Mark 15:33-39 – Unveiling God’s Heart
(I got this sermon mostly from a pastor named Randal Earl Denny in his book In the Shadow of the Cross.)
Well, here we are. Since January we have been looking at The Life of Jesus. We have studied his teachings and observed His miracles. We have seen Him praised and we have seen Him scorned. Since the season of Lent started back on March 1, we have been following Him in what we call the Passion Week – starting at the Triumphal Entry on Palm Sunday, and concluding with His death on Good Friday. Today we are looking at one aspect of His death that’s meant to encourage your hearts. In it we see the heart of God, which beats strongly for you. Let’s read Mark 15:33-39.
You know, as a person gets more serious about God, his or her questions about God start to change. A skeptic of course tries to figure God out, to understand Him, to make sense of Him. And if God makes enough sense, then He’s believable. But a serious believer believes, even when God doesn’t necessarily make sense. He or she gives God the benefit of the doubt, that even though He may not always make sense to us, nonetheless He’s worth knowing. For a serious believer, knowing God is better than understanding Him.
This passage gives us a glimpse into knowing God better. The tearing of the Temple curtain, or Temple veil, shows us God’s heart for us. If we hurried too fast through that day, rushing into the wonderful truths of Easter, which we will spend time on after next week, we will miss a great lesson – unveiling God’s heart. Let’s look at this miracle that happened at 3PM on Good Friday afternoon.
The Temple curtains hung down about 60’ from the ceiling of the Temple, covering an opening 30’ wide. They were a woven fabric, interspersed with threads of gold and silver braided together. The curtains were about as thick as a man’s palm, several inches. Technically, there were 2 curtains.
You see, Temple worship was based on more or less concentric circles. There was the outer court, the court of the Gentiles, where Jesus upset the tables of the venders and the money-changers. This was the only place non-Jews could worship. From there was the Court of Women. Getting closer from there was where Jewish men would worship. Even further still was the Holy Place, where the Jewish priests would offer sacrifices. This was separated from the outer courts by a curtain.
But even further still was the Most Holy Place, called the Holy of Holies. This was, in the people’s minds, the dwelling place of God’s presence. In the original Temple built by Solomon – the Temple of Jesus’ day was actually the 3rd temple, built by the scoundrel Herod the Great, who had tried to kill Jesus as a baby – the ark of the covenant was kept in the Holy of Holies. The ark was the box made to keep the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments. On the beautifully decorated lid of the ark was the mercy seat, there the blood of an innocent, unblemished lamb was poured out on the Day of Atonement, nowadays called Yom Kippur, a Jewish holiday in the fall. The ritual sacrifice was for the atonement, the forgiveness of sins, of God’s people.
Once a year, on Yom Kippur, the high priest would enter the Holy of Holies behind the curtain. Granted, by Jesus’ time, the Ark was gone, vandalized by enemies of the nation of Israel. But the priests would carry on the ritual.
It was this curtain, the inner veil, that split in 2 when Jesus died. The presence of God was no longer limited to one person once a year. This miracle shows us 3 things about God’s heart for you and me.
First, the torn curtain shows us God’s approachability. You see, in people’s minds, the Temple curtain had excluded ordinary men and women from God. Everyone but the high priest was kept outside. Because of this, mystery surrounded God’s heart.
However, when Jesus died, the curtain was torn in 2. Sure, it happened at the same time as the earthquake, but there’s no way that an earthquake could rip free-falling fabric. And because it ripped, light flooded into the gloomy darkness. The mystery was opened wide. And all people were now admitted into God’s presence.
Because of this, no person can stand between us and God. We don’t need to go through a priest or church leader. In Christ every person has direct access to the presence of God. The torn veil is God’s invitation to approach Him.
You see, the tearing of the curtain represents for all of us the removal of all barriers and difficulties and discouragements in our approach to God. It shows that no one person is greater than another. It shows that clergy and lay people all have equal access to God’s presence. I am supposed to help you get there, but you can enter God’s presence without me. It doesn’t matter how much church exposure you had as a child: insiders and outsiders all can come to God alike.
What all this means is that God wants you to come to Him. It means that we don’t have to grovel in the dirt, but we can come as His children. It means that we can approach God as we could approach a loving father. Not in a snotty or arrogant way but confident that he loves us.
