By: Elizabeth Haarberg

When the Curtain Tears

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And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.
Matthew 27:51 English Standard Version

I am fascinated by the curtain that tore in the temple when Jesus died on the cross. The short version of the story is the High priest in the Old Testament could only enter the area of the temple through the curtain to come into “the Holy of Holies,” the presence of God, once per year. When the four inch thick curtain was torn, this was not just symbolic of who can enter the Holy of Holies now but truly a physical ripping of the barrier that separates us from God.

I love it that the curtain ripped in conjunction with Jesus’ death, that a person did not cut it or rip it but God himself caused the violent act. I can only imagine someone in the Jewish community saying that there was a weak spot in the fabric that caused the tear or that a person came into the temple and defamed the area. Just like today, miracles are passed off as something natural and God is left out of the equation.

The extreme love that God has for us is bound up in places like the curtain, the earth that ripped apart when Jesus died and the choice Jesus made to hang on the cross. We see the same love today, but we pass it off as non-phenomenal, something that science can explain, a doctor can treat, or the world takes credit for.

The seasons changing is only by His command, the birds singing in the morning, boasting of His goodness to bring another day to the world is His doing, the sun rising is only because the voice from thousands of years ago spoke it into creation and movement. The world is a work of art and miracle; it’s up to us to see all the amazing ways He still speaks love to us, just like tearing the curtain created the physical and symbolic space to share Himself with the world.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado