Strange Days in Jerusalem
The Six Miracles of Calvary
Using the theme based on the book, The Six Miracles of Calvary, by William R. Nicholson
Series Begins 2/28/2010
SERIES INTRODUCTION:
17 And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad? 18 And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days?
Sermon 2: The Rending of the Veil
March 14, 2010
INTRODUCTION:
• In our first sermon, we laid the foundation for the series, then we began our look at the first of the miracles of Calvary, the supernatural darkness.
• Last week, we considered the meaning of the darkness.
• Christ endured for us the price that we should have paid!
• Now, we turn our attention to the second of the great miracles that make up the “Strange Days in Jerusalem.”
Matthew 27:50 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. 51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;
Mark 15:38 And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. 39 And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.
Luke 23:44 And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. 45 And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.
I. The Design of the Veil
QUOTE: Whenever God does a work, He has a plan for that work, whether it's building the tabernacle or the temple (1 Chron. 28:11-12, 18-19), a local church (Phil. 2:12-13), or the individual Christian life and ministry (Eph. 2:10). (Wiersbe, BEC)
A. The Pattern (Ex. 25:40)
“The veil of the Temple was the veil of the Tabernacle perpetuated.” (W.R. Nicholson)
QUOTE: God warned Moses to make everything according to the pattern revealed to him on the mount (Ex. 25:40; Heb. 8:5). The earthly tabernacle was a copy of the heavenly tabernacle where our Lord now ministers to and for His people (Heb. 8:1-5; 9:1). (Wiersbe, BEC)
Exodus 25:40 And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount.
B. The Parts
1. Colors (Ex. 26:31a; 36:35a; 2 Chron. 3:14a)
Exodus 26:31 And thou shalt make a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet
Exodus 36:35 [Tabernacle here] And he made a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet
2 Chronicles 3:14 [Temple here] And he made the vail of blue, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen, and wrought cherubims thereon.
• Placing the purple between the blue and scarlet resulted in a beautiful harmony of color coordination.
2. Fabric (Ex. 26:31b; 36:35b; 2 Chron. 3:14b)
QUOTE: The curtain between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place was an elaborately woven fabric of 72 twisted plaits of 24 threads each. ESV Study Bible
Exodus 26:31 And thou shalt make a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning work:
Exodus 36:35 And he made a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen: with cherubims made he it of cunning work.
2 Chronicles 3:14 [Temple here] And he made the vail of blue, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen, and wrought cherubims thereon.
C. The Picture (Ex. 26:31c; 36:35c; 2 Chron. 3:14c)
Exodus 26:31 And thou shalt make a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning work:
Exodus 36:35 And he made a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen: with cherubims made he it of cunning work.
2 Chronicles 3:14 [Temple here] And he made the vail of blue, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen, and wrought cherubims thereon.
• Into the fabric were woven a mass of cherubim.
• It is called a cunning work (skillful, artistic work), made after the cunning work of God.
• The candlestick, placed on the south wall in the Holy Place, would cast its seven-fold light on this beautiful curtain. The smoke from the altar of incense, located immediately beside the veil, cast shadows that would play with the light.
• This would add to the mystery of what lay behind.
• Yet for all this beauty, the priests knew it for what it was … a barrier!
D. The Proportions
It was 60 feet (18 m) high and 30 feet (9.1 m) wide. ESV Study Bible
[It was] 60 feet high from the ceiling to the floor. Dake's Annotated Reference Bible.
II. The Display of the Veil (Ex. 26:32-33)
A. Placement – I.e., where?
1. The Site, Location
QUOTE: The temple had three main parts—the courts, the holy place (where only the priests could enter), and the most holy place, a place reserved by God for himself. It was in the most holy place that the ark of the covenant, and God's presence with it, rested. The room was entered only once a year, on the Day of Atonement, by the high priest as he made a sacrifice to gain forgiveness for the sins of all the nation (Leviticus 16:1-34). Life Application Bible Commentary
QUOTE: There were two veils: one at the entrance of the Holy Place and the other between this and the Holy of Holies into which the high priest alone went once a year to atone for the sins of the people (Heb. 9:2-9). Dake's Annotated Reference Bible.
