Jesus was in darkness for three hours

JESUS WAS IN DARKNESS FOR THREE HOURS
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
“Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all
the land until the ninth hour.” Matthew 27:45.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
Prodigy Rebuking Levity
Matthew 27:45-54
J.A. Macdonald Levity had diabolical revelry while the blessed Lord Jesus meekly suffered
injustice the most outrageous, and cruelty the most refined. At its height it was rebuked -
I. BY A HORROR OF DARKNESS.
1. This was preternatural.
(1) It was not the result of an ordinary eclipse of the sun. The Passover was celebrated at full
moon, when such an event could not have taken place. A solar eclipse never continues beyond a
quarter of an hour. This darkness continued three hours.
(2) It may have been produced by the intervention of dense clouds. Such an intervention would
have been unusual in Judaea in the spring of the year during the brightest hours of the day. But
whatever may have been the secondary causes, they were commissioned by the same Providence
that sent the plague of darkness upon the Egyptians (cf. Exodus 10:21-23).
(3) It was no chance that so intimately connected this darkness with the event of the Crucifixion.
It was "over all the land," viz. of Judea, where Christ suffered, and prevailed during the latter
three hours of his suffering. It terminated also with the termination of those sufferings. To
explain such coincidences as purely accidental is but to substitute a miracle of chance for a
miracle of Providence. What is gained?
2. It was portentous.
(1) It expressed the moral anguish of spirit which Jesus then endured for us. For in those three
dreadful hours he was enduring the punishment of our offences. This experience of Divine anger
drew from him the pathetic exclamation, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?"

(2) It expressed the present triumph of the powers of darkness over the Sun of Righteousness (cf.
Genesis 3:15 Luke 22:53). An extraordinary illumination heralded the birth of Christ, an
extraordinary darkness signalized his death.
(3) It indicated the spiritual darkness of the Jewish people, who obstinately closed their eyes
upon the Light of the world, and filled up the measure of their iniquity by crucifying the Just
One. It presaged also the desolation which in consequence they were destined to suffer.
(4) It expressed a mourning spread over nature for the horrible crime then perpetrated by men.
This sentiment is put into the mouth of Dionysius the Areopagite, who, witnessing a wonderful
eclipse of the sun at Heliopolis, in Egypt, said to his friend Apollophanes, "Either God himself
suffers or sympathizes with the sufferer."
II. BY THE RENDING OF THE TEMPLE'S VEIL.
1. This also was preternatural.
(1) The matter of fact cannot be disputed. For it occurred at the time of the evening sacrifice,
while the priest was offering incense in the holy place, and on the occasion of a great festival
when the people in vast numbers were praying without. The testimony of Matthew might
therefore have been readily contradicted had it not been true. It is too late in the day to attempt to
contradict it now.
(2) We are not informed how the wonder was effected, whether by lightning or by invisible
hands; but the veil was thick and strong, and could not have been "rent from the top to the
bottom" by any ordinary force. God can work his miracles immediately or by secondary causes.
(3) That this was a Divine thing is evident from its coincidence with the moment of the
Redeemer's yielding up his spirit. To say this was a mere accident is but to make the miracle of
chance all the more stupendous.
2. This too was portentous.
(1) Paul teaches us to regard the rending of the veil of the temple as emblematical of the rending
of the body of our Lord, the sacrificial efficacy of which opened to the guilty the way of access
to God, and opened to all who believe, the way into his glorious presence in the future life.
(2) It intimated also the abolition of the Jewish ceremonial Law, which, by its interposition of
imperfect and mystic rites, had obstructed free and direct approach to God.
(3) It signified the revealing and unfolding of the mysteries of the Old Testament, so as to make
the face of Moses to shine in the radiance of the gospel. In Christ we discover the true
Propitiatory, or Mercy seat. He is that Ark of the covenant who contains in his heart the
unbroken tables of the Law. He is that precious golden pot of incorruptible Manna, the very
Bread of life from heaven.
III. BY THE PORTENTS FROM THE EARTH.
1. The earthquake.
(1) Travellers have observed marks of extraordinary convulsions in these rocks. The fissures lie
across the natural cleavage. Though earthquakes are produced by natural causes, yet are they
under the control and direction of Providence.
(2) This earthquake attested God's approbation of the Sufferer, as it expressed also his anger
against his persecutors (cf. Amos 8:8; Nahum 1:6). So as the rending of the veil intimated the

removal and abolition of the Jewish Church, this rending of the rocks imported the ruin that was
coming upon the nation.
(3) The phenomenon occurring at that critical moment when Jesus dismissed his spirit,
significantly evinced that the dreadful act of rejecting and crucifying the Christ provoked the
desolation.
(4) It may also be taken as a token and earnest of that mighty convulsion of nature which will
attend Christ's coming to the judgment (cf. Hebrews 12:26).
2. The opening of the tombs.
(1) This showed that the power of death and the grave was vanquished by the death and
resurrection of Christ. When our Lord gave up the ghost it was not life but death itself that died.
This was the great death out of which life was educed. He triumphed over death in the "place of
a skull" - where the trophies of death lay around. His Divinity was proved, for he imparted life to
the bodies of the sleeping saints (see John 5:25).
(2) "This opening of the graves was designed both to adorn the resurrection of Christ, and to give
a specimen of our resurrection, which also is in virtue of his" (Flavel).
(3) It was a strong confirmation of the resurrection of Christ. For those who came forth from the
tombs after his resurrection "appeared to many" to whom our Lord himself did not appear.
Returning with Jesus to heaven, they were also pledges to angels and spirits of men of the
general resurrection to come. See now -
IV. THE EFFECT UPON THE SPECTATORS.
1. Upon the Jews.
(1) The horror of darkness interrupted their raillery. It struck them with terror. Guilt trembles in
darkness. It did not change their hearts.
(2) Until near the close of this period of horror, Jesus suffered silently in the sorrowfulness of his
soul for the sin of the world, and distressed with the awful loneliness of being forsaken of his
God. This was the worst part of his sufferings, and extorted from him that loud pathetic cry. This
roused again the courage of his revilers to say, "This Man calleth Elijah." They misunderstood
him, as carnal men do evermore, substituting trust in the human for trust in the Divine.
(3) Jesus then said, "I thirst" (see John 19:28). This moved one standing by to fix a sponge
soaked in vinegar on a hyssop stalk, and put it to his mouth, but the kindness was interrupted by
others who, in the same obdurate spirit, said, "Let be; let us see whether Elijah cometh to save
him." The heart is desperately wicked.
(4) The prodigies which followed made them "smite their breasts" (see Luke 23:48). The wicked
will wail amid the convulsions of the last day (cf. Isaiah 2:19-21; Revelation 1:7).
2. Upon the soldiers.
(1) They had reviled him before (see Luke 23:36), but now they "fear exceedingly," and the
centurion in particular is thoughtfully affected, for he makes a true confession.
(2) In his reflections he thought upon the manner of the death of Christ (see Mark 15:39), for his
death was evidently a voluntary act.

(a) Luke tells us that the last utterance was, "Father, unto thy hands I commend my spirit." This
he uttered with a loud or great voice. Then immediately he "yielded up his spirit." His strength
was unbroken. He died as the Prince of life.
(b) The circumstance of his expiring sooner than was usual with crucified persons (see Mark
15:44), as well as the loudness of his voice in the very act of his dying, showed the voluntariness
of his death (see John 10:17, 18).
(c) Our Lord is nowhere said to have fallen asleep (cf. ver. 52), but always to have died.
"Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Jacob, breathed their last; Ananias, Sapphira, Herod, expired; Jesus
gave up the ghost, dismissed or delivered up his own spirit" (A. Clarke). In the manner of his
death, then, behold the manner of his love.
(d) Christ's loud voice was like the trumpet blown over the sacrifices.
3. Upon the women.
(1) They followed him in love. They had ministered to him. They seem now to have been the
only disciples, excepting John, present at the Crucifixion. They were "afar off." This expression
may only intimate that they had come from far, even from Galilee. For the mother of Jesus stood
by the cross with John, and Mary of Magdala and others also were near. Yet when Christ
suffered, his friends were but spectators. Even angels stood aloof when he trod the winepress
alone.
(2) Their faith and love were strengthened. All that the centurion saw they also saw, and with
wider and deeper conviction. - J.A.M.
Biblical Illustrator
There was darkness over all the land.
Matthew 27:45
Good Friday and its lessons
Dean Stanley.A dark shadow belongs to the best of things.
I. The first lesson is patience and perseverance. We must be patient with others if they stumble in
the darkness, if they do not at once find their way towards the truth.
II. The darkness of Good Friday is a likeness of the opposition which each one of us ought to be,
and will be, called upon to face, in doing his duty.
III. The darkness of the dismal tragedy of the crucifixion reminds us of the consoling truth that
failures are not perpetual failures. Good Friday was outwardly a failure; the Easter morn was its
complete success.

