Mark 15: The Curtain Torn from Top to Bottom

Mark reports the crucifixion with almost no commentary. Then, at the moment of death, one detail: the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.

That curtain marked the boundary of the most restricted space in Israel, entered once a year by one man. Its tearing is not described as damage but as opening, and the direction is specified — from the top, which is to say not by human hands.

The first person to confess who he was, in this Gospel, is the Roman officer running the execution.

The barrier came down from God side, and the first one through was an outsider.