The phone rings. You answer. But you do not recognize the voice on the other line. As you mentally try to place the voice you hear a familiar name…a precious loved one. “What? I’m sorry. What did you just say? Can you repeat that?” you ask the still strange voice. Your precious loved one is gone. Suddenly, unexpectedly, too soon. “But I just saw her yesterday and she was fine,” you reply back. You deny what the strange voice is telling you, dropping hard into the nearest chair. The unfamiliar voice apologizes, gives promises of being in touch, and hangs up. As the line goes dead, you feel numb. Yet your mind races. Shock. Confusion. Sadness. Hopelessness.
I remember each instance like they were yesterday. We have all been there, or one day will be. Losing a loved one is hard, painful, shocking, confusing and when it happens unexpectedly, unfathomable.
As Easter approaches I begin to wonder, was this how Jesus’ followers felt when His story seemed to have abruptly and unjustly ended on the cross? Executed as a criminal, now lying dead in a tomb, their Son, brother, friend and Savior suddenly gone from their midst. Shocked, confused, hopeless. On Saturday did they know that the Son would come out tomorrow; out of the grave? Where was their hope?
Have you ever asked yourself… Where is our hope when life does not go as we had planned? Where is our hope when life is going “well”? What or who do we turn to for our joy?
The answer is in Jesus on the cross!
“And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up His spirit. 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 27:50-51).
A beautiful intricately woven curtain separated mankind from God in Bible times. This curtain was huge and very thick. The beauty of the curtain could only be seen from the inside of this innermost chamber where God used to dwell. The high priest was only allowed to enter this sanctuary on days and times allowed by God and under the strictest rules. To violate God’s law on this matter had dire consequences. The curtain stood as a reminder of how sin separates man from a holy God; a physical reminder of the vast spiritual separation that exists between God and all people.
The curtain tore the moment Jesus gave up His spirit because no more blood needed to be spilled. Jesus’ death on the cross became the once and for all offering. Our debt was paid in full; the wrath of God completely satisfied. The dividing line between the holy God and sinful mankind was obliterated. This is our hope. Now we can come confidently, boldly to Him with all of our fears, pain, tears, sorrows, praises, thanksgiving and joy.
Last December I wrote about the joy we have at Christmas. Joy at Christmas, joy in Jesus’ birth, is only possible because of the hope we have at Easter. Because of the hope of Christ’s finished work on the cross.
As a child, the curtain torn in two stood out to me every time I read Christ’s crucifixion story. It was a physical, tangible sign that what happened on the cross was real. Proof that the dividing line between God and man had been erased, a physical sign of God’s sacrificial steadfast love for me. The dividing wall that had been torn down by God alone felt like a personal invitation into the beauty and presence of the Father. An intentional act of His love for me.
John 3:16, always a favorite, says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” He LOVES the world. He LOVES me! He LOVES you! I have always treasured the next verse too, “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.”
Sin separates us from God. We were all condemned to death. But instead, God condemned Jesus to death on the cross in our place. It was essentially God’s way of pulling back the curtain and inviting us into His beautiful presence; welcoming us back into fellowship with Him. Fellowship we once enjoyed in the Garden (Genesis 2) but lost (Genesis 3). He didn’t just pull back the curtain, He destroyed it.
Jesus’ death was necessary to bring victory over sin, death, and separation from God. To show the depth of God’s love for us. A God who literally loves us to death, all the way to Jesus’ death on a cross. He ripped open the curtain, willingly stretched open His loving arms on the cross, and pleads with us to come to Him.
Each time I lost a precious loved one, fear, sadness and hopelessness quickly entered my heart. Had it not been for the Holy Spirit’s presence in my life they would have consumed me and pulled me under. But God. Even more deeply felt than the fear, sadness and hopelessness was God’s love for me. Always in our moments of greatest need, He holds us, wraps His love and peace around us and gives us strength we did not know we were capable of. His love has no end, no limitations, no conditions. His love is freely willingly given. His love is immovable and immeasurable. The vastness of His love awes and amazes me still.
Amazing love. When life feels hopeless, run. Run through the curtain into the holy of holies and into His open outstretched arms. He is waiting to embrace you. He is our hope.
Father, thank you for the hope of Jesus, the hope we have because of the price Jesus paid and His resurrection. You are so good. Thank you for your amazing love, who loved us all the way to the Cross. We love you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Deeper Still Devotions 