QUOTE: This could have been the outer curtain hung between the sanctuary itself and the forecourt (Ex. 26:36-37) or the inner curtain separating the holy place from the most holy place (Ex. 26:31-35). If it was the outer curtain, then the tear was a public sign confirming Jesus’ words of judgment on the temple, later fulfilled in a.d. 70 (cf. Mark 13:2). Probably the inner curtain was torn, for it was a sign that Jesus’ death ended the need for repeated sacrifices for sins, and opened a new and living way of free and direct access to God (Heb. 6:19-20; 9:6-14; 10:19-22). The Bible Knowledge Commentary
2. The Suspension (Ex. 26:32-33a)
Exodus 26:32-33a And thou shalt hang it upon four pillars of shittim [Acacia] wood overlaid with gold: their hooks shall be of gold, upon the four sockets of silver. 33 And thou shalt hang up the vail under the taches [clasps],
QUOTE: The Tabernacle: Two rooms divided by one curtain. The Tabernacle was to be constructed of gold-covered poles and crossbars, overlaid and surrounded by curtains. A veil was to separate the "Holy Place" from the "Most Holy Place" (Exodus 26:33), where one item was kept—the Ark of the Covenant. Willmington's Bible Handbook
B. Purpose – I.e., why? (Ex. 26:33b)
Ex. 26:33b that thou mayest bring in thither within the vail the ark of the testimony: and the vail shall divide unto you between the holy place and the most holy.
QUOTE: “The veil was a covering of concealment to hang before the Holy of Holies.” (WRN)
• The Gentiles could come to the court set aside for them, but no farther.
• The Jew could come to the courtyard of the Temple itself, where were the brazen altar and the laver, symbolizing the cleansing available to them. But the first veil kept them from the Holy Place.
• The priests could go beyond the first veil, into the room where the symbols of fellowship with God were placed. But there was the second veil that stopped their progress any farther.
• The High Priest, and he alone, could go once per year, on the great Day of Atonement, only that once and only with the blood.
• It was the place of God’s presence.
• It was the very veil that we describe that served as the barrier to the presence of God.
QUOTE: The curtain that divided the two sacred rooms of the Tabernacle—the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. Symbolized how the people were separated from God because of sin Tyndale Handbook of Bible Charts and Maps.
QUOTE: Naos (temple) does not refer to the Temple as a whole but to the inner sanctuary, the Holy of Holies, where God dwelt in His symbolic presence. A huge woven veil separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the Temple, and Josephus reports that this massive curtain was predominantly blue and was ornately decorated.
Once a year, the high priest was allowed to pass through the veil on the Day of Atonement to sprinkle blood on the altar for the sins of the people, and that only for a brief period of time. MacArthur New Testament Commentary
III. The Dividing of the Veil
A. The Tearing
MATTHEW 27:51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom
MARK 15:38 And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom
LUKE 23:44 and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst
• Not a rotting, for the remaining veil was left intact.
QUOTE: “It was not because of a natural process of decay that the threads of the veil parted asunder; for though it fell in pieces, it did not fall in tatters.” (WRN)
• Not a man-initiated act, for it was from top to bottom.
QUOTE: The passive verb and the direction of the tear indicate that this was God’s action. The Bible Knowledge Commentary
QUOTE: The veil into the Holy of Holies was supernaturally slashed in two as if a great sword had fallen. Preaching the Word
• Not due to the earthquake, for the suspended veil is torn and the fixed walls of the temple are left standing.
Some have proposed that the earthquake caused the tear. What does Matthew say about this?
Matthew 27:50 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. 51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;
So, He cried with a loud voice … (the cause)
AND 1) The veil was rent (effect 1)
AND 2) The earth did quake (effect 2)
AND 3) the rocks rent (effect 3)
It is possible that it was not the cry, but simply a divinely caused series of events. But it is not possible, according to the text, that the quake caused the tearing. The quake is listed sequentially after the tearing of the veil. But there was something to that cry of Jesus and the results. See the response of the Centurion (Mark 15:39) (Cf., William R. Nicholson, The Six Miracles of Calvary)
Mark 15:39 * And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.