(Dean Stanley.)
A sermon suggested by an eclipse of the sun
W. Urwick, D. D.The infidel has attempted to impugn its credibility. He has urged: "Why we do
not read of it in profane history?"
1. That, according to the evangelical history, the darkness may not have extended beyond the
limits of Judea. If this be true it would not be observed in Greece, Italy, or any other country
beyond Judea.
2. The historical accounts of that period, especially of matters then occurring in Judea, are, if we
except those of the New Testament, very scanty indeed.
3. The policy of both Jews and Gentiles who were opposed to Christianity, was to suppress facts
that might tend to record it.
4. It is assuming what cannot be proved when it is said that this event is not named by other than
Christian writers. Most of the works of that time have perished; and , in his apology for the
Christian religion, addressed to the magistates of the empire and to the Senate of Rome, appeals
as having this miraculous darkness preserved in their archives.
I. THIS DARKNESS AS INDICATING THE AGENCY WHICH THEN PREDOMINATED.
Sin was then prevailing over holiness.
II. This darkness as indicating THE CRIME WHICH WAS THEN PERPETRATED.
III. This darkness as indicating THE SUFFERINGS WHICH WERE THEN ENDURED.
IV. This darkness as indicating THE EVILS WHICH WERE THEN REMOVED.
V. This darkness as indicating THE JUDGMENTS THAT WERE THEN INCURRED.
(W. Urwick, D. D.)
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(45) From the sixth hour.—The first three Gospels
agree as to time and fact. Assuming them to follow the usual Jewish reckoning (as in Acts 2:15;
Acts 3:1; Acts 10:3; Acts 10:9) this would be noon, the fixing to the cross having been at the
third hour, 9 A.M. (Mark 15:25), and the darkness lasting till 3 P.M. St. John names the “sixth
hour” as the time of our Lord’s final condemnation by Pilate, following apparently (see Note
there and on John 4:6) the Roman or modern mode of reckoning from midnight to noon. Looking
to the facts of the case, it is probable that our Lord was taken to the high priest’s palace about 3
A.M. (the “cock-crow” of Mark 13:35). Then came the first hearing before Annas (John 18:13),
then the trial before Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin, then the formal meeting that passed the
sentence. This would fill up the time probably till 6 A.M., and three hours may be allowed for
the trials before Pilate and Herod. After the trial was over there would naturally be an interval for
the soldiers to take their early meal, and then the slow procession to Golgotha, delayed, we may

well believe, by our Lord’s falling, once or oftener, beneath the burden of the cross, and so we
come to 9 A.M. for His arrival at the place of crucifixion.
Darkness over all the land.—Better so than the “earth” of the Authorised version of Luke 23:44.
The degree and nature of the darkness are not defined. The moon was at its full, and therefore
there could be no eclipse. St. John does not name it, nor is it recorded by Josephus, Tacitus, or
any contemporary writer. On the other hand, its appearance in records in many respects so
independent of each other as those of the three Gospels places it, even as the common grounds of
historical probability, on a sufficiently firm basis, and early Christian writers, such as Tertullian
(Apol. c. 21) and Origen (100 Cels. ii. 33), appeal to it as attested by heathen writers. The
narrative does not necessarily involve more than the indescribable yet most oppressive gloom
which seems to shroud the whole sky as in mourning (comp. Amos 8:9-10), and which being a
not uncommon phenomenon of earthquakes, may have been connected with that described in
Matthew 27:51. It is an indirect confirmation of the statement that about this time there is an
obvious change in the conduct of the crowd. There is a pause and lull. The gibes and taunts
cease, and the life of the Crucified One ends in a silence broken only by His own bitter cry.
Benson CommentaryHYPERLINK "/matthew/27-45.htm"Matthew 27:45. Now from the sixth
hour until the ninth hour — From mid-day till three in the afternoon with us, (see note on
Matthew 20:1,) there was darkness over all the land — Or, over all the earth, as the original
expression, επι πασαν την γην, is more literally rendered in the Vulgate, and understood by many
learned men; “the sun being darkened,” says Grotius, “as Luke informs us, not by the
interposition of the moon, which was then full, nor by a cloud spread over the face of the sky, but
in some way unknown to mankind.” It is true, the same expression sometimes evidently signifies
only all the land, as Luke 4:25, where it is so translated. It seems, however, highly probable, if
the darkness did not extend to the whole earth, or, to speak more properly, to the whole
hemisphere, (it being night in the opposite one,) it extended to all the neighbouring countries.
“This extraordinary alteration in the face of nature was peculiarly proper,” says Dr. Macknight,
“while the Sun of righteousness was withdrawing his beams from the land of Israel, and from the
world, not only because it was a miraculous testimony borne by God himself to his innocence,
but also because it was a fit emblem of his departure, and its effects, at least till his light shone
out anew with additional splendour, in the ministry of the apostles. The darkness which now
covered Judea, together with the neighbouring countries, beginning about noon and continuing
till Jesus expired, was not the effect of an ordinary eclipse of the sun; for that can never happen
except when the moon is about the change, whereas now it was full moon; not to mention that
total darknesses occasioned by eclipses of the sun never continue above twelve or fifteen
minutes. Wherefore it must have been produced by the divine power, in a manner we are not able
to explain.” The Christian writers, in their most ancient apologies to the heathen, while they
affirm that, as it was full moon at the passover, when Christ was crucified, no such eclipse could
happen by the course of nature; “they observe, also, that it was taken notice of as a prodigy by
the heathen themselves. To this purpose, we have still remaining the words of Phlegon, the
astronomer and freedman of Adrian, cited by Origen, (Contra Cels., p. 83,) at a time when his
book was in the hands of the public. That heathen author, in treating of the fourth year of the
202d Olympiad, which is supposed to be the year in which our Lord was crucified, tells us, ‘That
the greatest eclipse of the sun which was ever known happened then; for the day was so turned
into night, that the stars in the heavens were seen.’ If Phlegon, as Christians generally suppose, is
speaking of the darkness which accompanied our Lord’s crucifixion, it was not circumscribed
within the land of Judea, but must have been universal. This many learned men have believed,

particularly Huet, Grotius, Gusset, Reland, and Alphen.” Tertullian (Apol., cap. 21.) says that
this prodigious darkening of the sun was recorded in the Roman archives; for, says he, “at the
same moment, about noontide, the day was withdrawn; and they, who knew not that this was
foretold concerning Christ, thought it was an eclipse.” — And Eusebius, in his Chronicle, at the
eighteenth year of Tiberius, says, “Christ suffered this year, in which time we find in other
commentaries of the heathen, these words: ‘There was a defection of the sun: Bithynia was
shaken with an earthquake; and many houses fell down in the city of Nice.’” And then he
proceeds to the testimony of Phlegon. See Whitby.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary27:45-50 During the three hours which the darkness
continued, Jesus was in agony, wrestling with the powers of darkness, and suffering his Father's
displeasure against the sin of man, for which he was now making his soul an offering. Never
were there three such hours since the day God created man upon the earth, never such a dark and
awful scene; it was the turning point of that great affair, man's redemption and salvation. Jesus
uttered a complaint from Ps 22:1. Hereby he teaches of what use the word of God is to direct us
in prayer, and recommends the use of Scripture expressions in prayer. The believer may have
tasted some drops of bitterness, but he can only form a very feeble idea of the greatness of
Christ's sufferings. Yet, hence he learns something of the Saviour's love to sinners; hence he gets
deeper conviction of the vileness and evil of sin, and of what he owes to Christ, who delivers him
from the wrath to come. His enemies wickedly ridiculed his complaint. Many of the reproaches
cast upon the word of God and the people of God, arise, as here, from gross mistakes. Christ, just
before he expired, spake in his full strength, to show that his life was not forced from him, but
was freely delivered into his Father's hands. He had strength to bid defiance to the powers of
death: and to show that by the eternal Spirit he offered himself, being the Priest as well as the
Sacrifice, he cried with a loud voice. Then he yielded up the ghost. The Son of God upon the
cross, did die by the violence of the pain he was put to. His soul was separated from his body,
and so his body was left really and truly dead. It was certain that Christ did die, for it was needful
that he should die. He had undertaken to make himself an offering for sin, and he did it when he
willingly gave up his life.
Barnes' Notes on the BibleNow from the sixth hour - That is, from our twelve o'clock. The Jews
divided their day into twelve hours, beginning to count at sunrise.
There was darkness - This could not have been an eclipse of the sun, for the Passover was
celebrated at the time of the full moon, when the moon is opposite to the sun. Luke says Luke
23:45 that "the sun was darkened," but it was not by an eclipse. The only cause of this was the
interposing power of God - furnishing testimony to the dignity of the sufferer, and causing the
elements to sympathize with the pains of his dying Son. It was also especially proper to furnish
this testimony when the "Sun of righteousness" was withdrawing his beams for a time, and the
Redeemer of men was expiring. A thick darkness, shutting out the light of day, and clothing
every object with the gloom of midnight, was the appropriate drapery with which the world
should be clad when the Son of God expired. This darkness was noticed by one at least of the
pagan writers. Phlegon, a Roman astronomer, speaking of the 14th year of the reign of Tiberius,
which is supposed to be that in which our Saviour died, says "that the greatest eclipse of the sun
that was ever known happened then, for the day was so turned into night that the stars appeared."
Over all the land - That is, probably, over the whole land of Judea, and perhaps some of the
adjacent countries. The extent of the darkness is not known.

