Not too long ago my mom handed me this religious tract that she really liked. It was entitled 10 Reasons Jesus Came to Die by John Piper. Before opening it up, I tried to guess what 10 things it said inside. The good news is I knew the #1 reason and a few others, but many of them came as a something of a surprise to me. Sure, I had heard all ten reasons throughout my career as a pew warmer, but I hadn't fully grasped their connection with Jesus' death. If Jesus had merely been this perfect dude who preached to a ripe old age, I bet he still would have touched millions of lives, but his true mission would have failed. Without his sacrificial death the following ten actions would not have been fulfilled.
#10) To destroy hostility between races
Well this is an awkward way to start. I dunno about you, but I've never considered Jesus' homeland to be the picture of racial unity. From a Biblical perspective, fighting in the Middle East goes all the way back to the family feud between Abraham's children in Genesis 16. While this fighting will probably go on until the end of days, Jesus' death ended a different hostility. Before Jesus, the Jews were God's chosen people. Everyone else, known as Gentiles, could only come to God by integrating themselves into Jewish society, but even then they were considered inferior. For instance, they were only permitted in the outermost parts of the temple. Jesus' death reconciled all people to God.
In discussing the idea of Jesus dividing this “wall of hostility”, the first imagery that pops into my mind is the fall of the Berlin Wall. While that's a great mental picture I just wanna say that this verse isn't a metaphor, people. Jesus' death physically divided the wall separating God from the masses. Check out Matthew 27:51, Mark 15:38, and Luke 23:45. The parochet (translated to veil or curtain) in the Jewish temple concealed the most sacred part of the temple. Once a year only the high priest could pass through the parochet to enter the presence of God to atone for the sins of the Jews. The moment Jesus died, the parochet tore in two. The thing that can be overlooked about this miracle is that a “veil” or “curtain” gives me the idea of a smaller or more delicate fabric. The Jewish historian Josephus reports in his writing the War of the Jews that the parochet was at about 60 feet high and 30 feet wide. Some rabbinic literature claims it was as thick as your hand, but this reference is probably hyperbolic. Either way this was a massive curtain that took an act of God to tear from top to bottom. This opening of the parochet unveiled (pun intended) the presence of God. It also established Jesus as the new high priest for the rest of time. Best of all for us Gentiles is that Jesus was atoning for the sins of all people of all nations. And thus Jew and Gentile were made equal.
If Jesus' death inspires you to go all Hulkamania on your curtains at home:
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