Supernatural Darkness - Evangelical Caucus/Devotional

“Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour” (Matthew 27:45).

The darkness over the land while Jesus bore our sin was an indicator that the cross was a place of divine judgment.

The biblical phenomenon of light was not associated with Christ’s death. Instead, as today’s verse says, “Darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour [3:00 P.M.].”

Scripture says little about that darkness. Ancient historical reports mention an unusual, worldwide darkness that seemed to coincide with the date of Christ’s death. Astronomical records indicate that the sun and moon were too far apart that day for a normal solar eclipse. Therefore, the darkness had to be caused by God’s intervention.

But you may still ask, “Why did God intervene like this when Jesus died?” Again, sources outside Scripture provide a reasonable clue. For many years the Jewish rabbis taught that a darkening of the sun meant judgment from God for an especially heinous sin. Many passages in Scripture make the link between darkness and God’s judgment. Jesus spoke several times of divine judgment in terms of “outer darkness,” where “there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 8:12; 22:13; 25:30).

In sending darkness over the whole earth for three hours, God presents us with an object lesson concerning His attitude on the day Jesus died. The darkness was God’s sign of judgment against mankind for the gross sin of rejecting and murdering His beloved Son. It is also a sign of God’s reaction to sin as a whole. Darkness is a graphic portrayal of the cross as the focal point of God’s wrath, a place of His immense judgment, where sin was poured out on His Son Jesus, our Savior. This twofold object lesson ought to be a constant, fresh reminder to us of how seriously God views sin and how vital it was that the Lord Jesus die on our behalf.

Thank God that He can use aspects of nature to illustrate spiritual truth for our finite minds.

Pray that the Lord will never let you take for granted the awesome seriousness of the events at Calvary.

How does this preview the onlookers’ reaction to seeing darkness at the cross?

Interesting the darkness only lasted three hours.

Prayer For The Light Of The Gospel Of Truth

Heavenly Father, shine the pure light of Your Word of truth into our hearts today and open the eyes of our minds to comprehend the nuggets of truth that are contained within this precious passage of Scripture.

Thank You for Your Word. Your Word is truth and life and health and light. It is nourishment for our souls and refreshment to our spirits, and Lord, we desire to study Your Word through the guidance of Your Holy Spirit, so that we grow in grace and spiritually mature in the faith, as we press on toward the goal of our high calling, striving to win the prize for which God has called us heavenward in Christ Jesus.

As we study Your Word, may Your name be exalted and lifted up, for You alone are worthy of praise and worship for You alone are holy and good, gracious and of great mercy. Open our eyes to see Your truth. Open our ears to hear Your voice. Open our hearts to receive what You have for each one of us, and open our lips to speak only that which glorifies Your name. In Jesus’ name we pray,

Amen.

Source: https://prayer.knowing-jesus.com/prayer/prayer-for-the-light-of-the-gospel-of-truth-967

“Astronomical records indicate that the sun and moon were too far apart that day for a normal solar eclipse.”

A normal solar eclipse also never lasts for 3 hours. (The maximum is 7.5 minutes of total darkness.)

Christ’s birth, death, and second coming are all marked by signs in the heavens.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.