The ninth hour - Until about three o'clock in the afternoon, at which time the Saviour is supposed
to have died.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible CommentaryMt 27:34-50. Crucifixion and Death of the Lord
Jesus. ( = Mr 15:25-37; Lu 23:33-46; Joh 19:18-30).
For the exposition, see on [1375]Joh 19:18-30.
Matthew Poole's CommentarySee Poole on "Matthew 27:50".
Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleNow from the sixth hour,.... Which was twelve o'clock at
noon,
there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour; till three o'clock in the afternoon, the
time the Jews call "between the two evenings"; and which they say (c) is "from the sixth hour,
and onwards". Luke says, the sun was darkened, Luke 23:45. This darkness was a preternatural
eclipse of the sun; for it was at the time when the moon was in the full, as appears from its being
at the time of the passover; which was on the fourteenth day of the month Nisan, the Jews
beginning their months from the new moon: and moreover, it was over all the land, or earth, as
the word may be rendered; and the Ethiopic version renders it, "the whole world was dark"; at
least it reached to the whole Roman empire, or the greatest part of it; though some think only the
land of Judea, or Palestine, is intended: but it is evident, that it is taken notice of, and recorded by
Heathen historians and chronologers, as by Phlegon, and others, referred to by Eusebius (d). The
Roman archives are appealed unto for the truth of it by Tertullian (e); and it is asserted by
Suidas, that Dionysius the Areopagite, then an Heathen, saw it in Egypt; and said,
"either the, divine being suffers, or suffers with him that suffers, or the frame of the world is
dissolving.
Add to this the continuance of it, that it lasted three hours; whereas a natural eclipse of the sun is
but of a short duration; see Amos 8:9. The Jews (g) have a notion, that in the times of the
Messiah
"the sun shall be darkened, , "in the middle of the day", (as this was,) as that day was darkened
when the sanctuary was destroyed.
Yea, they speak (h) of a darkness that shall continue a long time: their words are these:
"the king Messiah shall be made known in all the world, and all the kings shall be stirred up to
join together to make war with him; and many of the profligate Jews shall be turned to them, and
shall go with them, to make war against the king Messiah; so , "all the world shall be darkened"
fifteen days, and many of the people of Israel shall die in that darkness.
This darkness that was over the earth at the time of Christ's sufferings, was, no doubt, an addition
to them; the sun, as it were, hiding its face, and refusing to afford its comforting light and heat to
him; and yet might be in detestation of the heinousness of the sin the Jews were committing, and
as expressive of the divine anger and resentment; for God's purposes and decrees, and the end he
had in view, did not excuse, nor extenuate their wickedness; as it shows also their wretched
stupidity, not to be awakened and convinced by the amazing darkness, with other things
attending it, which made no impression on them; though it did on the Roman centurion, who
concluded Christ must be the Son of God. It was an emblem of the judicial blindness and
darkness of the Jewish nation; and signified, that now was the hour and power of darkness, or the
time for the prince of darkness, with his principalities and powers, to exert himself; and was a

representation of that darkness that was now on the soul of Christ, expressed in the following
verse; as well as of the eclipse of him, the sun of righteousness, of the glory of his person, both
by his incarnation, and by his sufferings,
(c) T. Hieros Pesachim, fol. 31. 3.((d) In Chronicis. (e) Apolog. c. 21. (g) Zohar in Exod. fol. 4.
1.((h) Ib. fol. 3, 4.
Geneva Study Bible{12} Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the
ninth hour.
(12) Heaven itself is darkened for very horror, and Jesus cries out from the depth of hell, and all
during this time he is being mocked.
EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Meyer's NT CommentaryHYPERLINK "/matthew/27-45.htm"Matthew 27:45 Ἀπὸ δὲ ἕκτης
ὥρας] counting from the third (nine o’clock in the morning), the hour at which He had been
nailed to the cross, Mark 15:25. Respecting the difficulty of reconciling the statements of
Matthew and Mark as to the hour in question with what is mentioned by John at Matthew 19:14,
and the preference that must necessarily be given to the latter, see on John, John 19:14.
σκότος] An ordinary eclipse of the sun was not possible during full moon (Origen); for which
reason the eclipse of the 202d Olympiad, recorded by Phlegon in Syncellus, Chronogr. I. p. 614,
ed. Bonn, and already referred to by Eusebius, is equally out of the question (Wieseler, chronol.
Synops. p. 387 f.). But as little must we suppose that the reference is to that darkness in the air
which precedes an ordinary earthquake (Paulus, Kuinoel, de Wette, Schleiermacher, L. J. p. 448,
Weisse), for it is not an earthquake in the ordinary sense that is described in Matthew 27:51 ff.;
in fact, Mark and Luke, though recording the darkness and the rending of the veil, say nothing
about the earthquake. The darkness upon this occasion was of an unusual, a supernatural
character, being as it were the voice of God making itself heard through nature, the gloom over
which made it appear as though the whole earth were bewailing the ignominious death which the
Son of God was dying. The prodigies, to all appearance similar, that are alleged to have
accompanied the death of certain heroes of antiquity (see Wetstein), and those solar obscurations
alluded to in Rabbinical literature, were different in kind from that now before us (ordinary
eclipses of the sun, such as that which took place after the death of Caesar, Serv. ad. Virg. G. I.
466), and, even apart from this, would not justify us in relegating what is matter of history,
John’s omission of it notwithstanding, to the region of myth (in opposition to Strauss, Keim,
Scholten), especially when we consider that the death in this instance was not that of a mere
human hero, that there were those still living who could corroborate the evangelic narrative, and
that the darkness here in question was associated with the extremely peculiar σημεῖον of the
rending of the veil of the temple.
ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν] Keeping in view the supernatural character of the event as well as the usage
elsewhere with regard to the somewhat indefinite phraseology πᾶσα or ὅλη ἡ γῆ (Luke 21:35;
Luke 23:44; Romans 4:17; Romans 10:18; Revelation 13:3), it is clear that the only rendering in
keeping with the tone of the narrative is: over the whole earth (κοσμικὸν δὲ ἦν τὸ σκότος, οὐ
μερικόν, Theophylact, comp. Chrysostom, Euthymius Zigabenus), not merely: over the whole
land (Origen, Erasmus, Luther, Maldonatus, Kuinoel, Paulus, Olshausen, Ebrard, Lange,
Steinmeyer) though at the same time we are not called upon to construe the words in accordance

