Sermon for Sunday April 17, 2011 it was dark for three hours. I believe there might be benefit to us considered just one fact among the large collection of facts about the day that Jesus died. We know that Jesus entered on a Donkey. We know that he spent the last supper with his disciples. We know that he was put on trial first before the Sanhedrin and then before Pilate. We know that he was beaten with sticks and whipped. We know he had a crown of thorns placed on his head and that he was given a purple robe. We know that He was marched through the streets of Jerusalem, and hung upon a cross. And we even know the words he spoke while he was on the cross. What I want us to think about today is the THREE HOURS of darkness. Too long to be a lunar eclipse. It was not even the right time of year for an eclipse. We are talking about a supernatural absence of light for three hours. Some have suggested that perhaps it was a solar flare, or a dense cloud of space matter traveling between the Earth and the Sun. We know it is not beyond God's ability. In the old testament God twice messed with the state of astronomical realities. Once he made the shadow on the steps of the Temple reverse their direction. And before that he had the Sun stand still in the sky until Joshua could finish the battle he had begun. However it happened, it was dark. Dark enough to see stars. I can only imagine the confusion that must have ensued as people went stumbling through the streets looking for their candles, lamps, or torches. In our world, that kind of dark only comes when the power goes out. We go wandering through our houses looking for a flash light that actually has working batteries. This is a very rare thing in my house. What could be the reason for this darkness? This much we know. It marked forever that time as being unique. Never before or since, from the beginning of time till this day, there are only three hours that the entire earth has been completely dark. Those three hours happened to be the last three hours Jesus hung on the cross. When that time was finished several things happen in a very short period of time. 51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split 52 and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53 They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and[e] went into the holy city and appeared to many people. 54 When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!” In a matter of moments, the lights come back on, Jesus cries out, "My God, why have you forsaken me?" He gets offered a sponge of liquid. He cries out and gives up his spirit. The curtain in the temple rips from top to bottom. The earth shakes. And saints who were dead come out of the ground and run into the city. And a Roman guard declares his belief in God. That moment. That moment we are reminded that a mystery so much bigger than us has occurred. We are left wondering what it can all mean. Wouldn't it have been amazing to see this from the perspective of Heaven. God watches as his son hangs on a cross. He envelopes the world in darkness. Perhaps others in Heaven remembered the Plague of Darkness. In Exodus chpt 10 we read...
21 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness spreads over Egypt—darkness that can be felt.” 22 So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and total darkness covered all Egypt for three days. 23 No one could see anyone else or move about for three days. Yet all the Israelites had light in the places where they lived.
That darkness was a curse, and it would seem so was this darkness. It was creation revealing the truth of those hours. They were the darkest hours. We read this in the beginning of the gospel of John. 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[a] it.
Jesus was the light. And he brought light to this dark world. But on this day, for these three hours, he carried upon himself the sins of the world. Romans 5 18 Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
At the end of those three hours - the curtain was torn in two, signifying that mankind was no long condemned to be separated from God. At the end of those three hours Jesus died for our sins.
21 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness spreads over Egypt—darkness that can be felt.” 22 So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and total darkness covered all Egypt for three days. 23 No one could see anyone else or move about for three days. Yet all the Israelites had light in the places where they lived.
That darkness was a curse, and it would seem so was this darkness. It was creation revealing the truth of those hours. They were the darkest hours. We read this in the beginning of the gospel of John. 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[a] it.
Jesus was the light. And he brought light to this dark world. But on this day, for these three hours, he carried upon himself the sins of the world. Romans 5 18 Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
At the end of those three hours - the curtain was torn in two, signifying that mankind was no long condemned to be separated from God. At the end of those three hours Jesus died for our sins.
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