Communion: The curtain torn (Mark 15:38)

THE CURTAIN TORN (Mark 15:38)

pdf

Dr. Paul Manuel—2001

Our attention during Passion Week is usually on the final experience of our Lord, especially his trial and execution. The gospel writers point us in that direction, describing Jesus' last hours in great detail. In the course of their narrative, they make other observations as well, including the reactions of various witnesses at his crucifixion: the crowd who mocked him (Luke 23:35-36), the criminal who appealed to him (v. 42), the women who mourned him (v. 48), the centurion who acknowledged him as the Son of God (Mark 15:39). There is another reaction, as well, one that is less obvious because the writers present it as more of a miraculous event and mention no particular individual with it. That event is The Curtain Torn, which we will examine briefly as we continue our Meditations from Mark.

Mark's gospel is the shortest of the four, only 16 chapters to Matthew's 28, Luke's 24, and John's 21. Mark says nothing about Jesus' birth and early years (as Matthew and Luke do) but begins immediately with his baptism. He does not record the Sermon on the Mount (as Matthew and Luke do) or the Upper Room Discourse (as John does). He includes only eight parables (versus 26 in Matthew and in Luke). Hence, it is interesting to note what he does include, especially when it seems to be an obscure detail that does not appear crucial to his narrative.

One such example is in the description of Jesus' crucifixion, where Mark records in...

Mark 15:38 The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

This is not a unique observation; Matthew (27:51a) and Luke (23:45b) both mention it as well. Nevertheless, no one at Jesus' crucifixion would have seen it, and Mark's account would flow quite smoothly without it. Look at the verses before and after.

Mark 15:37 With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.... 39 And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, "Surely this man was the Son of God!"

There is no need to insert anything. In fact, any addition would seem a disruption, yet in the midst of recounting what took place at the cross, Mark mentions something that occurred in the temple. Why does he include such an odd detail, and what does it mean?

Commentators have offered several interpretations, few of which are particularly likely or satisfying.

• Some say it portends the destruction of the temple, but that event is forty years away, and tearing the veil would be an obscure way of predicting it.
• Some say it signifies the expiration of the sacrifices and their regulations, but Jesus said the law would continue in effect "until everything is accomplished" (Matt 5:18), and his followers continued to make offerings after his resurrection.
• Some say it marks the opening of access to God, but He has always been accessible to those who approach Him in repentance and faith.
• Some say it means that gentiles, once alienated from Israel, can now enjoy the benefits of a relationship with God, but He has always invited and encouraged gentiles to know Him.

So, what is going on here?

The temple had two veils. An outer veil, at the entryway, separated the courtyard from the Holy Place. What the gospel writers mention was probably the inner veil, which stood between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies, concealing the Divine Presence like a garment. When we think of the veil, what comes to mind is something like the curtain in front of a picture window (or a baptismal), but the opening to this room in Jesus' day was massive. The Mishnah records that the veil for the portal between the inner rooms of that first century sanctuary was 60 feet long (40 cubits), 30 feet high (20 cubits) high, and 3 inches thick (1 handbreadth)—and they made two new veils each year. Mark says that the curtain was not merely ripped but "torn in two [pieces] from top to bottom." That must have taken tremendous force and would have been very loud.

For some indication as to the meaning of such rending, we can look to the example of Elisha who, when Elijah was taken up to heaven, "took hold of his own clothes and tore them apart [also 'in two pieces']" (2 Kgs 2:12)." Rabbinic tradition cites ten situations when it is appropriate to rend one's garment, half of which involve the separation from someone important that death brings. Another circumstance in which one rends a garment is in reaction to some great offense against the divine order. At Jesus' trial, for example, the high priest regarded Jesus' claim to be the messiah as blasphemy and tore his garment in response.

Mark does not say who rent the temple veil, but the implication is clear: God did, presumably in response to what had just taken place.

Jesus offered himself to bear the judgment of God on human rebellion.... Now on the cross he who had lived wholly for the Father experienced the full alienation from God which the judgment he has assumed entailed. His cry ["My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"] expresses the profound horror of separation from God. (Lane 1974:573)

After that cry, when "Jesus breathed his last" (Mark 15:37), God the Father rent the temple veil, His garment as it were, in response to the death of His Son and to the great offense of sin against the divine order that required the payment of such a price.

The rending of the temple veil seems almost incidental to the account of the crucifixion, a one-line statement without explanation. Nevertheless, Matthew, Mark, and Luke thought it significant enough to include. As you contemplate the meaning of Passion Week, especially of Good Friday, keep in mind that the "good" part pertains primarily to us. Had we not sinned, Jesus would not have had to die; yet he did and did so willingly. He endured separation from God that we might enjoy fellowship with God forever, and the magnitude of that act is evident in God's response, in The Curtain Torn.

For the Bibliography and Endnotes see the pdf here.