with the laws of physical geography; they are simply to be regarded as expressing the popular
idea of the matter.
Expositor's Greek TestamentHYPERLINK "/context/matthew/27-45.htm"Matthew 27:45-49.
Darkness without and within (Mark 15:33-36, Luke 23:44-46).
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges45. from the sixth hour … unto the ninth hour] From
12 to 3 o’clock in the afternoon, the hours of the Paschal sacrifice.
there was darkness over all the land] Not the darkness of an eclipse, for it was the time of the
Paschal full moon, but a miraculous darkness symbolic of that solemn hour and veiling the
agonies of the Son of Man, when human soul and body alike were enduring the extremity of
anguish and suffering for sin.
Bengel's GnomenHYPERLINK "/matthew/27-45.htm"Matthew 27:45. Πᾶσαν, all) The whole of
our planet is meant; for the sun itself was darkened.[1199]—ἕως ὥρας ἐννάτης, until the ninth
hour) A three hours full of mystery. Psalms 8, in the third verse of which the omission of
mention of the sun agrees with the darkness here spoken of, may be aptly compared with this
period of dereliction and darkness.
[1199] There are some who think that this was the same Eclipse as that which was noted by
Phlegon [Trallianus] and others of the ancients, or even as that one, the traces of which are now
found among the [traditions of the] Chinese. Whatever degree of plausibility there may be in
this, they are convicted of error by far stronger arguments, since, in fact, they must thus thrust
forward the passion of Christ beyond the thirtieth year of the Dionys. era.—Harm., p. 571.
Pulpit CommentaryVerses 45-50. - Supernatural darkness. Last words, and death of Jesus. (Mark
15:33-37; Luke 23:44-46; John 19:28-30.) Verse 45. - The sixth hour; i.e. noon. Christ was
crucified about 9 o'clock a.m., the hour of the morning sacrifice; he had therefore by this time
been hanging three hours on the cross. His agonies, his sufferings mental and spiritual, were at
their height. There was darkness over all the land (ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν). The historical accuracy of
this darkness there is no more reason to doubt than there is to doubt the death of Christ itself:
The great fact and its details stand on the same basis. How the phenomenon was produced we
know not. That it could not be an ordinary eclipse is certain, as the moon was then full, it being
the Paschal time, and the darkness thus produced would have lasted but a few minutes. Nor had
it any connection with the subsequent earthquake (ver. 51), as some unscientific exegetes have
supposed. On such occasions a thickness of the atmosphere has been noticed, but such an
occurrence could never have been described in the words used by the synoptists; and. the
earthquake itself was no ordinary event, and took place in no ordinary manner. We cannot doubt
that the darkness was supernatural, conveying a solemn lesson to all who beheld it. When we
consider what was being done on Calvary, who it was that was dying there, what was the object
of his Passion, what was the infinite and unspeakable effect of the sacrifice there offered, is it
wonderful that the Divine Architect controlled Nature to sympathize with her Creator, that as a
supernatural effulgence heralded the Saviour's birth, a supernatural darkness should shroud his
death? We are in the region of the Divine. What we have learned to regard as natural laws (but
which really are only our formulary for expressing our experience of past uniformity) were
superseded for the time by the interference of the Lawgiver; he used the material to enforce the
spiritual being the Lord of both. Whether the darkness extended beyond Judaea unto all that part
of the earth which was then illumined by the light of the sun, we cannot tell. Some of the Fathers

refer to it as if it was universal. A supposed allusion was made by Phlegon, a writer of the second
century, whose work, called 'Annals of the Olympiads,' is not extant, but is quoted by Julius
Africanus and Eusebius (see Wordsworth, in loc.); but it seems certain that Phlegon is speaking
of an astronomical eclipse which occurred in the ordinary course of nature. Tertullian states that
a notice of this darkness was to be found in the archives of Rome ('Apol.,' 21.); but we have no
further information on this point. There are some other uncertain references, as that of Dionysius
the Areopagite, who is related to have said on the sudden obscuration, "Either the God of nature
is suffering, or the machinery of the world is being dissolved;" but none of these will stand the
test of criticism; and perhaps it is safer to determine that Gentile notices of the phenomenon are
not forthcoming, because the darkness was confined to Palestine. It had, doubtless, a doctrinal
and typical significance. Chrysostom considers it a token of God's anger at the crime of the Jews
in crucifying Jesus; others see in it an emblem of the withdrawal of the light of God's presence
from this wicked land. It was, in Iced, to all who would receive it, a sign of some awful event in
the spiritual world of unspeakable consequence to the children of men. The ninth hour. Three
o'clock p.m., about the time of the evening sacrifice.
END OF BIBLEHUB
Matthew 27:45 the Darkest Day in History
There were a series of miracles that took place at Calvary when Jesus was crucified. All of them
were in direct connection with His death.
Nature was in sympathy with the crucifixion of the Son of God.
The miraculous darkness that surrounded the cross illustrates the depth of His suffering of soul
as He felt Himself regarded as sin though sinless (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus was bearing the sin
of the world. He was the sinless substitute dying in the place of sinners.
In that moment when the Father regarded Him as sin, He experienced the anguish of the deepest
suffering. The Son of Man did not cease to be the Son of God.
In the Temple at Jerusalem, darkness filled the Holy of Holies symbolizing the dwelling place of
Jehovah. On the mercy seat God's mercy met man's sin and God judged it there. Once a year on
the Day of Atonement the High Priest slipped behind the thick veil and sprinkled blood on the
mercy seat to make atonement for sin.
THE SCENE
Matthew, Mark and Luke tell us that a sudden, strange mysterious darkness fell over the scene at
Calvary. It was darkness at noontime, a darkness in the presence of the sun while the sun was
brightly shinning. Under normal conditions it is the light that is antagonistic to darkness. We
don't click on darkness to extinguish the light, but light to extinguish the darkness. However, the
darkness at noonday at Calvary smothered the sun at high noon! No wonder God caused the
earth to tremble.

The great darkness the day Jesus died extended far beyond Jerusalem. It was as if the sun could
no longer look upon the terrible effects of the depravity of sin.
Not an eclipse
This mysterious darkness continued for three hours and could not have been the result of an
eclipse of the sun. The time of the year was the Passover, which was always observed at the time
of the full moon when an eclipse of the sun was impossible. The brightness of the sun would
have been most powerful at noon time. A strange supernatural darkness settled down over the
world obscuring the sun so it would no longer be seen 12 noon until 3 p.m.
No simple phenomenon
There are instances in history when darkness sometimes precedes earthquakes when a smoky
haze obscures the sun and gives the impression of the close of day. But what happened at
Calvary was not a simple phenomenon. Nothing in this passage indicates a sand storm.
Matthew simply says the sun failed without indicating the cause. "Now from the sixth hour
darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour" (27:45). Mark and Luke write, "darkness fell
over the whole land" (Lk. 23:44; Mk. 15:33). It was a sudden and great darkness. All at once,
suddenly, unexpectedly the whole scene at Calvary shut down and a death silence covered the
land, and the miraculous darkness appeared to have vanished as quickly three hours later just
before Christ died.
There is independent historical evidence of this miraculous event. The second century Christian
leader Tertullian responds to an atheist saying, "At the moment of Christ's death, the light
departed from the sun, and the land was darkened at noonday, which wonder is related in your
own annals and is preserved in your archives to this day."
Extensive darkness
How extensive was this darkness? How much of the earth did it cover? Did it cover the whole of
the daylight half of the earth or just the land of Judea? We are not told in this passage. But it was
extensive and compelling enough to grab the attention of the people of Israel for three hours.
"All the land" can refer to "all the earth" or to "the whole country" as land of Israel. I think
Matthew would have us think this was an enormous event that cast darkness over the entire
creation. It was a cosmic event.
Penetrating darkness
The darkness had a concentration of force, like that of the three days' darkness in Egypt, while at
the same time there was light in Goshen where the Israelite slaves lived. Moses tells us the
darkness extended over all the land. "Then the LORD said to Moses, 'Stretch out your hand
toward the sky, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even a darkness which may be
felt'" (Exodus 10:21).
In Egypt there was a "thick darkness" that lasted for three days (v. 22). It was so dense "they did
not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, but all the sons of Israel
had light in their dwellings" (v. 23). It was miraculous. The hand of God cut off the light of the
sun for three days. God did it.
The Egyptian's chief god was RA representing the sun and Isis was their moon goddess. They
were supposed to control the light. The god the Egyptians worshipped was obscure. Egyptians
had darkness which they could not light up. Israel had a light which they could not put out!

