The Curtain was Torn
03/31/2015 10:15
by Angie Smith
Shouts echoed throughout Jerusalem, "Free Barabbas! Free Barabbas!" and Pilate shook his head, shocked at their envy and hatred. And that was it.
Jesus would be hung on a cross, exactly as they wanted. It was no surprise to Him, who had referenced the way He would die well before the unlikely method was chosen.
Knowing that Jesus was being falsely accused, Pilate tries to satisfy the accusers by having Jesus beaten. The soldiers twist a crown of thorns, pressing it deep into the flesh of Jesus. They mock the Savior, strip Him naked, spit on Him, and beat Him until He is limp and damp with blood.
Finally, against his better judgment, Pilate delivers Christ to his soldiers to be murdered. They parade Jesus throughout the streets of Jerusalem and nail Him to a cross. To mock Jesus for His claims, above the cross of Christ they hang a sign with the words, "King of the Jews." The guards split Christ's clothing four ways, but when they came to His tunic, they cast lots to see who would get it.
A slow, tormenting death on a cross was reserved for murderers, thieves, and the like. Crucifixion was the most shameful, vile way to die and was unparalleled for brutality and humiliation.
In the garden of Eden, God poured out His love by creating humankind. In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus the Christ sweat drops of blood in agony as He anticipated His crucifixion.
Up a hill called Golgotha our Lord's feet stumbled as He carried His own cross. While they tortured and ridiculed Him, nailing His hands and feet to the cross, Jesus remained silent—except to ask for God's mercy, not on Himself but on those who drove the nails. For hours, He hung; the weight of all the sin of the world balanced between the narrow beams of wood. This isn't fiction, and it isn't a dramatization.
Not only was Jesus the King of the Jews, He was King of all kings. Rejected by the sheep of Israel, the Messiah stretched out His arms in submission to His Father God, unwilling that any of them should perish in their sin. And here's where it comes together—this story we've traced from Genesis. The curtain was torn. Gone. Eliminated. Unnecessary.
No longer does separation divide a Holy God from us because the Christ has come to bring us near. Jesus became the ultimate Lamb, sacrificed on Passover, covering us with the blood of reconciliation forever. How could it be, you ask? Why would He rescue us?
I don't know completely, but I do know this:
He did, and as a result, you and I stand in the shadow of redemption.
Excerpted from Seamless: Understanding the Bible as One Complete Story ©2015 by Angie Smith, LifeWay Press.