Dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven's Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place.
How many times have you actually read the section of Matthew about Jesus's death? It is very powerful. I encourage you to read it in several different translations to see how it touches you.
Matthew 27:45-63 NLT
45 At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. 46 At about three o’clock, Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
47 Some of the bystanders misunderstood and thought he was calling for the prophet Elijah. 48 One of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, holding it up to him on a reed stick so he could drink. 49 But the rest said, “Wait! Let’s see whether Elijah comes to save him.”
50 Then Jesus shouted out again, and he released his spirit. 51 At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart, 52 and tombs opened. The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead. 53 They left the cemetery after Jesus’ resurrection, went into the holy city of Jerusalem, and appeared to many people.
54 The Roman officer and the other soldiers at the crucifixion were terrified by the earthquake and all that had happened. They said, “This man truly was the Son of God!”
55 And many women who had come from Galilee with Jesus to care for him were watching from a distance. 56 Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary (the mother of James and Joseph), and the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee.
How cool is verses 50-53? When he died the curtain to the Most Holy Temple (where only the priest was allowed to go in once a year) was torn in two, giving us (the people) full and complete access to God all the time. That is one of my favorite parts of the Bible. It is just so powerful, and the exact moment of change when we able to be saved from our sins and talk to God whenever we want.
Before that moment, the people were held back by sin and could not really experience His presence like we can today. We are just so fortunate to have the grace and mercy and forgiveness and love of our God. He is so awesome! Jesus is so awesome for dying for us! He gave up his life so that we could be saved and so that we could have that availability and access to God. We can talk to Him about whatever we want, whenever we want. He is the best friend we could ever ask for. He will never leave our side or betray us. He will always be there to listen. He has power to bless and change and shape our lives according to His mighty plan.
I just cannot say enough how awesome God and Jesus are! It is absolutely incredible the sacrifice that was made for us.
I encourage you to take some quiet time to yourself this morning and absorb His Presence as much as you can and think about the sacrifice that was made for you by Jesus.
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