So when you pray, talk to Him as you would talk to a loving father. I heard of a little boy who just heard the news that his father had just been promoted to the rank of brigadier. Everyone was all very excited and talking about it, but the boy got very quiet. Finally, he asked, “Do you think he will mind if I still call him ‘Daddy’?”
Honestly, openly, humbly but confidently. He wants you to talk to Him. He wants to hear your concerns and fears. He wants to know the things that make you unsure in life. The Temple curtain shows us the extent of God’s desire to be with each one of us.
Well, what else does the miracle mean? Second, the torn curtain shows us God’s availability. As I said, in people’s minds God’s presence was confined to the Holy of Holies. Worship was more or less limited to the direction of the Temple. But I must say, and the OT even backs this up, God never wanted to be fit into a box. He never expected us to limit Him to one place on earth.
But the curtain was ripped in 2 from top to bottom. That was a sign that God wanted to be let out, as if anyone could contain Him to a single building anyway. He didn’t want to think of Him as located in a certain place, unavailable to most of us most of the time. Jesus said in John 4:34 that we can worship Him anytime, anywhere, “in spirit and in truth”. God is on call, available when and where we need Him. Wherever we are, God is – and He is ready and willing to speak to us.
This is a tension in pastoring. As much as I wish more people would worship God in church services, I am also aware that some would rather meet God somewhere else. In fact, some people can meet God better elsewhere, out in the woods or in a field, or my preference, on an old abandoned airstrip. That cannot give us permission to disregard all the commandments to gather with other believers, and give to God financially, and to encourage others in their faith. But I think it must give us some freedom not to limit God to any one location, no matter how holy that place is.
So I encourage you to use whatever it is you do as an opportunity to worship Him. Use your housework as a chance to pray. Use driving time as a chance to lay your problems before Him. Make the most of every chance you get to give yourself to Him, and then whatever you do will be worship. Romans 12:1 says: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.”
So we have seen that the torn curtain has unveiled God’s heart of approachability. It has unveiled God’s heart of availability. The 3rd thing we can see is that the torn curtain shows us God’s affection.
The Gospel of Mark is an action-packed story, telling us little of Jesus’ teachings. But it reveals how God felt about His Son Jesus. Marks’ introduction says that Jesus was and is the Son of God. At Jesus’ baptism God announced: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” At Jesus’ transfiguration God said this: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to Him!”
And at Jesus’ death, God responded as any Jewish father would at the death of His Son. What did Jacob do when he thought his son Joseph was eaten by wild animals? He tore his clothes as a sign of deepest sorrow. What did Job do when he heard that his children had all been killed? He ripped his clothes as a sign of deepest sorrow.
When Jesus bowed His head and committed His spirit into His Father’s hands, God tore the curtain from top to bottom, as a sign of deepest sorrow, flowing from His love for Jesus. By this vivid gesture, God showed that He had been close by through that horrible ordeal. Let me tell you, God is not distant from your sufferings. God mourned when His Son suffered for you. And God orchestrated the whole thing – God allowed Himself to suffer deeply – because of His love for you.
So let me encourage you to trust God with your hurting insides. Trust Him with your pains and sorrows and losses and frustrations. Trust Him with the thoughts you never tell anyone else. Trust Him that His ways for you are His best for you – His love wants you to have the very best.
God is not cold. God is not far off. He is not untouched by the suffering you feel. He is not distant to your needs and desires. He knows what it’s like to live on this earth, and He understands what you go through. So no matter what you tell Him, He’s not surprised. He’s not unemotional about it. He loves you, he likes you, and He cares for you.
After all that the torn curtain shows us, how can we be so cold towards Him? The torn curtain shows us that God is very approachable. You don’t have to be a spiritual giant to pray. You don’t have to have been in the church for years to talk to Him. He’s as easy to talk to as a loving father. And the torn curtain shows us that God is available. That is, you can talk to Him anytime, anywhere. Wherever you are, there He is also, and you can pray right where you are. And the torn curtain shows us that God has a great affection for you. He’s deeply concerned about your well-being in so many ways. He absolutely wants the best for you, even though what you think is best isn’t always what He thinks is best.
So because of all this, why are we so hard to reach? Why are we so stubborn and difficult? I encourage you to pray today. Get alone somewhere and talk to your Father in heaven, and ask Him to forgive you, and guide you, and lead you. Ask Him to show Himself to you. Get to know Him better today.
