Miracles of Calvary – The Veil – Part 4
And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom;… (Mat 27:51)
Back in the early 1900's a bishop in the Reformed Episcopal Church, named William Nicholson, wrote a short, classic Christian book entitled, The Six Miracles of Calvary. In that book he looked at the cross of Calvary and the six miracles that would reshape the world. You can now read it on Google Books. There are a few used paper copies still available at Amazon Books and other book sellers: Abe Books, Barnes and Noble, etc. I’ve included some excerpts from the book here, today. He had absorbed the Gospel texts until the story was clear in his mind. (He who would teach most simply, must know most thoroughly.)
“THERE WERE TWO LOUD CRIES FROM THE CROSS. The first, just before the darkness had ended; the second, after the darkness had passed. The first was an agonizing wail of abandonment; the second a voice of joy.
“The first was crushed out of Him by that agony insufferable, of which the dread darkness was the sign; the second was the bounding forth of His feelings of achievement and deliverance in the restored light of the Father’s communion. The first pronounced the words: “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” The second was a shout, pronouncing nothing, but following the words: “It is finished.”
“HIS WORK WAS DONE. HE HAD BORNE OUR SINS. The burden was gone. So then, this second loud voice from the cross was he Conqueror’s outcry of victory. The victory was evident in the supernatural loudness of a dying man’s voice. The Roman centurion was overcome with amazement at it, and the solid earth rocked. With that shout of victory coincided the rending of the veil.” (Nicholson)
“THE RENDING OF HE VEIL WAS SIMPLE BUT EXTREMELY COMLICATED. It opened the way of the common sinner to have access to a Holy God. The sinner no longer needed a priest to offer blood on his behalf. The great High Priest had offered His own blood, once and for all and His own body had been rent even as the veil had been rent.
“IT HAD NOW BECOME IMPOSSIBLE FOR THE HIGH PRIEST TO CONTINUE to carry within the veil, the blood of atonement. The unbroken secrecy of the Holy of Holies was now at an end. The priests who had ministered in front of the veil might now safely enter into the presence of God, freely. The people in the outer court might now advance into the Holy Place of the priests and from there into the Holy of Holies, for themselves. When the very presence-chamber of God had ceased to be screened off, the spirit and meaning of the first veil also were exhausted.
“THE RENDING OF THE VEIL, THEREFORE, WAS THE DESTRUCTION of the Tabernacle/Temple dispensation. It took the meaning out of the entire structure. It disjointed the ritual and decapitated the divine economy of the ages. “ (Nicholson)
WHY DID GOD INSTITUTE SUCH A SYSTEM, TO BEGIN WITH? Sin! All the Tabernacle arrangement was God’s abiding statement that He would not commune with a man whose sin is upon him in its deep and damning curse. When that problem was done away with in the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, there was no longer any need to obstruct man’s path toward the presence of a Holy God.
Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; (Hebrews 10:19-20)
MANY PEOPLE ASSUME THAT THEY ARE SAVED BY THEIR TEARS OF REPENTANCE, or that they have reformed their lives to such a degree that God looks upon them with favor and forgives their sins because of their earnestness. Not so! We cannot live such a righteous life that God will overlook our past sins. It is not based on that.
When we are forgiven our sins, it is because the Lamb of God shed His precious blood on the cross. You can never live a good-enough life that will earn you a place in Heaven. But the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanseth us from all sin. (1John 1:7)
THE PRIESTS WHO WERE ATTENDING THEIR DUTIES IN THE HOLY PLACE when the veil was rent in twain, would soon be out of work. The High Priest would be out of work! There was no further need for his services. All the sacrifices around the Temple that were being sold no longer had a market. There were sheep farms around Jerusalem whose business it was to raise sacrificial lambs to be offered as a blood sacrifice for those who bought them. Those farms would soon be out of business. Their services would soon no longer be needed.
GOD ALLOWED THE TEMPLE MACHINERY TO CONTINUE FOR ANOTHER FORTY YEARS. The people who had a vested interest in selling sheep and goats and doves for sacrifice, would never voluntarily go into another business.
IN A.D. 70, TITUS, THE ROMAN GENERAL, SURROUNDED JERUSALEM and during Passover, closed off the city and began destroying the Temple and the City of Jerusalem. Over a million Jews were slaughtered at the hands of the Jewish soldiers. As the Temple burned, the gold inside the building melted and ran down on the stones.
The soldiers took iron bars and turned over the massive stones as they scraped off the gold and put it into their pockets. As was prophesied in Jesus’ day: not one stone shall be left on another. (Luke 19:44) Israel had rejected their promised Messiah and God finally removed the whole Jewish system of worship and scattered the Jews.
FOR TWO THOUSAND YEARS THERE WAS NOT A NATION CALLED ISRAEL....not until 1948 when Israel once again became a nation. One day another Temple will be rebuilt on Mt. Zion. Today, there is an industry working at making musical instruments and various pieces for Temple worship. The Jews as a whole, still do not realize they slew their messiah. One day they will realize it. Jesus will sit upon the Throne of David and reign as the King of Israel. Ω
Read Through the Bible in a Year
March 27, 2018 – TUESDAY
A.M. Joshua 19-20 P.M. Luke 5:17-39
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)
Memory Verse This Month:
Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. (Acts 2:36)
Song for Today:
Behold What Manner of Man Is This (2:13) – (Mennonite Youth Group )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqZPIVW18oU
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