How deep was the darkness at Calvary? We are simply told only there was "darkness." You are
made to feel the sudden hush over the scene. It was not twilight. This was penetrating, thick
frightening darkness.
Supernatural darkness
The whole country was covered with darkness. Matthew probably sees the darkness as a
fulfillment of Amos 8:9, "The time is coming when I will make the sun go down at noon and the
earth grow dark in daytime" (TEV).
The only way to try to explain this "darkness" over the land when Christ died is to accept the fact
that it was supernatural. God did it and He simply did not tell us how He did it. There was a
visible suspension of the order of nature. The Creator stepped into His creation and caused
"darkness" to suddenly cover the land. It was a supernatural manifestation in nature. God did it!
Nature was in sympathy with its Maker during those horrible three hours of suffering.
The darkness was supernatural. The timing was perfect as it lead up to the moment when the Son
of God breathed His last breath and gave up His spirit.
It takes far more faith to say it didn't happen than to accept the historical evidence that it did.
Nothing in creation could have produced the darkness of these dimensions. The Creator
intervened and caused a hush over the land of Palestine.
It was a silent, sudden somber darkness like a thick heavy curtain. The LORD God got
everyone's attention that afternoon.
THE SILENCE
All was silent at Calvary during those three hours of thick darkness. The deathly silence must
have created a feeling of trepidation, consternation and horror.
There are some things that go beyond description. Some things are so holy that they are beyond
observation. During that incredible silence, Jesus suffered extreme anguish of spirit. It is as if
God drew the curtain across His Holy of Holies so no outsider could see or hear within. The
increasing wrath of God grew more and more intense with every moment until the silence was
broken by the Son of God. It was the desolate isolation and loneliness of God forsakenness.
No more blasphemy. No more scuffing. No gambling. No cursing. No insults. No taunts by the
criminals and crowds.
It was just a deathly silence.
The suspense must have grown as it reached a terrifying climax at the end of the three hours of
darkness. The professional Roman executioner experienced what was happening and "feared
greatly" and the people smote their breasts as they left the scene at the end of the darkness.
The depth of supernatural darkness grew in intensity as the spiritual suffering of Christ wore on.
The desolation of suffering reached its lowest point when Jesus was "made to be sin" in stead of
the sinner. The horror of suffering the wrath of God against the sinner reached its climax when
Jesus cried out: "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"
No wonder God hid His Son's suffering from profane eyes of depraved sinners.
Our pardon, peace, and forgiveness has been secured through the death of Christ on the cross.
God spoke at Calvary in that awful silence. He was saying, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes
away the sin of the world."

God spoke in that terrible silence saying, "The wages of sin is death."
In that terrible silent darkness, God was laying on Jesus the iniquities of us all. "Smitten of God"
is what that silence was saying. What could not be uttered in words God was declaring in silence.
In profound silence Jesus was enduring the Father's wrath against our sin. God the Father drew
the thick veil of darkness around the most profound impenetrable secret of the Holy of Holies of
God.
THE SUFFERING
The spiritual suffering of Jesus was so intense and terrible that God hid it from the eyes of sinful
people. God in that darkness hid men's eyes from His holy sacrifice. The cries uttered by Jesus at
the completion of the sacrifice declare the unfathomable woe, the desolation and wrath of a holy
God against sin. Such suffering is humanly inconceivable.
The darkness symbolized God forsakenness. Jesus cried the awful commentary on that event
when He shouted, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani." These awful words of anguish have echoed
throughout eternity. They thunder down the centuries of time in the awful stillness of the
darkness.
This is a mystery beyond our human ability to understand. "The wages of sin is death." The
wrath of God was exhausting itself out on the Divine Suffering Substitute.
"My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" These words penetrate far beyond the mere
physical pain of suffering.
Jesus was quoting Psalm 22 in His spiritual suffering.
God forsaken of God
Jesus felt the Father was not present in the sense in which He had always been before. Jesus felt
"forsaken" by the Father. He felt the desolation of the feeling of a temporarily broken fellowship
with His Father. As Luther said so eloquently, "God forsaken of God! Who can understand
that?"
The Son of God was never more pleasing to the Father than at this hour of obedience in His
voluntarily laying down His life for the salvation of lost mankind.
In that intense terrible darkness, we see the climax of the suffering of Christ for our sins. God
was laying on Him the iniquity of us all. He drank the dregs of the bitter cup of the wrath of God
for us. He suffered grief, sorrow and pain on our behalf.
The Bible tells us, "The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23a). "The soul that sins will surely
die" (Ezekiel 18:4). But God goes on to say, "For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who
dies," declares the Lord God. "Therefore, repent and live" (v. 32). Peter wrote, "The Lord is not
slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any
to perish but for all to come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). "For the wages of sin is death, but the
free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23).
In that critical moment in time, the whole weight of the world's sin came crashing down upon the
innocent sufferer.
"He [God] made Him [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become
the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus Christ was "wounded for our
transgressions." He was "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." "It was the

collective sin of a world of sinners." Christ gave Himself a "ransom for many." The One who
knew no sin, God "made sin" for us. On the cross Christ became a "curse for us" and so
redeemed us from the curse of the law. We are "redeemed by the precious blood of Christ" shed
on Calvary. He gave Himself "a ransom for all."
Our divine substitute who "bore our sins in His body on the tree" was forsaken. That is why God
pulled the drapes at Calvary. God drew the veil over Calvary so no profane eyes could see the
suffering of the Divine Sufferer.
M. R. Vincent says, "On Him, representatively, fell the collective consequences of sin, in His
enduring 'the contradiction of sinners against Himself' (Hebrews 12:3)." God the Father made
Jesus Christ, His own Son, representative for all of our sins and bore the punishment. Think of
every sin you have ever committed and pile them up in one huge mountain. Jesus came down
from heaven to represent that mountain of sin and guilt and God poured out His wrath on Him.
He paid the price in full once and for all. Jesus invites us to come to Him and to confess our sins
one by one and receive forgiveness.
No wonder God hid it from depraved men's eyes! It was Christ in the Holy of Holies on the
Mercy Seat of God bearing your punishment. It was my hell, your hell, all the hells of all guilty
sinners were burning their fires out on Him. He paid the price for you and me individually and
personally.
Jesus had to pay the price alone and tasted our spiritual death alone. Spiritual death is broken
communion. Jesus had to taste this broken fellowship with the Father as a punishment for our
sins. That is what He was experiencing in those desolate hours when darkness lay upon the earth
and upon His soul. Jesus experienced the wrath of God on sin for our behalf. Jesus experienced
what a lost sinner feels without having been saved.
The vicarious Substitute for sinners died on our behalf; and the claims of the law on the sinner
that believes in Jesus were fully met.
B. H. Carroll said, "Just before that darkness passed away, closing the ninth hour, Christ died the
spiritual death. Right on the very edge of that deeper darkness came another voice. His words
were, 'I thirst.' This shows His soul was under going the pangs of hell, just as the rich man lifted
up his eyes in hell, being in torments and said, 'I pray the Father Abraham send Lazarus that he
might dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.'"
Jesus Christ was enduring the torment of hell for a lost world!
"Because this punishment is everlasting death, Jesus had on the cross to experience absolute
forsakenness of God, and the pangs of hell itself. It was a time of utter spiritual darkness that the
Son of God had to pass through, as the Substitute for the guilty world," notes Norman
Geldenhuys (Luke, p. 611).
That deep penetrating darkness speaks of the torment of hell. This is the destiny of everyone who
dies without Christ as his personal Savior. If I refuse to allow Jesus Christ to become my
substitute for me, this is the agony that I will have to pay through all eternity. The agony that
Jesus endured in the substitutionary process is the agony that you and I will endure if we reject
Him. This is what awaits the doomed sinner in everlasting condemnation if he rejects Christ.
God's attitude toward sin will force Him to turn His back on the unrepentant sinner. Jesus Christ
chose to go to the place of the condemned sinner and die in his place. "It is a fearful thing to fall
into the hands of the living God" (Hebrews 10:31). No wonder the sun refused to shine that day.
In that darkness God the Father exhausted the wrath of God on my Substitute.

