The Holy Bible is the most important book ever written.

And, as one spends more time in it, and gets to know “the heart of God”, then one realizes that even the seemingly smallest details in the Holy Bible are important.

Today, as we are in the season when we begin to think about the uphill road to the Holy Cross, followed by the celebration of Jesus’ Resurrection, let’s “take a look behind the veil” of the Temple in Jerusalem.

Our text is from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 27, verses 51-54.

The scene is the top of a hill named Golgotha (Hebrew for “place of the skull”). The Latin name is Calvaria (same meaning), which is translated in English as Calvary (not to be confused with “cavalry”, a group of soldiers mounted on horses). Jesus has just finished His last breath.

Immediately, the first thing that happens after Jesus dies is that the veil of the Temple is torn in two. Scripture includes an important detail. The veil is torn from top to bottom. Why is that important? Read on.

In the Book of Exodus, Yehowah (God) gives instructions to Moses regarding the details of the building and operation of the Tablernacle — the huge tent that was the meeting place between the God of Israel and the people. Those instructions include a veil that separated the Holy Place (where the priests could gather) and the Most Holy Place (where the golden Ark of the Covenant was kept, and where only the high priest could enter). Floating above the Tabernacle was the presence of God — a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night. (That is how the other nations knew when the Israelites were coming, and they dreaded it. Caravans could see the Presence from miles away, and they had heard what had happened to the Egyptians.)

The veil of the Temple was sturdy. The closest thing that can compare in modern times is the curtain of a stage in a theater. Those types of curtains last for decades. The veil of the Temple lasted for centuries. Scholars believe that the Temple veil was about three inches thick. It was about 30 feet tall, and it was as wide as the building. It had designs of cherubim (angels) woven into it. The veil itself was awe-inspiring — even within the gold-covered walls of the Temple.

For the devout Jew, the veil of the Temple was an object to be defended unto death. It was the physical and symbolic separation between the very Presence of God and the outside world. Non-believers were not even allowed to see it, much less touch it. And, not even believers — in fact, not even most of the priests — we allowed to see beyond it into the Most Holy Place. Only the high priest could go beyond the veil — and, even he could go only one time per year. He had to wear a robe with little bells around the hem. If the bells stopped tinkling from his motions during prayer, then the other priests would know that God had struck him dead for some reason. The high priest also had to wear a rope that was tied around one ankle. That way, the other priests could pull his body back out without going inside themselves. That is how important the veil was. Now, with this background understanding. let’s see why the details of what happened to the veil are so important.

There were priests in the Temple 24-7, plus the Temple guard force. Plus, Jerusalem was the capital city of Judea. And, because Judea was an occupied province of the Roman Empire, the Roman governor was there also. And, because the governor was there, the Roman Army had a contingent there (at least a battalion, possibly more). And, as mentioned above, every devout Jew would have wanted to guard the Temple with his life, if necessary. Thus, the Most Holy Place inside the Temple in Jerusalem was likely the most heavily guarded spot in the entire Middle East.

And yet….

Matthew 27:51 specifies that the Temple veil was torn. By whom? God, of course! That intricately-woven, strikingly-beautiful, heavily-defended, three-inch-thick, 30-foot-tall veil was torn from top to bottom. Why does the Bible include that detail? Several reasons.

First of all, it shows that no one other than God could have done it. No one else could have gotten past all those soldiers and guards. The fear of God would have prevented people (even most non-believers) from even thinking of doing such a thing. And, if it were done by a person, then they would have had to start from the bottom and work their way upward.

More importantly than the practical reasons, though, is the symbolic reason. When a tragic event happened, it was a Jewish custom for a man to tear his garment. He grabbed the top of his tunic and tore it apart downward. Symbolically, he was exposing his broken heart for the world to see. This custom was most often done if a father got word that his son was killed — whether in battle or in some other way, and especially if his son was murdered. And, that is exactly what God did. He tore the “garment” that separated Him from the sinful world. God exposed His broken heart over the death of His Son.

The priests and scribes were the people that should have recognized all the prophetic signs that Jesus was the predicted Messiah. Instead, they plotted to have Him killed. Although it was a “legal” execution, even the Roman governor conceded that he saw no reason to crucify Jesus. Pontius Pilate acceded to the crowd, which had been stirred-up by the priests and scribes, and thus he ordered Jesus’ scourging and crucifixion in order to prevent a bigger riot. Thus, without justification, Jesus was murdered.

But, Jesus was also killed in battle. Most of the people in the crowd had no idea what was really happening on that Cross. Having volunteered to accept the punishment for the sins of the whole world, Jesus was defeating Satan and death — “by death”, as the ancient Orthodox Christian hymn proclaims. It was a spiritual battle. It was a battle of such “Biblical proportions” that its effects spilled over into the natural realm in several ways. The first way was the tearing of the Temple veil. No one could rightly claim that Jesus was not the Son of God, because God the Father had torn the veil.

The very next thing that happened has mystified some preachers, but it shouldn’t. Perhaps my military background makes it easier to understand. When Jesus voluntarily died on the Cross, and thus defeated death “once, for all”, the troops followed their commander in the victorious occupation march! Scripture does not specify this, but I believe that those that rose from the grave were the soldiers that had died trying to defend Jerusalem against the siege by Babylon centuries earlier. (The reason that I believe that way is because the Scripture says that “many” of the saints were raised. It does not say “all”, nor even “most”. So, there had to be some distinction between the ones that were raised and the ones that were not raised. The distinction that makes sense is that the soldiers could not remain lying down in the presence of their victorious king and commander.) Long before the legendary event during the Battle of the Bulge in World War Two, Jesus was the “Iron Mike” that told the dead saints, “Follow me!!”

As dramatic and inspiring as these events are, there is one other detail in the Scripture that “seals the deal”. It is the reaction of the Roman soldiers, especially their commander. Roman soldiers were widely feared. And yet, the Roman soldier feared the Roman centurion — the man that commanded 100 soldiers. When the soldiers saw these sudden events (along with the sky growing dark and rocks splitting apart the moment that Jesus died), they “feared greatly”, and they thought, “Truly, this man was the Son of God.” Other Gospel accounts specify that the centurion declared it out loud.

And, now that you know the level of detail behind those three short verses, you can understand “the secrets behind the veil”.