NOTE: The loud cry mentioned by Matthew and Mark, are none other than the “It is finished” of John, and the “Into thy hands I commend my spirit” of Luke. The one referring to the conclusion of His work as the Lamb of God, and the other referring to the restoration of the fellowship with His Father. (lkw)
QUOTE: It did not have a rent here and a rent there. It was rent “in twain” – in just two pieces. As another evangelist says, “in the middle” – in two equal pieces; thus opening in the very center of what it had served to conceal. It was rent “from the top to the bottom” – in a straight line downwards and completely through. It was not jerked apart by some intruder from below, but cleanly cut by an invisible hand from above. The statement implies the supernatural and indicates that thus the matter would have been regarded by anyone who would have witnessed it. (W.R. Nicholson, The Six Miracles of Calvary, 38)
B. The Timing
1. Upon the Death of Christ (Mt. 27:50)
Matthew 27:50 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. 51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;
QUOTE: Simultaneous with Jesus’ death the curtain (veil) of the temple (naou, “sanctuary”; cf. 11:11) was torn in two from top to bottom. The Bible Knowledge Commentary
QUOTE: When did it happen? Precisely when Jesus Christ expired on the cross. At the instant! That was the august moment for which the veil of concealment had been waiting; the moment for which through all the ages it had continued to exist in defiance alike of time and violence. The very instant! As though an inherent intelligence had kept watch within it and now heard the stroke of its heaven-struck doom. (WRN)
QUOTE: This veil was no mere sheet hung before the holy of holies; it was said to have been one hand in thickness.194 Nothing less than a miracle could have torn it in this way and at the precise time of our Lord’s death. (Bob Deffinbaugh, Bible.org)
QUOTE: Note 194 “This veil, which was the thickness of a palm breadth, was sixty feet long and thirty broad, and separated the Holy and Most Holy Places. Various attempts have been made to explain this strange phenomenon on naturalistic grounds, such as the earthquake, or as Jerome’s comment on the Gospel according to the Hebrews, by the fall of the huge lintel of the Temple broken by the earthquake. But this veil was of such tough fabric and so woven that it could not have been rent in twain by an earthquake or the falling of a lintel. Matthew connects the phenomenon directly with the death of Jesus, calling attention to the fact that it was rent ‘from top to bottom’ by God’s hand, throwing open thus the Most Holy Place to all men.” Shepard, The Christ of the Gospels, p. 604.
2. At the Time of Afternoon Sacrifices
QUOTE: It was no doubt observed and reported by the priests (cf. Acts 6:7) who at that moment were conducting the Jewish evening sacrifice. The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures by Dallas Seminary Faculty.
QUOTE: The Father's dramatic tearing of the veil was made while the Temple was filled with worshipers, which included not only countless priests but also many thousands of pilgrims who were at that very moment celebrating the Passover sacrifice. MacArthur New Testament Commentary
QUOTE: The timeliness of it was one of its most wonderful features. Jesus Christ expired at three o’clock in the afternoon. This was the time of the beginning of the evening sacrifice, so that the priests were in the Holy Place, in front of the veil, actually engaged in their duties. Yes, God meant it to be seen and to be thought of. (WRN)
C. The Testimony
• The apostolic writers, writing in the lifetime of those who observed the events, boldly declared the tearing of the veil.
• Had this not been true, their writings would have been laughed to scorn.
• But no, their writings stood and still stand.
• The record was not challenged.
• This event happened just as it is described and none could gainsay it!
QUOTE: And we may pause here long enough to note how strong a proof of the gospel narratives is this statement of the rending of the veil. The evangelists were bold to publish their accounts in the midst of the Jews and under the very eyes of the priests. Were they ever contradicted? How would it have been caught at and used by those acute and watchful infidels Celsus, Porphyry, and Julien! But no; the enemies of Jesus were silenced. They could not say that never before had they heard of it. The simple statement of the evangelists proves itself. It is the true story of the veils destruction. (William R. Nicholson, The Six Miracles of Calvary, 40-41)
IV. The Declaration of the Veil
It was meant to speak! “Behold!” Look, look all, look carefully, gaze upon the torn veil!
The tearing of the veil is such a significant event; God took the larger part of Hebrews to explain it!
A. To the Sacrificial System (Acts 6:7; Heb. 10:1-14)
• What was it that required God to remain behind the veil?
• It was the sin of man!