Did Jesus Christ die for you?
Where will you spend eternity?
The most important question is, are you saved? Have you put your faith in the Divine Sufferer
who came and died as your Substitute? Do you know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior? God
has done everything that needs to be done to save your soul. Jesus Christ died to pay your death
penalty. What is your response to that sacrifice for you? Will you now believe on Him and ask
Him to be your Savior?
There is nothing so penetrating as the darkness of sin. It blinds people's hearts to God's truths.
Darkness speaks of the depravity of sin. The religious leaders acted under the cover of darkness
the night before Christ died and the power of darkness killed the Jewish Messiah (Luke 22:53).
The real hour of darkness of which He spoke had now arrived. And in the darkness of the
noonday, God wrote in the darkened sky His judgment on their sins and our sin and His love for
His Son and a lost world.
The timing of the darkness is astounding. The Son of God was dying, God appears and there is
sudden darkness. There was total silence. God was speaking in that silence!
That darkness at Calvary speaks of the eternal destiny of everyone who rejects the grace of God
in Jesus Christ. All who reject Jesus Christ shall perish. Darkness in the Bible is often associated
with judgment (Isa. 5:30; 13:10-11; 60:2; Joel 2:10, 30, 31; 3:14-15; Amos 5:18, 20; 8:9; Zeph.
1:14-18; Matt. 24:29, 30; Acts 2:20; 2 Pet. 2:17; Rev. 6:12-17). God was judging sin at the cross.
He was putting away sin. It is a deep unfathomable mystery in the mind and heart of God. We
cannot understand how evil appears to a thrice holy God (Hab. 1:13; Gal. 3:13; 2 Cor. 5:21). God
hates sin, and a holy God must judge all sin.
G. Campbell Morgan said it well, "Sin is not a small act. Sin is something which, once
committed, cannot be undone. The broken law means a marring of the ultimate purpose. . . . Sin
is never little. Oh, man, man! If you could but see your trespasses, your little sin, in all its
magnified meaning, you would cry out, 'What must I do to be saved?"
The darkness meant the judgment of God against our sins. Jesus went to the cross and bore that
punishment so that we would never have to bear it. Our Substitute suffered the most intense
agony, indescribable woe, terrible isolation and God forsakenness so we would never have to.
Hell came to Calvary. The clearest picture of hell you will ever get without going there yourself
is found at the Cross. Jesus descended into the depths of hell and bore its horrors in our stead.
The darkness says to the believer in Jesus Christ that all darkness is gone. Jesus is the Light of
the world. The true light now shines in our hearts. There will be no night, no darkness in the city
of light.
Salvation is not universal. People are not saved automatically just because God loved the world
and sent His Son to die for us. We must individually put our trust in Jesus Christ to save us. Each
person must appropriate God's free gift by believing on Christ. Salvation is not automatic
because your parents were Christians. Each individual must come to a decision whereby he or
she says, "I am a sinner. I have disobeyed God. I have failed to bring glory to God with my life.
If I died today I would go to hell. I now believe that Jesus Christ died for me on the cross and I
ask Him to save me right now." "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved."
The apostle Paul wrote, "that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your
heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes,

resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation" (Romans
10:9-10).
Title: Matthew 27:45 The Darkest Day in History
The Darkness of Calvary
Luke 23:44-45
I. Introduction (Luke 23:44,45) - I want to focus on the darkness of the crucifixion today,
because it makes our understanding of the resurrection all that more clear
A. A description of the scene
1. Jesus had already hung on the cross for three hours
a. Late Tuesday evening, He had been taken captive by a mob, and brought through 7 trials
lasting up until 8 am Wednesday morning
b. By 9 am, Jesus is being led through the town to taunting and raging people, who spat upon
Him as he carried His cross through the city
c. For the next 6 hours, He would hang on that cross, and then die
2. But something happens– right in the middle of then entire event - at noon, a darkness comes
over all the earth – recorded in history
B. It was not an eclipse
1. The darkness continued for three hours
a. The longest eclipse can last for only a few minutes
b. This occurred during the Passover, which is always observed at the time of the full moon,
which makes a eclipse of the sun impossible
2. Notice how it was not just darkness, but “the sun itself was darkened”
a. There was a failure of its light
b. The darkness was not caused by absence of the sun, such as at night
c. It was a darkness at noontime, a darkness in the place of the sun
C. The darkness did not come on by a slow and gradual process
1. In the text, it was a darkness that began at the sixth hour of the day (noon)
2. It seems to have departed just a suddenly at the ninth hour (three in the afternoon)
3. Notice than, that the darkness is connected with the suffering of Jesus
D. Prior to the darkness, the hill of Golgotha where Jesus was crucified was a busy place (Mk
15:22-32)
1. The hill was just outside of Jerusalem, and massive crowds passed by going into and out of the
city – like a busy shopping mall on the day be fore Christmas!
2. Jesus Himself was busy on that Cross

a. Struggling just to breath, and yet…
b. Interceding for those who crucified Him (Father forgive them for they know not …)
c. Answering the cry for mercy from a dying thief
d. Making sure His mother was cared for by the apostle John
3. Soldiers were busy watching and mocking Him, and dividing His garment as the winnings of a
lottery
4. The chief priest were busy criticizing Pilate’s inscription on the cross (which stated, the King
of the Jews)
5. Scoffers were busy wagging their heads, railing and reviling Him as they circled Him like
dogs! “Why don’t you come down IF you are Christ?”
6. So, the currents of sin continued flowing unchecked around the cross
E. But, during the three hours of darkness, there was only silence – the whole world seemed to
come to a stand-still (Mk 15:23)!
1. There, Christ was silent, as a great horror hung over His soul
2. No taunts or insults were flung at Christ by anybody, anymore
3. As the people experienced the darkness, there was a fearful trembling at the mystery of this
awful crucifixion – Matthew 27:45,54
II. An Explanation Of The Darkness
A. It was a miracle, plain and simple
1. A visible suspension of the law of nature - the sun stopped shining! I don’t believe there were
any stars either – and the Moon was dark as well
2. The darkness was a visible display of the power of God, because only He can change the laws
of nature!
3. There is nothing out there in space that can cause the Sun itself to go dark
4. All the laws of creation were in operation, when this scene of darkness appeared
5. So, simply, the Author of creation touched the Sun, and brought darkness
B. It was necessary – not an accident
1. The darkness revealed God’s design and purpose of the cross - judgment
2. The darkness proved to the whole world that God’s Son was dying
3. Let’s look at this in more detail
III. What The Darkness at the Crucifixion Teaches
A. It was God’s sign of Jesus’ character and mission
1. When Jesus told the unbelieving religious crowd that He came to save them from their sins,
they were gravely offended
2. When Jesus said, “I am the Son of God,” they took up stones to stone Him
3. The people had asked for a sign from heaven that Jesus was the Son of God, so now a sign
from heaven is clearly given

a. Not in the death itself – the cross was man’s way
b. But in the judgment that took place at His death, in total darkness
4. Even the Roman soldiers understood the meaning of the darkness and exclaimed, “truly this
was the Son of God”
5. Good News for Modern Man says, “Certainly he was a good man!”
B. It magnified the death of Jesus Christ – made it more than just a death
1. This was not just a good man who was dying on that cross!
2. Somebody special was dying – somebody who shouldn’t have to die – somebody who could
have just lived forever!
3. And yet, here He was dying – but not for Himself
4. You see - OUR pardon, OUR peace, and eternal life are secured only through Jesus shedding
His blood as he died on that cross (1Pet 3:18)!
C. It covered the inconceivable sufferings of Christ at His death (Cf Eph 6:12)
1. God was testifying to the fact that redemption was in the death of Christ
a. The testimony took the form of darkness, because of the suffering of the death which was
inflicted
b. “Smitten of God” is what the darkness testified of (Isa 53:4)
c. It was God who laid the iniquities of us all, on Jesus (Isa 53:6)
d. It was not just the suffering of the cross, but also the grief of the Father being shown
2. The suffering of Christ became unbearable
a. Near the close of the darkness, Jesus looked up into the darkness and cried, “My God, my
God, why hast though forsaken me”
b. God was there in the darkness, but for a time He forsook His Son
c. Christ was forsaken, because that was His punishment as the Sin-bearer (2Cor 5:21)
d. Christ bearing our sins in His own body was not make-believe; it was reality, and it was so
awful that nobody could have stood to see it
3. The darkness hid the silent sufferings of Christ from human eyes
a. During the most excruciating sufferings, the darkness shut Him off from all witnesses
b. Before the darkness, whatever suffering He endured was exposed to view – the lashings, the
bruises, the thorns, the nails, splinter-wounds
IV. What The Darkness Proves
A. It proves God’s wrath against sin and sinner – like the darkness in Egypt
1. This was no put-on, no mock-up, no performance by angels
2. It was for three hours, all of hell for all our sins, of all time, against Jesus
3. God had no way around it – His character requires sin to be punished

