Mark 15 38

Mark 15:38 kjv

And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.

Mark 15:38 nkjv

Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

Mark 15:38 niv

The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

Mark 15:38 esv

And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.

Mark 15:38 nlt

And the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.

Mark 15 verses

Mark 15 38 Meaning

The tearing of the temple veil at Christ's death signifies the immediate, divine abolition of the Old Covenant system of restricted access to God, opening a new and living way directly into God's presence for all who believe, through the completed atoning work of Jesus Christ. This momentous event marked the fulfillment and superseding of the Law's requirements for approach to a holy God, proclaiming an era of unhindered communion for humanity.

Mark 15 38 Context

Mark 15 vividly portrays the final hours of Jesus' life on earth, focusing on His crucifixion and death. Mark 15:38 occurs immediately after Jesus utters a loud cry and expires (Mk 15:37). This precise timing is crucial, establishing a direct causal link between Christ's death and this extraordinary event. Historically and culturally, the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem served as the center of Israelite worship and the perceived dwelling place of God on earth. The "veil of the temple" specifically referred to the magnificent, heavy curtain that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place (Holy of Holies). This innermost chamber was considered God's exclusive presence, accessible only to the High Priest once a year on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), under strict ceremonial conditions, to offer sacrifices for the sins of the people. This veil symbolized the absolute holiness of God and humanity's sinful separation from Him, with access permissible only through designated priestly mediation and atoning blood.

Mark 15 38 Word analysis

• And (καὶ - kai): This conjunction links the supernatural event directly to Jesus' preceding death, indicating immediacy and a causal connection. It implies that the tearing of the veil was a divine response to, and an affirmation of, Christ's finished work on the cross.
• the veil (τὸ καταπέτασμα - to katapetasma): This term specifically denotes the massive, thick curtain (often cited by Jewish sources as being very substantial) that hung between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place in the Temple. It served as a profound physical barrier, symbolizing humanity's spiritual separation from the unapproachable holiness of God due to sin, a separation that only the High Priest could briefly and ritually transcend.
• of the temple (τοῦ ναοῦ - tou naou): Refers specifically to the inner sanctuary, the sacred dwelling place of God's presence, as opposed to the larger outer temple courts (hieron). This specification emphasizes that the sacred barrier to God's immediate presence itself was directly affected.
• was torn (ἐσχίσθη - eschisthe): This is an aorist passive indicative form of the verb σχίζω (schizo), meaning "to split, to cleave, to tear apart." The passive voice is highly significant, indicating that this act was not performed by human hands but by an external, divine agent. It was a sudden, violent, and decisive action, demonstrating God's sovereign intervention.
• in two: This phrase emphasizes the completeness and decisiveness of the tearing. The barrier was not merely disturbed or damaged; it was entirely sundered, rendered wholly ineffective as a separator. There was no partial opening but a full abolition of the division.
• from top to bottom (ἄνωθεν ἕως κάτω - anōthen heōs katō): This crucial detail unequivocally highlights the supernatural origin of the tearing. A human would tear something from the bottom up, or perhaps from the sides, but for the tear to commence supernaturally from the very top of a tall, heavy curtain could only be a divine act. This reinforces that God Himself initiated and accomplished the tearing, thereby validating Jesus' atoning death as the definitive and sufficient means for all to enter His presence.

• Words-group analysis:
  • "the veil of the temple": This phrase succinctly identifies the specific barrier to God's holy presence within the Old Covenant system. It stood as a potent physical symbol of the sin-imposed separation between a holy God and sinful humanity, mediated only through the Levitical priesthood and an intricate system of sacrifices.
  • "was torn in two from top to bottom": This emphatic declaration underscores the divine, complete, and irreversible abolition of that Old Covenant separation. It announces that God Himself, through Christ's death, definitively opened the way for direct access. It also prophetically signified the impending end of the entire Temple cultus as the ultimate means of communion with God, given its purpose had been fulfilled.

Mark 15 38 Bonus section

• The immense size and thickness of the actual Temple veil (accounts suggest it was extremely heavy and could not be torn by human force) further underscores the miraculous and divine nature of the event described in Mark 15:38.
• Theological interpretations, especially in the book of Hebrews (Heb 10:20), explicitly link the torn veil to the physical body of Jesus Christ. His "flesh" was broken, becoming the means through which the spiritual barrier was rent, providing direct passage into God's presence.
• This event not only signifies open access to God but also implicitly foreshadows the future destruction of the physical Temple in A.D. 70. The rending of its most sacred part prefigured its eventual desolation, emphasizing that the focus of God's presence and worship was shifting from a physical structure to Christ Himself and His followers (the Church).
• The timing immediately after Christ's loud cry (a cry of victory, "It is finished" in John 19:30) confirms that the tearing of the veil was not a response to despair but a divine affirmation of the triumph over sin and death accomplished through His voluntary self-sacrifice.

Mark 15 38 Commentary

Mark 15:38 profoundly illustrates the cosmic significance of Jesus Christ's death. The supernatural tearing of the Temple veil, synchronous with Christ's final breath, serves as a divine announcement that the old covenant, with its restrictive access to God, its dependence on animal sacrifices, and its mediating priesthood, had reached its divinely intended fulfillment and was now superseded. Christ's perfect and once-for-all sacrifice opened a new and living way, demonstrating that direct and unhindered access to God's presence is now available to all who believe in Jesus. This was God's own declaration that His dwelling place was no longer confined to a physical temple or mediated by human priests but was now accessible through the blood and body of His Son. It signified that sin's barrier was decisively removed, communion with God re-established, and that believers can now approach God's throne of grace with confidence.

• Examples of practical usage: Believers no longer need earthly mediators or complicated rituals to approach God in prayer or worship. It emphasizes the sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice, meaning no further works or offerings are required for salvation or for enjoying a direct relationship with God.