A lot happened at the time of Jesus' death

There is something very significant that took place immediately after the death of Jesus that often gets overlooked. Let's take a look at this passage from the Gospel of Mark:

About noon the sky turned dark and stayed that way until around three o'clock. Then about that time Jesus shouted, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you deserted me?"

Some of the people standing there heard Jesus and said, "He is calling for Elijah." One of them ran and grabbed a sponge. After he had soaked it in wine, he put it on a stick and held it up to Jesus. He said, "Let's wait and see if Elijah will come and take him down!"

Jesus shouted and then died.

At once the curtain in the temple tore in two from top to bottom.

A Roman army officer was standing in front of Jesus. When the officer saw how Jesus died, he said, "This man really was the Son of God!"

Some women were looking on from a distance. They had come with Jesus to Jerusalem. But even before this they had been his followers and had helped him while he was in Galilee. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of the younger James and of Joseph were two of these women. Salome was also one of them.

(Mark 15:33-40)

Now let's take a closer look at verse 38 which reads:
At once the curtain in the temple tore in two from top to bottom.

Here is the footnote accompanying this verse in the CEV translation:
There were two curtains in the temple. One was at the entrance, and the other separated the holy place from the most holy place that the Jewish people thought of as God's home on earth. The second curtain is probably the one which is meant.

The only people who had access beyond the second curtain to the most holy place was the high priest, and it was only at certain times. This was part of the old covenant.

The moment Jesus died, this covenant was replaced with a new covenant. When the curtain to the most holy place was torn in two, it signified that the barrier between us and God has been removed. The debt for the sin of mankind was now paid in full upon the sacrifice and death of Jesus Christ!

Each and every one of us now has DIRECT ACCESS to God through His Son Jesus Christ!

Let's take a look at the book of Hebrews.

We have a great high priest, who has gone into heaven, and he is Jesus the Son of God. That is why we must hold on to what we have said about him.

Jesus understands every weakness of ours, because he was tempted in every way that we are. But he did not sin!

So whenever we are in need, we should come bravely before the throne of our merciful God. There we will be treated with undeserved kindness, and we will find help.

(Hebrews 4:14-16)

Because of the sacrifice our LORD made on the cross, we no longer need to go through an earthly priest to intercede for us. Jesus is the only Priest we need that always intercedes on our behalf before our Heavenly Father.

We truly see how much God loves us and wants us to be with Him because of how He bore our punishment. There is no greater love than this.