Darkness At Noon
In his book "In Debt to Christ," Douglas Webster makes a remarkable observation: “At the birth of the Son of God, there was brightness at midnight; at the death of the Son of God there was darkness at noon."
During Christ's crucifixion, eyewitness accounts indeed report that darkness covered the whole land from noon to 3:00 p.m. (see. Mt. 27:45, Mk. 15:33, and Luke 23:44).
What Jesus accomplished in that darkness is described in several passages throughout the Bible. Here are just a few:
- But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all. (Is. 53:5-6)
- He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross. (1 Pet. 2:24)
- Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! (Jn. 1:29)
- God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Cor. 5:21)
As I think about these scriptures, I am humbled by two things.
First, my sin is not something that God takes lightly.
At its core, sin deceives me into believing and acting as if I should be Master and Commander of my own life. It seduces me to exalt myself above my Creator.
In His truth, God declares sin to be lawlessness—anarchy—that turns us into God's enemies and separates us from Him. It cannot be ignored or swept under the rug. Sin must be punished. To not do so would be an obstruction of justice (Rom. 1:32, Rom. 6:23).
Second, the cross tells me that God's love was willing to meet the demands of His justice.
God could have left me alone to reap the consequences of my wrongdoing and perish in my sin. But He did not. Because of His love and mercy, God came after me by sending His one and only Son. Christ perfectly fulfilled the law’s requirements on my behalf (Mt. 5:17), and then willingly took my punishment.
It's an act of clemency when a president or governor pardons a convicted, death row felon. What would you call it, however, if the ruling official steps down from office, exchanges his expensive suit for the inmate's uniform, takes ownership of the crime, serves the sentence, and through his execution, credits the guilty party with spotless innocence and legal adoption into his very own family?
Believe it or not, that's exactly what happened in the darkness on Good Friday!
Consider Galatians 4:4-5: "But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law [under its demands], so that he could adopt us as his very own children."
How can we ever comprehend it? The cross of Jesus demonstrates God's passion like nothing else! As God in the flesh, Christ willingly poured Himself out—even to the point of self-surrender and self-sacrifice—to bring us back into relationship with Himself.
Throughout eternity, the slaughter of God's final, perfect Passover Lamb on our behalf will be a source of universal wonder and worship. (Rev. 5:12)
As we reflect on these things, may we, like the apostle Paul, come to humbly but confidently proclaim, "I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me." (Gal. 2:20)
A prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for sending your Son to take my place. Thank you for placing my sin and my punishment on Jesus. Thank you for plunging Him into spiritual and physical darkness on the cross in order to bring me into Your light. Help me grasp the significance of it a little more and to receive it afresh by faith.
Illustration by Lydia Tarleton
