40 DAYS in the GOSPEL Sample

AN OPEN DOOR

Nothing puts you in your place quite like a locked door. Without a key, all of us stand hopelessly outside until someone with access comes by to let us in. Still, many things in life seem to require security, and so our lives are full of locked doors. If anything, the need for security has become one of the most reliable signs that you are dealing with something really valuable.

The connection between great value and restricted access is a strong one. One central place that it shows up in scripture, is in the structure of the Tabernacle and later in the Temple, where the Israelites were instructed to approach and fellowship with Him. The outer courts and various holy places were clearly divided and access to each was strictly enforced. The clear message was that God’s holiness was of such infinite value that it was a matter of life and death to not allow just anyone to run into His presence whenever they felt like it.

To our human way of thinking, I believe this type of restricted space around the creator of the universe makes sense. If He is the type of person you can just walk right up to on the street, then is He really as powerful as we have been led to believe? Also, I feel my own inadequacy and ordinariness when I am around powerful or talented people in my little corner of the world. How much more then, would I want to hide from the presence of a Holy and infinite God?

There is one line in our text today (v. 38) that we risk missing the importance of if we don’t look closely. The curtain in the temple was torn. Ok. Interesting I guess, but what does that have to do with the death of Jesus? The answer is everything. That curtain was the most potent symbol of God’s separation from sinful humanity. In the death of Jesus in our place, for our sins, the unbridgeable gap between us and the Father was closed. As the book of Hebrews puts it, a new and living way was opened for us to find intimacy with God—not by God’s greatness being reduced, but by our corruption being paid for and removed. God does not tolerate us because of the cross; He welcomes us as His children made new.

PRAY ABOUT IT: Ask God for a renewed sense of intimacy with Him that has its foundation on His grace and the holiness He offers to share with us through the gospel.