Why Jesus Died
Mark 15:37-38
And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost. And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.
I want to lay aside both the crucifix and the cross as symbols of our faith, and to replace them with the very first symbol, one that was ordained by God Himself and provided by Him.
The very first symbol of the significance of what Jesus Christ did for us in His death was that renting of the veil.
1. THE PURPOSE FOR WHICH THE VEIL WAS REQUIRED.
A. The Pride Of Man Rebuked By God.
God's holiness and God's righteousness are such that even our best is not good enough.
B. The Price Of Blood Required By God.
The process taken in applying the blood.
The principle taught in applying the blood.
Sin must be punished before the sinner could be pardoned.
2. THE POWER WHICH THE VEIL WAS RENT.
A. We Note The Hand By Which The Veil Was Rent.
It was the hand of a Sovereign God that rent the veil, not the hand of sinful man.
The whole Calvary scene was God’s doings and not man’s doings.
B. We Note The Hour At Which The Veil Was Rent.
It was when Jesus cried with a loud voice, “It is finished!”
In the hour of gloom and darkness, there came a sound of tearing cloth.
3. THE PERSON BY WHOM THE VEIL WAS REPLACED.
Hebrews 10:19-22 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; And having an high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
A. Here Is The Entrance Through Which We Must Pass.
The writer of Hebrews sees so much in Christ:
He is the torn and rented veil.
He is the sacrifice that atones.
He is the High Priest who enters within the veil.
He is all that God demands.
He is all that man requires.
So the Cross leads me to the Curtain and the Curtain leads me to Christ and Christ leads me to God.
B. Here Is The Presence In Which We Must Live.
It was the sin of man that drove him from the presence of God and it is the sacrifice of Christ that brings him back to live in the presence of God.
