The Swiss Army Verses: The Rending of the Temple Veil

Today I wanted to begin a two-part series on a couple of New Testament passages which frequently appear in discussions between Catholics and non-Catholics.

These are verses which appear significant, but their implications are not explained in Scripture.  They are seized upon by preachers who say they know the real meaning of the text.  And frequently those interpretations are given in the context of protests against distinctive Catholic beliefs.

I call them .... the "Swiss Army Verses".


The Temple Veil:

The first verse comes from the end of the Passion narratives in Matthew, Mark, and Luke.  Each author records that at the time of Jesus' death, the veil covering the innermost sanctum of the Temple - (a room called the Holy of Holies) - was torn from top to bottom.

Mark's Gospel says:

“And then Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last.  And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.  And when the centurion who stood facing Him saw that He had breathed his last, he said ‘Truly this man was the Son of God.”  - Mark 15:37-39

Again, the Bible itself does not give us an interpretation of that event.  This leaves individuals feeling free to assign a significance of their own imagination.  And for many non-Catholics, it is useful for objecting to Catholic beliefs.

Which beliefs?  Nearly all of them:

• “The temple veil was torn, therefore… we don’t need to confess our sins to a priest.”
• “The temple veil was torn, therefore… we don’t need priests at all.”
• “The temple veil was torn, therefore… we shouldn’t ask for the saints to pray for us.”
• “The temple veil was torn, therefore… the Mass is unnecessary.”

The list goes on and on.  And these interpretations are presented as if they are known facts.  As if they are obvious.

A Catholic Take:

However, this personal interpretation sword cuts both ways.  When someone tries to make a definitive assertion about what the tearing of the temple veil means, you have every right to ask:

“Why do you think your interpretation of that verse is correct?  Scripture never explicitly spells out what the tearing of the temple veil signifies.  I think my interpretation is right.”  

So what else could it mean?  Here are three ideas...


The End of the Old Covenant Sacrifices:

One meaning could be that God was signaling the end to the system of animal sacrifices of the Old Covenant.  No longer was the blood of animals be an acceptable sacrifice to God.  The perfect offering had been made, so the temple was made obsolete.

The New Covenant sacrifice is the once for all sacrifice of Christ, made present to us in the Mass.  As it says in the book of Hebrews:

“The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. 

[Jesus] does away with the first to establish the second.  And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” - Hebrews 10:1-5, 8-10

Indeed, the Temple would be destroyed in the year 70 AD, which definitively brought to an end the sacrifices of the Old Testament.

New Closeness between God and Man:

Only the Jewish High Priest could cross the Temple Veil into the presence of God.  So the tearing of this veil could signify that the sacrifice of Jesus makes possible a new closeness between God and man.  This closeness reaches its fullness in Heaven, which Christ makes available to us.

However, this closeness also takes the form of another way which God dwells with His people on Earth… the Eucharist.  Through the miracle of the Eucharist, all people in God’s Church have the ability to do what only the High Priest could do in the Old Covenant.

Each time you go to Mass or Adoration, you are stepping into the Holy of Holies.  You are enjoying a privilege once held exclusively by the Jewish High Priest.

God Mourns His Son:

The third meaning I like to meditate upon is found in the Jewish practice of expressing distress and mourning by tearing ones garment from top to bottom.  This is referred to frequently in the Bible when a person “rends his garments”:

“The Ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died. That same day a Benjamite ran from the battle line and went to Shiloh with his clothes torn and dust on his head.”  - 1 Samuel 4:11-12

“Then the high priest tore his clothes, and said, ‘What need have we of any further witnesses?’” – Mark 14:63

Now, the temple veil could be understood as the garment that clothes the presence of God in the Temple.  And at the death of His Son, God rent his garment in mourning.  Such was His closeness with His chosen people… that God mourned like a Jew.

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So when you are presented with this verse as a means of protesting the Catholic faith, you don't have to accept the assumptions of your interlocutor.  You can point out that his interpretation is a product of his own imagination and subject to error and biases.  Then you can offer one of these meanings as an alternative.

These alternatives don't prove that his interpretation is wrong.  But they do show that one needn't assume this passage has an anti-Catholic meaning.  Thanks for joining me.