Dwell in the Word Mark 15:33-41

Consider these questions as you dwell in Mark 15:33-41:

1. Reflecting on the tearing of the temple curtain from top to bottom, what significance does this hold for believers in terms of access to God? How does this act of tearing symbolize the profound change in the relationship between God and humanity through the sacrifice of Jesus?

2. The concept of being united with Christ in His death and resurrection is emphasized here. How does this union with Christ fundamentally transform our understanding of our identity as children of God? How should this truth impact our approach to prayer and our daily walk with God?

3. The torn temple curtain signifies that access to God is no longer restricted by physical barriers, but granted through faith in Christ's sacrificial death. How does this truth shape our understanding of God's grace and our role as believers in approaching Him? How can we live out this reality in our daily relationship with God?

Transcript:

And so, we finally arrive, after all the drama building up to the betrayal, the crucifixion, we finally have the death of Jesus. An important moment, obviously, because we understand that his death was sacrificial for us, that he paid the price for our sin in this death. And so, as we look at this passage, there are some things that we see here. And one thing I want us to look at real quick is, they are thinking that he's calling for Elijah. Why is that? Well, obviously, they heard him say, Eli, Eli, and thought that he was calling for Elijah. They misunderstood the word. And what is probably going on here is that there was a misunderstanding of the prophecy that Elijah must come before the Messiah comes. They thought that literally, Elijah himself would return. But we understand that someone like Elijah was to come, and we understand that that person was John the Baptist. And so that's where this confusion comes. This is why they're waiting for Elijah to come to see if he comes, is because they misunderstood what Jesus was saying. Regardless, we understand that what Jesus is experiencing here is extreme pain, and that he is bearing the sins of the world.

But we learn something else about what Jesus was doing. And as he utters this loud cry, and as he breathes his last, the Gospel of Mark here tells us about something amazing that happens. And that's where I want to dwell today because it's so important for us. The curtain of the temple was torn into from top to bottom. Why would that matter? What is going on here? Well, if you think back to the Old Testament, there was a curtain in the temple that separated the outer part of the temple and the inner place, the Holy of Holies. And you couldn't go into that area. You couldn't go into the presence of God because he was holy and you were not. You needed to go in with blood, and there needed to be incense burned not because they like the smell, but because the smoke shielded them from the holiness in the presence of God. This was the understanding of who God was. You couldn't go into the presence of God. But what happens here? The curtain of the temple is torn. In other words, you can pass through. And so, we understand that the death of Jesus is important for you and I because it gives us access to God.

And we understand that we're united to Christ in his death and in his resurrection. And so we are able to claim that we are the children of God because we are united to Christ. And so we are able to go into the presence of God, not because God is suddenly decided, hey, things between us are cool. That's not the reason. The reason that we're able to go into the presence of God is because we're united to Christ. The reason we're able to go in is because Christ has died and suffered and paid the price for our sin. He has borne the wrath of God for our sins. And so, we're able to go into the presence of God. And that is what this message here of the torn curtain tells us. It's an important thing that we can't miss here, because we are very easily very flippant about talking about going into the presence of God or addressing God. We don't think about what it means to say, heavenly Father. But think about that for a minute. You are able to call the God of the universe, the Holy One, the ancient of days, you are able to call Him Father, not because he's suddenly a nice guy, but because of what Jesus has done for you.

You are united to Him and his death has given you access to him. What an amazing truth that we need to live in light of every day. When we go to prayer, we need to understand that we have this access that our prayers are heard not because of us, but because we are united to Christ in his death. And we need to understand that we are heard because of his great love, and that love is shown to us in this sacrificial death that we have read about here today. And so, as we pray today, as we think about who God is and how we know him as heavenly father, may we be thinking about this story, this truth that Jesus suffered, that he died, and that he, through his death, tore the temple curtain into that we might have access to God the Father.