Mark was studying a passage about how to follow Jesus diligently, when he became painfully aware of his own shortcomings.
He left the ministry years ago to follow a path on which, what he believed, Jesus led him. His ministry did not fit into the traditional pattern of ministries, which caused him to feel like a mere rambler sometimes.
As usual, he felt he has failed Jesus and subsequently, he drew a curtain between them in an effort to hide his inadequacy.
“Mark, what are you trying to do?” Jesus asked.
“Oh, Lord, thank You for talking to me but You know how I feel!”
“Why are you putting a curtain between us, Mark?”
Jesus did not give him time to respond, “You know, a curtain was hung in the temple to separate the people with their sins from the Holy of Holies. Sin stuck on the people like dirt.”
“That curtain was made of fine linen which does not mean that it was necessarily soft, tender, silk-like material. Every thread was doubled six times. There were four sorts of every thread made up of linen and wool and each one was six doubled, giving a total of 24 threads.”
“Some of these were doubled further to give 48. The curtain was very thick, heavy and strong. A lot of effort was put in to separate the sin-covered people from the holy presence of God.”
“On the day that I died on the cross, that heavy curtain, 40 cubits high, was torn from top to bottom (Mat 27:51)
. There is no curtain separating us anymore!”
“Now, Mark, listen very carefully. I did not die for the sins of this world… The sins still exist. I died for the people affected by those sins. (Rom 3:23-26);”
“You have to try and live without sinning but, Mark, no person is able to stay sin free (1John 1:10)
. That is why I died. I have paid the price and now sin has no hold on you. You may even have walked on sin, touching it, it does not stick. It simply falls off.”
“Come, My child, because you are cleansed, you may hold on to Me. Sin has no hold on you anymore. You are completely qualified to enter into My presence. Come closer, I love to experience you close to Me.”
“Thank You, Jesus!”
“By the way,” Jesus said as He combed His fingers through Mark’s hair, “You haven’t failed. Your main task is to love Me.”