Mark 15:33-34
And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eli, lama sabach-thani?” which means, “My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?”
On Good Friday, the day of Jesus’ crucifixion, at midday from noon until three, darkness covered the land. This darkness was deeply mysterious, profoundly troubling … a darkness that was sensible, that made men tremble.
We come across darkness at the very outset of Holy Scripture: Genesis1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. Darkness and its tumult was vanquished, was overcome at God’s command, “Let there be light.” “God is light and in him there is no darkness at all” (I John 1:5).
Let there be darkness … The Old Testament also speaks of a darkness that is associated with the day of the Lord, a terrible day of thick darkness and gloom, a day of wrath and judgment against sin:
Joel 2:1 Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming, it is near, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness.
Zephaniah 1:14 The great day of the Lord is near, near and hastening fast; the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter, the mighty man cries aloud there. A day of wrath is that day, a day of distress and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness.
Amos 8:9 “And on that day,” says the Lord God, “I will make the sun go down at noon, and darken the earth in broad daylight. I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness on every head; I will make it like the mourning for an only son, and the end of it like a bitter day.
Let there be darkness … On Good Friday the sun goes down at noon and darkens the earth in broad daylight … and a mighty man cries aloud, “Eloi, Eli, lama sabach-thani?” which means, “My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?” Sin has once again plunged the world into darkness. The Day of the Lord, the day of judgment, has descended on the sin of all mankind, and the weight of that sin, that judgment, is borne by one man:
Isaiah 53:6 "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
II Corinthians 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Galatians 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed be every one who hangs on a tree.”
Let there be darkness … In the darkness of Good Friday Jesus the Lamb of God takes away the sin of the world. He who knew no sin was made sin for us. The Light of the world was forsaken in the darkness that covered the whole land. The world seemed once again formless and void, darkness having overcome the light.
And yet … The darkness of Good Friday is not darkness for us. This day of darkness that covered the land is life, and light, and salvation for us in Jesus Christ our Lord.
I Peter 2:24 and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.
Darkness shall not prevail. Light shall overcome the darkness, Life overcome death. For …
John 1:4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. 5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overpower it.
JSH+