28 April 10
Greetings, dear ones.
Lots to do. So I'll keep it short...or shorter than normal.
I'll check with the vet. Maybe Daisy can get her cast off today.
Be blessed. Love and prayers. Dad/Ray
28 April 2010
Passage: Mark 15:21-47
Focus: “The curtain of the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom.” Mark 15:38.
The
Gospel of Mark does not present much supernatural phenomena surrounding
the crucifixion of Christ. Yes, there was the strange
accompanying darkness at midday. But that could have been
explained by a meteorologist who might inform us that a huge dust storm
in Northern Africa had caused dust clouds to blow over Palestine at
this very point in time. Mark does not mention the earthquake
that Matthew describes where some graves broke open and certain ones
who were dead were raised to life again supernaturally. While the
accounts are not identical in the Gospels, the first three, Matthew,
Mark, and Luke, all mention the supernatural event that happened in the
Temple: “The curtain of the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom.”
It is interesting for me to imagine how the Jewish leaders would have
dealt with the torn curtain. To what degree did they acknowledge
that it was obviously supernatural? What did they do about
it? Most likely they did their best to keep it quiet, just like
they will do the resurrection. Most likely they did their best to
repair or replace it so they could carry on with business as
usual. “We’re not going to allow a little bit of weird stuff to
interrupt what is most important to us!”
What is the significance of the phenomenon of the broken curtain?
The obvious answer is really quite wonderful. Not only did Jesus
cry out, “It is finished” (Jn 19:30), but the overseeing Father was
making the same statement with this curtain. Think of it.
It declares that the Old Testament system is now obsolete. No
more sacrifices. No more priests. No more Temple
ceremony. It’s all fulfilled and finished in the sacrifice of the
perfect “Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn.
1:29). We have a New and improved arrangement available. We
are now free and invited to “approach the throne of grace with
confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in
our time of need” (Heb. 4:16). If that does not turn your heart’s
gears, I think you have a serious problem.
“Of all the thousands of deceptive substitutes available today,
a
substitute for SALVATION is the absolute worst.”