Hank Smith: 00:02 Hello, my friends. Welcome to another followHIM Favorites. My name is Hank Smith. I’m here with the incredible John Bytheway. Welcome, John.

John Bytheway: 00:09 It’s good to be back, Hank.

Hank Smith: 00:10 John, anyone who’s been following followHIM Favorites this year knows that we do one thing. We answer a single question from this week’s lesson. John, the question that comes up this week is from Matthew 27:51. Just after Jesus dies, gives up the ghost, it says, “And the veil of the temple is torn in two from the top to the bottom.” The question is, John, why do you think that happened right after Jesus died?

John Bytheway: 00:39 Yeah. I think that this is all symbolic, and who could go into the temple before this time?

Hank Smith: 00:49 Right. Who could go into the Holy of Holies, what we would call the Celestial Room, one person, one day a year.

John Bytheway: 00:56 Right. Maybe symbolically, now all of us can go, and that’s available to all of us. As the veil was ripped, so Jesus was bruised, broken, torn, rent even, and He is our way to the Father. He’s our Holy of Holies to the Father.

Hank Smith: 01:20 Absolutely. The veil of the temple is a symbol of Christ. I didn’t learn that until I read the book of Hebrews. In Hebrews 10, it says that Christ has made for us a way through the veil, that is to say, is flesh. So the veil of the temple represents the body of Christ, and those who have been endowed have special experiences where we get to approach the veil one at a time and thrust our hand into His side and feel the prints of His hands. It’s a beautiful symbol, and I can see exactly why Matthew brought it up. I like what you said, that the Celestial Room, or the Celestial Kingdom, is now open to everyone. It’s now open to everyone, not just one person, one day a year.

John Bytheway: 02:05 So that wasn’t a bad thing. The veil of the temple was rent. That was actually a wonderful thing. Not just one person on a certain day, but it’s available to all.

Hank Smith: 02:15 Yeah, almost a he did it moment. It’s the grand opening of the Celestial Kingdom. Awesome. We hope you’ll join us on our full podcast. It’s called followHIM. We’re with Dr. Jack Welch this week. We think you’d love what he has to say. So come join us on the podcast, and then come back here next week. We’ll do another followHIM Favorites.