Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. . . .
— Matthew 27:51
If I could have been present at certain moments in history, one event I would like to have seen was the veil of the temple being torn in two.
In the inner court of the temple in Jerusalem, in the Holy of Holies, was the Ark of the Covenant. That was where the high priest would go once a year to offer atonement for the sins of the people. A veil, a very thick, woven curtain, separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple.
When Jesus died on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins, that heavy curtain was torn from top to bottom. It was not ripped from bottom to top, as though a man were ripping it. Instead, it was ripped from top to bottom, because God was ripping it.
God was saying, "You no longer are on the outside. You can come in. My Son has made a way for you."
The apostle Paul explained how we can now draw near to God:
Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith. (Hebrews 10:19–22)
The veil was torn. Jesus is now our Intercessor. We don't have to go through a person to reach God anymore. We don't have to go through rituals anymore. Instead, Jesus made a new and living way for us to reach God.
Jesus paid it all. And that is so important to remember.
In The News:
Boy Scouts Overturn Ban on Gay Members
Delegates to the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America on Thursday approved new membership guidelines
which open the ranks of the organization to homosexual members. Young
men who openly claim to be homosexual may now participate as Scouts. The
decision, the BSA leadership said in a statement, was based on "growing
input from within the Scouting family." That input led to a national
review of policy, or a "comprehensive listening exercise," resulting in a
resolution to remove the restriction "denying membership to youth on
the basis of sexual orientation alone." Some 1,400 delegates to the
National Council approved the change in membership standards by a margin
of 61-39 percent, but changes to the adult leadership policy of the
organization, which forbids homosexual Scout leaders, was not up for
vote and remains in place. Rules on sexual misconduct, heterosexual and
homosexual, also remain in place for Scouts and Scout leaders. John
Stemberger, who waged a national campaign to keep the ban on homosexual
Scouts in place through the website OnMyHonor.net, said the "most
influential youth organization in America had turned a sad corner. ...
The Boy Scouts are now teaching kids that when your values are no longer
popular, change them." Stemberger added that BSA leaders had succumbed
to the pressure of special interest groups by making the change to the
membership policy. He added that he plans to call a coalition together
to discuss creating a new youth organization centered on biblical
values, a call echoed by many religious leaders.
After Pope Francis' comments during Wednesday Mass in Rome that God redeems nonbelievers, a number of people were left asking whether the Catholic leader believes atheists and agnostics go to heaven. The Vatican on Thursday issued an "explanatory note on the meaning to 'salvation,'" CNN reports. The Rev. Thomas Rosica, a Vatican spokesman, said that people who are aware of the Catholic Church "cannot be saved" if they "refuse to enter her or remain in her." At the same time, Rosica said, "every man or woman, whatever their situation, can be saved. Even non-Christians can respond to this saving action of the Spirit. No person is excluded from salvation simply because of so-called original sin." Rosica also said that Francis had "no intention of provoking a theological debate on the nature of salvation."
One Third of Millennials Regret Going to College
Here’s an indication of how burdensome student loans have become: About
one third of millennials say they would have been better off working,
instead of going to college and paying tuition, reports Jim Liebelt.
That's a according to a new Wells Fargo study which surveyed 1,414
millennials between the ages of 22 and 32. More than half of them
financed their education through student loans, and many say that if
they had $10,000 the "first thing" they'd do is pay down their student
loan or credit card debt. That's no surprise when you consider student
borrowing topped the $100 billion threshold for the first time in 2010,
and total outstanding loans exceeded $1 trillion for the first time in
2011. Student loan debt now exceeds credit card debt in the U.S., which
stands at about $798 billion. The problem sometimes is that not all
college educations are worth their cost since they can’t guarantee a
high-paying job to help pay off that student debt. A report from the
National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys says the rising
student debt problem can have a bad impact on the economy. Even in the
best of economic times when jobs are plentiful, young people with
considerable debt burdens end up delaying life-cycle events such as
buying a car, purchasing a home, getting married and having children.
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