“Heaven Torn Open”
Mark 1:4-11
Throughout the Old Testament, from the Fall in Genesis—forward—God is cloaked in mystery.
Throughout the wanderings of the Israelites in the wilderness, Moses is God’s mouthpiece through whom God speaks.
When the Tabernacle was set up, the Lord led the people by a cloud during the day and fire by night.
In Exodus the Israelites were told that a curtain would separate “the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place” where the ark of the Covenant was.
And when Moses asked God, “Show me your glory” the Lord said, “you cannot see my face, for no one can see me and live.
And whenever Moses did enter the Lord’s presence to speak with Him, he had to put a veil over his face.
“He didn’t remove the veil until he came out.
And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, they saw that his face was radiant.”
The Lord always loved humankind, but it had always been a very mysterious thing.
There was a separation.
A brokenness in the relationship.
God is Holy and Other.
We are of the dust and sinful.
But God “so loved the world,” that He tore the heavens open and moved into our neighborhood--into our sinful world.
He became one of us.
And He became one with us!!!
At Jesus’ baptism, heaven, the dividing wall was “torn open…the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus” and God declared: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
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(Minus Karl Barth said that..)
Karl Barth said that “God’s claiming of Jesus summarizes the essence of the gospel: the astonishing claim that God does not desire to remain hidden in the heights of heaven but descends to the depths of earthly life in order to be seen and heard by us—infinite creatures.”
That’s me.
That’s you!!!
That’s amazing.
We are told that John came “baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”
“And this was his message: ‘After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down to untie.
I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
This is our hope.
And this is what happens to us when we turn to Jesus—accept His love and Lordship over us, His death in our place, His friendship and His call to “come follow me.”’
We are baptized by water for repentance of sins and also baptized by the Holy Spirt.
And God looks at us—and sees Jesus.
His child whom He loves.
His child with whom He is well-pleased.
That’s you—that’s me.
And again—that’s amazing!!!
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As Paul says in 2 Corinthian 3:
“Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold.
We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away.”
“in Christ [the veil] is taken away.”
“And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”
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It has been concluded that God’s unveiling of Jesus as God’s Son was the event that eventually led to the Cross.
The journey to the Cross defines what Jesus being God’s Son really means.
The Cross is the ultimate offering of God’s love.
It is the greatest testament to us that we are loved and not alone.
It is what gives us hope in a world of despair, light in the darkness, a reason to live—new life, salvation and access to God the Father—the remission of sins.
On our behalf, at His baptism, Jesus—Who never once sinned—joined the ranks of repentant sinners.
Again, that is you.
That is me.
Or is it?
Let’s face it.
This world is terribly twisted up.
Now, don’t get me wrong.
I’m not a dooms-dayer.
There is much, much beauty.
And I have never met a person, in whom, I did not see at least something good, something lovely and definitely something filled to the brim with potential.
But we are broken.
We are twisted.
We are lost.
We are hurting.
And don’t ever let anyone try and trick you into thinking otherwise.
No one has it together, no matter what they may look like on the outside.
For a documentary entitled: "The Mask You Live In," a scene shows a U.S. school teacher giving a group of high school boys a circular piece of paper.
On one side they write what their image is—what they are trying to project to others.
And on the other side they write what they are really feeling on the inside.
Then they scrunch up the paper and throw it to another kid.
Here's how researcher Dr. Philip Zimbardo summarized the boys' messages:
"What they said was all the same.
On the outside it said: 'Tough. Fearless. Kick your butt.'
And on the inside it said 'Lonely. Sad. Got no friends.'
Each boy was stunned that the others felt the same way as they did.”
This applies to boys and men, but it also applies to all of us as we try to project an outward "I have it together" look while we all struggle inwardly with insecurities.
The only way to overcome our insecurities and our need “project a false image” is to come to Jesus.
One of the most powerful things about following Jesus Christ is that we don’t have to pretend anymore.
In the Kingdom of God, humility is strength.
Jesus came down from heaven and yet He was the most humble human being to ever live.
Humility is strong.
It is confident.
It is unashamed of being human.
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In Romans Chapter 6 Paul says: “all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death…
…We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”
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Don’t you want to live a new life?
Don’t you want to come out of the shadows of misery and into the light of glory?
When Jesus was coming up out of the water, “he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.”
I believe the very same thing happens to us when we are baptized into Christ.
Remember John’s words, “I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
Have you been baptized with the Holy Spirit?
Does your face reflect the Lord’s glory?
Are you being transformed into His likeness which comes from the Holy Spirit?
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It’s been said that “into the wilderness of our broken lives and our own bleeding world erupts the promise of a baptism of new life.”
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It’s interesting that Jesus’ baptism, where the heavens were “torn open”—and the chasm between God and humankind was ripped to pieces was the beginning of Jesus’ journey to the Cross.
For at Jesus’s death there was a Roman centurion who stood and listened to Jesus’ Word’s as He hung from the Cross.
And we are told in Mark Chapter 15 that when Jesus breathed His last breath “The curtain in the temple,” which separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place “was torn in two from top to bottom.”
“And when this centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard [Jesus’] cry and saw how he died, he said, ‘Surely this man was the Son of God!’”
This is the first profession of faith after the death of Christ—after the ripping or the tearing of the veil!!!
Jesus underwent baptism so that we might be reunited with God and share His new life in the Spirit.
God came down from heaven.
He is no longer cloaked in mystery.
He is Jesus—the Word made flesh.
God is good.
We are loved.
We need not fear.
For those who will accept Christ as Savior and Lord—there is no more separation from our Creator, our God.
What better way to enter into Holy Communion with God and to remember our baptism and be thankful?
