Temple Curtain Torn

The Death of Jesus
…50And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. 51And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split. Matthew 27

When Jesus died the curtain in the Temple was torn from top to bottom. It was six inches thick. How much effort would it have taken to tear something that thick? 

It was torn from top to bottom. The earthquake did not have that effect. Not unless the Temple walls fell outward in opposite directions in such a way that they pulled on each side of the curtain in a more or less equal way.

I was taught this about the torn curtain: 

Either God or and angel tore the curtain. Probably an angel.

The curtain was originally made to separate the people from their Holy God. If they looked directly at Him they would have died.

Only the high priest was allowed behind the curtain and only once a year - carrying smoking incense to prevent a direct look at God's glory.

After Jesus died, the curtain was torn to show that now all people were allowed to approach God.

I believe these are valid points.

But I also wonder. There was an ancient Jewish custom of tearing one's clothes from the neck down when one heard bad news or was in mourning.

Might it not have been that God tore His "clothes", His covering, when His only Son died?

Maybe it's some of each.

May God bless us all.

Kathi

The Order of Melchizedek

Melchizedek has always made me wonder.  How can someone have no mother and no father and yet still be human?  Here are some of the things I learned.

"Having no mother and no father" may have meant that the man was old to the point where no one knew his heritage.  Jewish tradition suggests that Melchizedek may have been Noah's son Shem.  Shem lived for a long time after the Flood, long enough for Abraham to have arrived in Canaan according to the timeline offered in Genesis.

Melchizedek was his title, not his name.  The title means "King of Righteousness". He is called "a priest of the Most High God".  His name is never mentioned.

Jesus is named a priest after the order of Melchizedek.  According to the Tabernacle/Temple priesthood, any priest had to be from the Levite tribe of the family of Aaron.  Jesus didn't belong to Aaron's family.  He came from the tribe of Judah.  He would have to be a different type of priest.  Melchizedek is the only other  type of priest approved in Scripture.

At the core of what I heard last week is the story about Jesus' baptism.

When an old high priest was about to die, he would name his oldest son to be the next high priest.  This son had to be at least 30 years old.  The son would bathe in the mikvah and dress in the priestly robes.  His head would be anointed with sacred oil.  He would go to his father's bedside (or wherever the ailing old man was) and his father would say, "This is my son.  I am pleased with him."  Then he would go out and fulfill his duties.

When Jesus went to the Jordan River to be baptized, He did not do it because He needed His sins to be washed away.  He had no sin. 

Let's compare Jesus' baptism with the account of preparing a new high priest.  When Jesus was 30 years old, He went into the water like the priest going to the mikvah.  When He came out of the water, the Holy Spirit came down on Him like the anointing oil.  Jesus received the Spirit to empower Him for the ministry He was about to begin.  And the Father's voice came from heaven saying, "This is My Son.  I am pleased with Him."

Jesus came up out of the river with God's stamp of approval on His ministry - a priest after the order of Melchizedek, King of Righteousness.  (Gen. 14, Ps. 110:4, Hebrews 5:8-10)

May God bless us all.

Kathi