36. Mark 15:37-38
Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.
Mark’s description is again brief, even terse. But I suppose most deaths are like that – a last word, or prayer, or goodbye, or cry, and then a final breath. That’s it. So much of what makes up any human life – memories, friendships, hopes, disappointments, accomplishments, aspirations – suddenly and completely gone in the flash of an instant. And both the suddenness and the finality cause even the most staunchly optimistic to wonder what it all meant, indeed, whether it meant anything at all.
Jesus dies as he lived – like one of us. He shouts, and then breathes his last. And that’s it.
Except that’s not it. The tearing of the temple curtain signifies that something has irrevocably changed – that this life and this death has altered the fundamental structures of the universe. God’s presence is no longer contained in one place, in one time, or to one people. Rather, God is now on the loose – active, alive, and present to all.
Actually, Israel always had great confidence that God was active and at work. From the earliest covenants forward, Israel’s God is always creating, caring, and blessing. Yet the sheer holiness and complete “otherness” of God made approaching this God difficult, if not impossible. There is a reverent awe that permeates the Old Testament that seems both appropriate and admirable. Only a few were permitted access to – could bear the presence of – this holy God.
In the Jerusalem Temple, this holy awe was represented most vividly by the “holy of holies,” the place believed to bear God’s presence and separated off from the innermost parts of the Temple by a veil. Only the high priest could enter this most holy of places and then only once a year, on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.
Early Christian readers of Mark and the other gospels, many of whom were Jewish in background, would therefore interpret the significance of the tearing of this curtain as a sign that now all have access to God at anytime and any place.
Such a small, brief, final thing, Jesus’ death, in so many ways like any other death. And yet from the perspective of faith such a dramatic, monumental, world and life changing event. One final breath, and a whole new chapter in the story of God and God’s people begins.
Prayer: Dear God, help us to look for you everywhere and to find in Jesus’ death and resurrection the confidence to call on you anywhere and at anytime. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Post image: “Tearing of the Veil,” by Ethalen Skye
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