Torn Curtain and Raised Saints

Daily Reading: Matthew 27

Scripture Focus: And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. (Matthew 27.51-52)

Devotional Thought: There he was – Son of God and Son of Man – suspended between heaven and earth, between the abode of God and the abode of man.

It was not meant to be that way in the beginning.  When God made Adam and Eve and placed them in Eden, he often came to the Garden to commune with them.  Sin, however, intruded upon that relationship, and Adam and Eve lost their intimate fellowship with their Creator.  The story of the Bible from that time forward is the story of God seeking to reestablish that intimacy with humanity.

There were glimpses of that restoration in the Old Testament when God would come in glory into the midst of the Israelite camp.  But, the tabernacle itself, a symbol of God’s presence, was also a continuous reminder that God was hidden from them.  The Holy of Holies – the place of their most intimate communion with God – was veiled with an impenetrable curtain.

At the moment Jesus died – suspended between heaven and earth – something happened.  The veil was ripped.  The barrier was removed.  Access was restored.  Two worlds were reunited.  God and man could have free and unfettered friendship once again.  So great was the power of this reunion that it even reached into the grave, calling forth saints who had died, that they too might be participants in this wonder.

In Jesus, the curtain is completely removed (2 Corinthians 3).  Ask yourself, “Am I living in free and holy intimacy with God?  Or, am I living as if the veil were still there?" Let us go behind the curtain with Jesus!

Prayer: Thank you, Jesus, that you tore the veil of separation between me and God.  Sin no longer separates me, for I am forgiven through the death of Jesus on the cross.  Help me to live in unfettered relationship with you.  Amen.

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 89.46-52

46 How long, O LORD? Will you hide yourself forever? How long will your wrath burn like fire?

47 Remember how short my time is! For what vanity you have created all the children of man!

48 What man can live and never see death? Who can deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah

49 Lord, where is your steadfast love of old, which by your faithfulness you swore to David?

50 Remember, O Lord, how your servants are mocked, and how I bear in my heart the insults of all the many nations,

51 with which your enemies mock, O LORD, with which they mock the footsteps of your anointed.

52 Blessed be the LORD forever! Amen and Amen.