LIVE, Evil, Vile, Veil…Passover
Matthew 27:45–47, 50—54 Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. And about the ninth hours Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying “Eli, Eli, lama sabahthani?” that is “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, “This Man is calling for Elijah.” … And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
Mark 15:33-34, 37-39 Now when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthini?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” … And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last. Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. So when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, “Truly this Man was the Son of God.”
Luke 23:44-47 Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, He said, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’” Having said this, He breathed His last. So when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God, saying, “Certainly this was a righteous Man!”
God created man to be with Him, to enjoy the company, and relationship with Him. Instead, after a period of time, the LIVE man and woman, chose EVIL, and brought sin into the Garden, and were banished. There was a VEIL separating man from God and the relationship God had created man to share with Him. Man and woman and sinned, thus created a VILE divide between themselves and God. It’s interesting to me that Live, Evil, Vile, and Veil all have the same letters—yet they all show different aspects of what man had and now caused—separation from God.
That one four letter word – LIVE, EVIL, VEIL, and VILE, all share the same letters, but all indicate we seem incapable of living life without sinning. We can all reflect how the lives of man sinned, committing a vile offense, causing God to cast them from the Garden, and basically separated them with a veil, since even Moses and Abraham were not allowed to see Him in the same manner that Adam and Eve had been privileged to live. The sin they committed was vile to God, and they were cast out.
Several hundred years later, as God showed Moses how to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt and how to live following His guidance and commands, He showed Him how to construct a tent of worship while they resided in the desert. God instructed the Tabernacle to have a thick and impressive curtain designed to separate it from the high priest and the people. Only the priests could have access to the interior of the Tabernacle, and the High Priest of the year was the only one who could enter the Holiest of Holies on the Day of Atonement, and that was one day a year. God kept them separate, hopefully so they could respect and revere the Creator; they could teach, lead, and guide His people in the ways they should live, not committing evil, vile sins.
A few thousand years after they traversed the desert and finally reached the Promised Land, Jesus’s sacrificial death atoned for our sins, and tore our separating veil, IF we believe, and recognize Him as Savior and willingly follow Him.
Our Lord and Savior took all sin on Himself and became the final Sacrifice and Atonement for us so we could have everlasting life upon our physical death and could live forever with the trinity of God. The veil was torn in two distinct and separate parts when Jesus breathed His last. The sky became dark during the last three hours he hung on the cross, laboring for breath, and the earth erupted with earthquake, and darkness covered the area. It amazes me that there is little written in the gospels about the earthquake…it is only recorded in Matthew 27. Mark 15:33 and Luke 23:44,45 only record the darkness and the curtain in the temple being torn in two from top to bottom. There would be no question in my mind seeing any of those things that this was the Son of God, and we, the people had followed meekly allowing the Pharisees and church leaders to kill God’s chosen One.
However, in the International Geology Review published in May 2012, stated there was significant seismic activity at the Dead Sea, 13 miles from Jerusalem on April 3, 33 AD, which seems to coincide with Matthew’s account. Reports of the earthquake only occur in the book of Matthew. I wonder why it was not mentioned in other accounts. It seems so huge to me that (an earthquake) and things occurred yet were only documented by one of the witnesses. Mark and Luke mention darkness covering the land during the time of hanging on the cross, and the curtain being torn. Never being in much of an earthquake, I know that would make an impression for me!
And I cannot believe those arrogant Pharisees did not fall to their knees in fear and trepidation and confession for what they had done which caused these visual and frightening occurrences. What was their reaction entering the temple and seeing the torn curtain? Did they try to blame that on vandals also?
Lord, You know the flash of the letters of one of these words triggered the idea for this blog. Thank You for the gift of Your Son who opened the way so we could live without a veil if we recognize and confess our vile and evil sins. I thank You for opening my way to You through Your Son and His gift and Atonement for me and ‘mybellaviews.’
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