• The whole of the Tabernacle and Temple were to teach this concept.
• Their sin must be atoned at the altar, they must be washed at the laver, they must have divine light (candlestick) and provision (table of showbread), there must be prayers (incense).
• Then, and only then, could man access God, and that must be a pure man, and even He must be carrying the blood.
• Now, sin is dealt its death blow on the cross.
• Immediately, the old system is no longer needed and the veil is torn.
• The priests could walk right in.
• The people could come, not only in to the Holy Place, but into the old Holy of Holies!
• Jesus paid it all!
QUOTE: Truly, God meant it for instruction. With what power it might make itself felt may be inferred from the sacredness of the veil, which so controlled the conduct of the priests. Great as had been for fifteen-hundred years the sins of the chosen people, violation of the secrecy of that veil had never been one of them. As therefore it fell asunder, strange and awful must have been the effect upon the witnesses. And as the sight of it affected the priests, so must their report of it have struck with wonder the excited community. In the great coincidences of the hour, how could it have failed to turn every honest thinker both Christ-ward and cross-ward. What a practical consummation it was of the truth and meaning of the occurrence, when, so soon as the gospel began to be proclaimed “a great company of the priests became obedient to the faith”! (WRN, 41)
Acts 6:7 * And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.
• Sadly, they kept right on building the unfinished Temple.
• They finished it, finally, in AD 64.
• Then, in a divine repayment, God will use the same Romans who crucified Jesus.
• Now, they will not destroy the owner of the house, they will destroy the house itself.
• In AD 70, Titus, the Roman general, marches in and fulfills Jesus prophecy that not one stone would be left upon another.
• They had attempted to perpetuate a dead system. Now the building and the system die!
Hebrews 10:1-14 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. 2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. 3 But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. 4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. 5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: 6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. 7 Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. 8 Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; 9 Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. 10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: 12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; 13 From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. 14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.
B. To the Secular Authorities (Acts 2:23; Mark 15:39)
• Yes, you allowed the Jewish authorities to get you all tangled up in this unjust death.
• They manipulated you into crucifying the Son of God.
Acts 2:23 * Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:
• How confident are you now?
• Do you realize what you have done?
• This is no ordinary man that you have put on that cross! No!
• No doubt many cried with the Centurion …
Mark 15:39 * And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.
C. To Saints (Heb. 9:11-14; 10:19; Eph. 2:11-16)
• Jew and Gentile, saved!
• Apart from the law!
• On sacrifice forever.
• Justification by faith alone. Not what I do, but what He did!
QUOTE: Within the Holy of Holies dwelt the very essence of God. Now with the death of Jesus the curtain which hid God was torn and men could see him face to face. No longer was God hidden. No longer need men guess and grope. Men could look at Jesus and say, "That is what God is like. God loves me like that." Barclay's Daily Study Bible (NT).
QUOTE: The rending of the veil signified that the middle wall of partition between Jews and Gentiles was broken down (Eph. 2:14-18) and that each believer now could have personal access to God (Heb. 9:8; 10:19-23; Eph. 2:14-18). Dake's Annotated Reference Bible
Hebrews 9:11-14 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; 12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. 13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: 14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
Hebrews 10:19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
Ephesians 2:11-16 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; 12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: 13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. 14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; 15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; 16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
D. To Sinners (John 14:6; Acts 4:12; John 3:16-17; John 3:36)
QUOTE: It means a need to honestly consider this tremendous evidence and to make a decision regarding receiving Jesus Christ by faith. It means facing the fact of the warning that if one rejects Christ’s death and judgment for his sin, then he will face God’s judgment for rejection of Christ (cf. John 3:18, 36, 8:24). (Keathley)
QUOTE: “Jesus Christ, God incarnate, paid the full penalty for man’s sin when He died on the cross of Calvary. Any person who, in simple faith, trusts in the risen Christ as their only hope of heaven, refusing to trust in anything else, receives the gift of eternal life which, once granted, can never be lost” (Statement of Faith, Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society).
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
CONCLUSION:
The tearing of the veil down the middle from top to bottom miraculously showed:
• Christ’s work was a work of God.
• Christ’s work was sufficient and complete
• No human works or religious system could ever accomplish what God had done in Christ (Keathley)
