"It is too bad for you hypocritical experts in the law of Moses and [you] Pharisees! For you give a tenth of your mint, dill and cumin [i.e., small garden herbs used for seasoning or fragrance], and [yet] neglect the heavier responsibilities required by the law, [such as] justice, mercy and faith. You should have done these ["lighter"] things and not neglected to do the other ["heavier"] things [as well].

Just then the Temple curtain was torn in two from top to bottom, the ground shook, and rocks were split open.

Then the Temple curtain was torn in two from top to bottom.

"But it is too bad for you Pharisees! For you give a tenth of your mint, rue and every [other] herb [Note: These were small garden plants used for seasoning or medicine] and [yet] neglect [demonstrating] justice and the love of God [toward others]. But you should have done these things and not neglected to do the other things [as well].

It is similar to a seed from the mustard tree, which a man took and planted in his garden. And it grew and became a [large] tree, and the birds of the sky roosted in its branches."

the sun's light failed to shine. Then the Temple curtain became torn down the middle.

You belong to your father the devil, and you are [always] wanting to do what your father desires. He was a murderer from the [very] beginning [Note: This is probably a reference to Satan's influence on Adam, Eve and Cain in the Garden of Eden] and does not stand for the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he only speaks what is part of his nature, because he is a liar and the father of [all] liars.

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, [a hope] that is safe and secure, and one that enters the curtain [i.e., figuratively, of the heavenly sanctuary],

And behind the second curtain [of] the Tabernacle was [a room] called the "Holy of Holies."

by means of a new and living way which He opened for us through the curtain of His physical body,