“But even unto this day, when Moses is
read, the vail is upon their heart. Nevertheless
when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.” – 2 Corinthians
3: 15-16
This week, is Holy Week.
This week is known across the world as the days leading up to Jesus’s
death, burial, and resurrection. Over
the course of these next few days countless sermons, articles, blog post’s, and
various other treatise will be written and orated about those few chapters we
have in the scriptures that give us insight into the passion and love of our
Savior; and for all that we write, preach and publish about Christ: yet still,
we can hardly scratch the surface to tell what he truly has done for us.
In the Old Testament and to the Jewish people, God was not only
scared and holy, but he was feared (in a terrifying sense). They reverenced Him and his name; so much so
that they would not even write the consonants in his name. There was also a distance between them and
God. God would speak to the people
through the prophet. They only atonement
that was offered was through a priest.
There was a veil in the temple that separated the people from the
holiest of holies and only certain ones were able to go in. The idea that any man could have a personal
relationship with God was not even on the table. When Moses came down from the mountain the
glory of God shown so bright on his face that they could not even look on
him. Moses had to cover his face with a
veil. There was glory in the Jewish law,
there was glory in the sacrifices, but continuing thereby only resulted in a temporary
solution to a permanent problem and continued to embolden the fact that there
was indeed separation between God and man.
There was sacrifice, there was devotion, but there was a lack of
intimacy; and God wanted far more for his creation than to have a long distance
relationship with them. When Christ went to the cross the veil was done away
with. He was the instrument of
reconciliation between God and man. He
gave us free access to the Father, a personal relationship with God; something
that would have been inconceivable to the Jewish nation of old. It’s not that God didn't want us before and
then one day woke up and wanted us. No,
he made man perfect, we sinned, and God went about bringing us back to that
perfect state (spiritually) ever since.
This plan of salvation and reconciliation was built upon the
cornerstone; Jesus, our Savior, our Emmanuel (God with us).
A personal plan, for a personal salvation, requires a personal
commitment. The Bible never suggests
that Christ is an all-expense paid trip to sin and sin again. As if to say “have fun, I got the check!” If that was true, I wouldn't want to be a
Christian; because we would be promoters of evil. Jesus wants you to take up your cross and
follow him, and he is not asking of us any more than he didn't do himself. When Christ went to the cross he did it
because God wanted him to, he didn't want to, but God wanted Him to. He willing laid down His life, for you and
me; and if we want real salvation, if we want the Spirit of the Lord, we must
lay down our plans, ambitions, wishes, everything we have: just like Jesus
did. You must die to the: world,
yourself, and sin to then be raised anew.
Then the Spirit of God comes in, the separation is gone, and a beautiful
relationship begins. For this we can
thank Jesus, and thank him this week, every week, every day.
