Word of Encouragement (6/18/2020)
Yesterday, we reflected on “the new and living way,” by which we are allowed to enter the holy places of the heavenly temple. This access was granted by the blood of Jesus Christ. The Hebrews writer also says something interesting:
“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh…” (Heb. 10:19-20).
We are told that Jesus opened our access to the heavenly temple “through the curtain, that is, through his flesh.” What does that mean?
“The curtain,” which the Hebrews writer is talking about, is the curtain, which divided the Most Holy Place from the Holy Place of the temple. Once a year, and only one a year on the Day of Atonement, the high priest slipped past the veil to sprinkle the blood of a bull and a goat on the front side of the mercy seat to make an atonement for himself and for Israel (Lev. 16:14-15). This curtain was a powerful reminder of the separation between the holy God of Israel and the sinful people of Israel. This was ironic because the tabernacle/temple was there to show that God dwelled in the midst of His people. So, the tabernacle/temple testified to its own imperfection and the need for something better and greater to allow God’s people to approach their holy God without the risk of dying.
But when Jesus Christ died, the veil of the Jerusalem was rent in two (Matt. 27:51). This pointed to the end of the role of earthly temples as well as the Levitical sacrificial system. It also signaled the inauguration of the new and living way to God through Jesus Christ. But in what sense was Jesus’ flesh the veil? John McArthur makes this suggestion:
“As long as Christ stayed alive, and as long as He was living, the way to God was barred, even though He was telling us about God. Christ came into the world and said this and this and so about God, and if He remained alive, and if His flesh was never torn on the cross, then the way was never open. But when the flesh of Jesus Christ as ripped asunder at the cross, the way to God was open. And so Christ’s flesh, in a very real sense, veiled off God until it was rent. Do you see? Until Christ’s flesh was split, the way to God was barred, even though He was here. An uncrucified Savior is no savior at all” (www.preceptaustin.org/hebrews_1019-21).
If Jesus’ flesh represented His life of perfect obedience, which is what the law of God required, we can see how his flesh blocked our access to God. His body stood for God’s perfect standard, which none of us can meet. For those who dare to enter the Most Holy Place of God without meeting this perfect standard, the fiery sword of divine judgment awaits (as it was the case with the Garden of Eden, which was blocked off by the fiery sword after Adam and Eve were cast out). But because He made a sacrifice of Himself as the perfect Lamb of God without any blemish, He is able to grant us this new and living way into the Most Holy Place of the heavenly temple. In sacrificing Himself, He received the fiery sword of divine judgment in our place. That fiery sword can no longer threaten those, who are in Christ Jesus!
What a privilege it is to enter into the Most Holy Place of the heavenly temple! Let us treasure it and be diligent to meet together as a holy assembly before the presence of God in the heavenly temple!