the way

While he was on earth, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6). That seems kind of cryptic, but I read this from Hebrews 10:19-22:

“Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.”

This is another reason why Christmas is a big deal for me. Before Jesus, there was this room in the inner part of the temple called the Holy of Holies (Most Holy Place) that only priests could enter, and then only at certain times and under certain circumstances. This was where the presence of God was supposed to be, along with the most sacred artifacts of the Jewish religion. That room was shielded by a curtain, a separation from the more public areas of the temple and this off-limits space.

But Jesus came, and died, and one of the things that happened when he died was the temple curtain tore in two. As spooky as that was, it wasn’t the real miracle.

The real miracle is this: Jesus death also destroyed the barrier between me and God that was there because of my sin. Before Jesus, God was unapproachable for me. After Jesus, I’m welcome in God’s throne room any time.

But there’s only one way to get there: “a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body . . . .” When I go to Jesus, the man who is God, the God who became man, I approach the Father.

Without Christmas, I’d still be on the outside looking in.