BLEW THE ROOF OFF
Recently, more than one hundred suspected tornados formed across the central and eastern United States, causing countless millions of dollars in damage and taking several lives. One Ohio man heard the tornado warning and moved to an interior hallway. Seconds later, the front room of his house was blown apart. “I was hit by debris in my head,” he said later. “I looked up and I no longer had a roof.” It took only twenty seconds to take what had been a solid barrier and make it a portal open to the sky.
TORE THE DOOR IN HALF
When Jesus hung on the cross, and for centuries before, there hung a heavy veil over the opening to the Most Holy Place in the Temple (and in the Tabernacle, before the Temple). This was a solid barrier to separate mankind from the holy presence of God. But when Jesus breathed His last and gave a great cry, that veil was supernaturally torn in half from top to bottom. Now the door between people and the Most High wasn’t opened so much as shredded, granting direct access to God. Today, the Holy Spirit lives inside Christians, and believes live in the very presence of the Lord. Jesus’ death opened the door to come to God.
- Have you or someone you know ever lived through a tornado (or hurricane or earthquake)? If so, tell that story.
- Why was the Most Holy Place in the Temple blocked off by a heavy veil?
- Is there any sense in which doors still stand between people and God? Explain. What doors blocking access to God might Jesus want to tear apart today?
