him and
spit on him while taunting him to prophesy the one doing it, if he really was
the “king of the Jews.” Before I knew
it, the night’s rush to justice ended as they were leading Jesus away to be
crucified that day. Rome had this
practically down to a science. They made
the prisoner carry his own cross, or at least the upright beam, as they paraded
him through the streets. This was
purposefully designed for two things: first, to further humiliate the prisoner,
but also, to send a message of fear to the gawking crowds, “You don’t ever want to oppose or stand up against Rome!” To me, the saddest part is that no one came
to Jesus’s defense. Where were all the
people he had healed? What about those
who had been so amazed at the divine authority evident whenever he spoke? Even I was silent because, after all, who’s
going to listen to a simple ex-fisherman anyway?
The gruesome procession finally
ended at Golgotha, a favorite execution spot outside the city. Here they nailed Jesus to the cross and hung
him between two thieves. It seemed as if
time stood still, almost like heaven was holding its breath. Plus, the ominous darkness that settled on
the land added to the somber quality of these unparalleled events. In my mind I kept thinking back to when John
the Baptist first saw Jesus in his public ministry, “behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” The only interruption was the hateful insults
that continued to be hurled at Jesus.
Everyone in that crowd joined in: the two thieves, the Pharisees who
were sent to witness the execution, and of course, the soldiers
themselves. No one cared or had the
decency to realize that his own mother was standing in that horrific place in
the midst of that crowd, along with myself and a few of the other women. Besides us, I think the only one who got it
that day was the Roman soldier in charge who later exclaimed, “Truly this was the son of God!” In the end, I can still hear it today:
Jesus’s final cry from the cross. In the
midst of his horrible agony and incredible suffering came the unmistakable note
of triumph and victory, “it is finished!”
I’ve recounted all this because
one thing stands out in my mind; the reason is because nothing like this had
ever happened. At that specific and
fateful moment when Jesus died, the veil of the temple, the veil that
separates the holy place, that veil was torn in two, “ripped” from the top to the bottom. There is no question that this was
supernatural! This veil was up to
4" thick, and God himself tore that veil in two like you would a piece of paper! Do you know what that means? It’s almost too good to be true. Yes, relationship with God was now made
possible! My sin that had separated me
from God, like that veil separated people from the holy place, had now been
paid for, and now...now, there is access into the presence of God for
everyone! I can now come with boldness
to my king’s wonderful throne of grace!
Did you hear me? Relationship with God is now a
glorious reality and a precious privilege!
Salvation has been made available to all who would come to my
Jesus! I don’t have any problem saying
“my Jesus” because, praise be to God, he had died for me that day. “And
this is eternal life, that they may know you the only true God, and Jesus
Christ whom you have sent.” Eternal
life isn’t just living a really, really long time. Eternal life is relationship with God!
That’s why I’m writing and had to tell you my story, because it’s such
good news! “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have
seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands,
concerning the word of life— the life
was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you
the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— that which we have seen and heard we
proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed
our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ!” That’s
why I’m waiting now for the day when I shall see him uninterrupted for
eternity! OH HAPPY DAY WHEN JESUS WASHED
MY SINS AWAY!!
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