“So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.  And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; he has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed;  To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.  Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him.  And He began to say to them, Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing”  (Lk. 4:16-21).  “And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself” (Lk. 24:27).

            The Bible is one book with one theme: Salvation from sin through the death of Jesus Christ.  “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners...”  (1 Tim. 1:15).  “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us”  (Rom. 5:8).  From Genesis to Revelation, this is the message of the Bible.

            Those familiar with the New Testament story of the cross will observe that when Jesus died, a peculiar thing happened in the temple:  “And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom...” (Mt. 27:51).  This rending of the veil carried great significance in the overall story of the fall and redemption of man.  According to the Hebrew writer, there was a wall of division between God and man caused by sin:  “Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.  Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful” (Heb. 10:19-23).  This passage sums up what the Bible teaches from beginning to end: the only way to God is through the person of Jesus Christ. 

            The wall of separation was broken down by Christ’s death on the cross.  “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.  For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.  And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near.  For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father” (Eph. 2:13-18).

            Paul speaks of this same principle in Second Corinthians:  “Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech--unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away.  But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ.  But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart.  Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away” (2 Cor. 3:12-16). 

            The veil in the temple was the dividing fixture that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place, called the “Holy of Holies.”  Remember that no man could enter into the Holy of Holies save the high priest, and even he could only enter once per year, alone, to atone for the sins of the people (Lev. 16:2, 14-17, 33,34; Heb. 9:7).  The reason for this public denial of entrance into the inner sanctuary of the Most Holy place was because God dwelt therein (Ex. 26:33). Again, when Jesus died at Calvary, He opened up the way into the presence of God, meaning that man could once again enter into a right relationship with his Creator.  Unlike those under the Old Covenant, Christians have immediate access to the presence of God:  “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16).  Though we are sinners, we can come boldly into His presence on the basis of what Jesus did for us.

Bryan Dunaway

Grace and Peace Ministries

www.gandpministries.org