he tearing of the temple veil by God at the death of His Son announced the beginning of a new era in which God would call Gentiles to Himself apart from the mediation of Israel. Even though the details of this call would not be announced for several years, the stage was now set and the way was now open. For anyone to claim that Israel still had preminence at any time subsequent to that important symbol of separation between God and the nations coming down, well, I don’t know what more obvious sign anyone could ask for.

But what did the tearing of that veil mean to the Jew? It meant that his days of superiority to the Gentile were over. And yet most of Israel, to this very day, are ignorant of the portent of this divine stroke.

Yet there were no doubt priests in Israel, tenders of the sactuary, who witnessed or heard—literally heard—that curtain coming down. By this marvelous sign, they believed, that day, the Jesus was the Messiah.

If there is a more shocking and obvious sign that God’s dealings with Israel and the nations had taken a dramatic turn, I can’t imagine what it might be.