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Sep 16, 2023 06:00am

It Took Me Back

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We’ve all had it happen to us — we hear a song and the tune and lyrics immediately take us back to a time and place that has been tucked into the archives of our hearts. We’re suddenly taken back years, and sometimes decades, to a place or event we know we’ll never forget.

That happened to me last Sunday when our music director, Jim Turner, sang “Holy of Holies” in the morning worship service. I had never heard the song before, but the words triggered a beautiful memory of actually being on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem back in 2014.

Although there is now a Muslim mosque on the Mount where the temple used to stand, our tour guide, Joni, took us back behind the structure to an arch that was approximately the same location, height and width of the original entrance to the Holy of Holies. Yoni was a Messianic Jew (he had accepted Christ as Messiah), so he knew how important going through that arch would be for all of us, as Christians.

You see, before the death of Jesus on the cross, only the high priest was allowed to enter this sacred place in the temple… and he could only enter once a year to atone for the sins of the people. But the Bible says that at the very moment Jesus died on the cross, “…the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom..” (Matthew 27:51). That was God showing us that, at the very moment we accept Christ as our Savior, He pays the full price for our sins and gives us eternal atonement for our sins — past, present, and future. When that happens, the spiritual veil is torn in two, and we immediately have full access to Him and can enter in to be with Him in the Holy of Holies every second of every day.

Tears flowed heavily as I entered through the physical arch that day long ago, just as they did when I accepted Christ as my Savior back in 1959 and the veil between Him and me was torn forever!

They also flowed last Sunday as I listened to the lyrics to the song:

“In the Holy of Holies, behind the heavy veil, sat the Ark of the Covenant, where the Most High dwelled. And only the high priest could enter therein, to offer a sacrifice for atonement of sin. But the veil was ripped in an instant, revealing that holy place. For on a hill nearby on a rugged cross. Justice met grace. “The blood of sacrifices is no more required. For the blood of Christ, the spotless lamb has already paid the price. And the sacrifice of worship will open Heaven’s door. Allowing us to enter into the presence of the Lord. “Now I can go into the Holy of Holies. I can kneel and make my petition known. I can go into the Holy of Holies and although I’m just a common man, because of God’s redemption plan. I can boldly approach the throne.” The first step toward the Holy of Holies entrance is so simple, yet so profound. We simply realize that we’re a sinner and have no way to getting to Heaven on our own. Then we confess our sins, believe that Jesus, the Son of God, died for those sins on the cross, paying the full price, and we accept Him as our Savior. At that moment, the veil is torn and He comes into our hearts and stays there forever. We can talk to Him any time, day or night, and He’s always there. We’ll still have hard times; He never promised that we wouldn’t. What He promised is that He’ll go through those hard time with us and that He will “never leave us nor forsake us.” Then He’ll either come and get us or call us home in death to be with Him forever. As another favorite song says, “What a day that will be, when my Jesus I shall see. When I look upon His face, the One who saved me by His grace. When He takes me by the hand and leads me through the Promised Land, what a day, glorious day, that will be!”

Until then, I’ll remember that torn curtain and praise His name forever!