4. So, when Jesus was dying, He was taking the place of the sinner – because otherwise, THAT
is what every sinner will experience!
B. The darkness proves therefore the doom of the unbeliever
1. It shows the future misery for the neglecting soul
2. The darkness of Calvary is both a pledge and earnest of the darkness which Christ spoke of
3. All rejecters of Christ will perish in outer darkness called hell!
C. It also proves the righteousness of Jesus
1. Here was the full wrath of God vented against His own sinless Son
2. Only a person who has no sins of their own, could be made responsible for the sins of others –
as a Lamb – remember, this was PASSOVER
D. It proves that the price of Redemption has been paid
1. Since He passed through the darkness, He was able to say, “It is finished”
2. The work of redemption was done, nothing more needed to be done - everything was
completed
3. So, GONE are the need for priests and Temples, sacrifices and rituals, prayer books and altars.
All that is needed today is a PREACHER, and for people to simply believe in the LIVING Son
of God who died for them!
V. What Pierces the Darkness? What made the light return?! Three things:
A. A Cry – “IT IS FINISHED!”
1. It was spoken from the man on the middle cross, while as yet it was still pitch black – it was
no whimper, but a shout of victory!
2. From that point, the darkness began to fade – AMEN!
B. An Empty Tomb - The Resurrection Itself (Mk 16:1,2)
1. The dawning of that First Day, Sunday, was never to be forgotten
2. From then on, Christians meet and worship the LIVING Saviour, NOT on Saturday, but
SUNDAY!
C. A Christian preaching the Good News
1. Oh how wonderful is our good news - that it is over – that Jesus reigns
2. This world is a very dark place
3. The more this BOOK is preached, the more light we bring into the world
VI. Conclusion (1Jn 2:8; Isa 60:1,2)
A. The darkness of Calvary is past – three hours was all it took for Jesus to handle all sin, for all
time - and the light of the Gospel now shines (1John 2:8)
B. Christ is that light - He died, and was buried, and rose again, and is ascended back into
heaven, and now sits at the right hand of the Father
C. One day every knee shall bow to Him, and confess that He is Lord
D. Will you repent of your sin, and take Christ as your Saviour by faith?

E. How about you Christian? Will you be so quick to think it doesn’t matter that you sin?
https://www.biblebc.com/ForPreachers/SermonVault/Salvation/darkness_of_c
alvary.htm
• Three Hours Of Darkness Series
Contributed by Derrick Strickland on Feb 27, 2016
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Scripture: Matthew 27:45-54
Denomination: Foursquare
Summary: At noon something both extremely disturbing
and awe inspiring took place…darkness covered the land,
like a blanket.
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INTRO: 1.
I want to draw your attention to an oft overlooked event that took place at Calvary.
2.
Jesus had already, in broad daylight, hung upon that cross for three hours—from 9 in the
morning to noon.
a. There can be no doubt of his crucifixion, countless witnesses testify to that fact.
3.
But at noon something both extremely disturbing and awe inspiring took place…darkness
covered the land, like a blanket.

a.
This was no ordinary event, not merely an overcast day, or storm clouds moving in.
b.
Such a unforgettable darkness that it is specifically mentioned by three out of the four gospel
accounts.
4. This darkness was unique in it’s intensity.
a.
In all three gospel accounts, they all use the same greek word for this “darkness.”
b.
‘Skotos’ is derived from the greek word ‘ska’ which means ‘to cover.’ It literally means the
exact opposite of light. The absence of light. Total darkness.
c.
Darkness literally fell upon them, leaving them in pitch black…had it not been for the torches
that they stumbled around to light there would be no light.
d.
The Lord they had mocked and scorned and watched upon that cross was now hidden by the
darkness from their eyes.
5. This darkness was unique in it’s timing.
a. It descended at the brightest point of the day… high noon.
ILL. As Spurgeon said… “It was midnight at midday.”
b. In the middle of an ordinary day—the city was plunged into darkness.
6. This darkness was unique in it’s duration.
a. This was not a passing cloud blown in by the wind.
b. Three hours this darkness blotted out the sun.
c.
No doubt terror struck the hearts of those ancient peoples who wondered if because of what they
did to this Messiah would have forever left them in darkness.
d. Luke in his account says…
Luke 23:48
And all the people that came together to that sight, beholding the things which were done, smote
their breasts, and returned.
e. It was a truly a disturbing even tormenting darkness.
7. This darkness was unique in it’s Scope.
a. Luke points out that this darkness was “over all the earth.”
b.

Remember this was passover, when the moon was full…a time of year that eclipses couldn’t
happen.
c. This was more than a natural darkness, but a supernatural one.
d. Foreign nations ran confused in this darkness…they would never forget this day.
e.
For the first time since God declared “Let there be light” the entire world was engrossed in
darkness.
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8.
We need to realize as they did that this darkness was unique in it’s significance.
a.
It was clear to many that day that this darkness didn’t come by happenstance.
b. It was clearly the result of who they had hanging on that center cross.
c.
No doubt many in the land that had little time to consider what was being done outside of
Jerusalem’s walls, but no matter what they where doing before in the darkness they paused &
realized something significant was taking place.
9.
I am here to declare to you this morning that this darkness was more than merely a dramatic
setting for Calvary, but held spiritual and eternal significance as well.
I. IT WAS HELL’S HOUR
a. We must never forget that the Cross was a battleground for the eternal souls of men.
b.
Because of what the rest of the book tells us we know that the cross was far more than a physical
reality, it was in fact a spiritual reality as well.
c. What really happened at the place of the skull was far more than the eye can see.
d.

But I believe that God allowed this pitch darkness to serve as an object lesson for us all on the
darkness that descended on Golgotha.
e.
The same word used here for “darkness” is the very same word they used when talking of
spiritual darkness as well.
f.
Hear the words of Jesus as they came to take him from the garden, after healing the servant of
the high priests ear…
Luke 22:53
When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me: but this is your
hour, and the power of darkness.
A. IT’S THE PLACE OF HELL’S ASSAULT
1. On Calvary, Hell would unleash its’ greatest attack against that “Man of Sorrows.”
2. It was a time of fierce assault as all the forces of hell was unleashed against our Lord.
3.
I believe that not only did Jesus hear the mocks and scorns of evil men, but I believe the demonic
forces of Hell chided and tormented our Lord as well.
4.
Not only had the roman soldiers and the crowds gathered at Calvary, but I believe Hell’s
generals and Satan himself came to gloat and came to add to the burden of our Suffering Savior.
B. IT’S SEALED SATAN’S FINAL HOUR
1. But what Satan thought was his finest hour, would turn out to be his final hour.
1 Cor. 2:7-8
But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained
before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they
known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
2.
We don’t look ahead for our victory, we look behind for our victory…victory was won at
Calvary!
3. What he did at Calvary signed Satan’s eviction notice in blood, and soon it will be served.
4.
We don’t say “Satan you will be defeated” we declare legally by the blood “Satan you ARE
defeated!”
Col. 2:14-15
Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and
took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he
made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

5.
He gave the powers of darkness their home field advantage and defeated darkness in darkness.
II. IT WAS THE HOUR OF GOD’S JUDGEMENT
a. Darkness has always been connected in the scriptures with God’s judgement.
ILL. Remember before the first passover in Egypt there where three days of darkness.
b. And now before this lamb died the judgment of God would be revealed.
c. Calvary was the place where God’s law and wrath was fully and completely satisfied.
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d. We can see fulfilled the words of the prophet Amos
Amos 8:9-10
And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the sun to go down at
noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day: And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and
all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon
every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.
e.
As three o'clock struck Jesus broke the silence and cried giving us insight into what had been
happening in that utter darkness as he cried…“My God, my God, why has though forsaken me.”
A. WHEN HE TOOK OUR SIN UPON HIMSELF
1. The cry of dereliction is a quote from Psalms 22:1.
2. This cry tells us that he felt the full burden of humanities sin.
3.
Our substitute…who now faced every sin, every indignity, every unthinkable, indescribable evil
of the human heart.
2 Cor. 5:21
For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the
righteousness of God in him.
4.
The sins of man that we shutter even today to talk about was heaped upon Him there.
5.
He felt the evil of murder, the violence of rape, the senseless cruelty of mankind, the emptiness,
the shame, the hatred, the anger, the confusion—all of the filth of sin at once.
6. At this point he completely identified with we sinners, he felt sins evil darkness.
ILL. Chuck Swindoll wrote: “If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us
an educator. If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist. If our

greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist. If our greatest need had
been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer. But our greatest need was forgiveness, So
God sent us a Savior!
B. WHERE HE ENDURED GOD’S WRATH FOR US.
1. Jesus was in fact being punished, not for his guilt, but for ours.
2. The verdict of sin is death and he took our verdict upon himself there in the darkness.
3.
Utter darkness is a mark of Hell, the place of torment, that awaited us all, but Jesus would face
the torment of hell so that as many as would believe would never have to.
4.
The greatest punishment for Jesus was that at this point He felt the real abandonment of the
Father.
5. The darkness of sin is not the torment, but the absence of God in our lives.
6. His joy was communion with God—that joy was now God, and he was in the dark.
7.
It was not the crown of thorns, not the nails, not the tormentors from Hell that caused Him to cry
from the cross, but that sense of hanging there alone… for three dark hours rejected by men and
rejected by God.
8.
All that could comfort Him was gone.
9.
As dark as those three hours where they where not as dark as the soul of the Man of Sorrows.
ILL. I believe that at this point even heaven stood silent…never had the angels witnessed
something so disturbing and yet so significant.
III. THE HOURS THAT WAS DARKEST BEFORE THE DAWN
a.
See how darkness stayed until Jesus spoke…then the darkness gave way to the light.
b.
I am reminded of the last time darkness covered the whole earth, a time when the earth was void
and chaos reigned, but the voice of God brought order back from chaos and light out of darkness.
c.
Sin had caused a world to be again chaotic and out of control, but then it heard a cry from the
cross and all was changed.
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d. It’s the drama of the ages…out of the darkness came the light.
John 12:46
I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.
e. That new dawn brought some instant benefits to light.
A. DAWN OF UNLIMITED ACCESS
1.
When that light again flooded that day, Jesus had cried out to the father—the veil in the temple is
rent in two.
2. That which had separated us from the father was now removed.
3.
The meeting place for God would no longer be in a temple, or even a building, but in Christ.
4. This curtain was not an ordinary curtain.
5. It was 60 feet long and 30 feet high and about two inches thick.
6. It was said it took 300 priests just to install it.
7.
That huge veil served as a constant reminder to the priests working in the temple of the
impossibility of gaining access to God.
8.
But now as the light again flooded the dark streets of Jerusalem, the earth went into convulsions
and the veil in the temple ripped in two.
9.
Not an ordinary ripping but from the top down, revealing it was by the very hand of God that
removed that which had for generations stood between us and God.
10. That torn curtain declares… “The way to God is now open.”
ILL. Following the Civil War, a dejected confederate soldier was sitting outside the grounds of
the White House. A young boy approached him and inquired why he was so sad. The soldier
related how he had repeatedly tried to see President Lincoln to tell him why he was unjustly
deprived of certain lands in the South following the war. On each occasion as he attempted to
enter the White House, the guards crossed their bayoneted guns in front of the door and turned
him away. The boy motioned to the old soldier to follow him. When they approached the
entrance, the guards came to attention, stepped back and opened the door for the boy. He
proceeded to the library where the President was resting and introduced the soldier to his father.
The boy was Tad Lincoln. The soldier had gained an audience with the President through the
President’s son.
11. I also declares “God is no longer hidden!”
12. We can see Him in that crucified Christ.
B. DAWN OF VICTORY

1. Luke said he “cried with a loud voice.”
2. We get our word “megaphone” from the two greek words used to describe his cry here.
3.
It revealed that Jesus didn’t die from physical agony, he didn’t die in weakness…he still had the
strength for that victorious cry “It is finished!”
4.
Because of this many scholars point out that he didn’t die from physical agony, but from spiritual
agony.
5.
When the roman soldier pierced his heart, blood and water spewed forth… the sign of a ruptured
heart.
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6. Our Lord literally died from a broken heart.
7.
He is no stranger to heartbreak, but he came to do more than sympathize with us…but to
overcome for us.
8.
After facing all that Hell and the forces of darkness could give Him, after facing the filth of sin
and the wrath of God— he cried out as a champion on the eternal battlefield… “It is finished!”
9. For sin, for judgement, for darkness, for emptiness, for shame… “It is finished!”
ILL. From Daily Encounter comes this story by a Chaplain Robinson: “In 1949, my father had
just returned from the war. On every highway you could see soldiers in uniform hitchhiking
home to their families. The thrill of the reunion with his family was soon overshadowed by my
grandmother’s illness. There was a problem with her kidneys. The doctors told my father that she
needed a blood transfusion immediately or she would not live through the night. Grandmother’s
blood type was AB negative, a very rare type. In those days there were no blood banks like there
are today. No one in the family had that type blood and the hospital had not been able to find
anyone with that rare type. The Doctor gave our family little hope. My Dad decided to head
home for a little while to change clothes and then return for the inevitable good-byes. As my
father was driving home he passed a soldier in uniform hitchhiking. Deep in grief, my father was
not going to stop. But something compelled him to pull over. The soldier climbed in but my
father never spoke. He just continued driving down the road toward home. The soldier could tell
my father was upset as a tear ran down his cheek. The soldier asked about the tear. My father
began telling the stranger that his mother was going to die because the hospital couldn’t find
anyone who could donate AB negative blood. My father explained that he was just heading home
to change clothes. That is when he noticed the soldier’s open hand holding dog tags that read AB

negative. The soldier told my father to turn the car around and head back to the hospital. My
grandmother lived until 1996, 47 more years. To this day my family doesn’t know the name of
that soldier. My father wonders if that stranger really was a soldier or if he was an angel in
uniform.”
10. Only Jesus could provide the blood type we needed to give us eternal life.
III. THE HOUR OF CREATION’S CRY
a.
Creation had a hand in the entire life of Jesus…the star of bethlehem…the obeying of his voice.
b.
Although what happened there that day was supernatural, I do believe that the natural had a hand
in what took place.
c. It was as if all of earth and the universe sympathized with it’s creator and grieved.
d. Matthew spoke of the earth quaking and the rocks rending.
A. THE CREATOR WAS HANGING THERE
1.
We must remember that not only was the Savior and Messiah hanging on that tree, but the
creator was hanging there as well.
2. I’m reminded of the powerful words from a hymn we sing around here…
ILL. “Well might the sun in darkness hide, And shut his glories in, When God, the mighty Maker
died For man, the creature’s sin.”
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3. Truly the God of nature was expiring.
4. Oh, what an unforgettable day that even this earth would not pass without recognizing.
CONCLUSION:
One thing that truly troubles me, is that after Jesus spoke and the skies lit up again…they who
where trembling moments before is now back to mocking Jesus again.
Signs and wonders, even tragedies will never turn some hearts to Jesus.
Don’t be in that crowd this morning.
God doesn’t owe you another chance, He’s given to you His all already.

Darkness at the *crucifixion of Jesus
The Life of Jesus Christ - Chapter 11 - The *crucifixion of Jesus - Part 3
Previous article | Life of Jesus Christ Index | *Word List | Next article
An online Bible Study course by Barrie Wetherill about the life of Jesus. This book is in
EasyEnglish Level B. Use the links below for other online Bible Study books and
commentaries that will help you. Or go to the Word List, which explains words with a
*star.
Easy English Bible homepage | Matthew (commentary) | Mark (commentary) | Luke (commentary) | John
(commentary)
The *crucifixion of Jesus began at 9.00 a.m. [That is, 9 o'clock in the morning.] The place where
it took place was called Golgotha. For three hours, Golgotha was a busy place, with the soldiers,
the crowds and the Jewish rulers there.
But from noon, for three hours until the death of Jesus, there was darkness (Matthew 27:45).
The reason for the darkness while Jesus was on the *cross
There is no natural reason for this darkness. Jesus died during the Feast of Passover. [This was a
very important holy holiday for the Jews. They remembered the time when God rescued them
from Egypt.] The Feast of Passover always happened at the time of the full moon. An eclipse
cannot happen at full moon. [An eclipse is a rare event when the moon hides the light from the
sun.] Also, an eclipse would not last for three hours.
There had been darkness on the earth before. When God punished Pharaoh there had been
darkness. It is a sign of God’s punishment. God shows us that we have done wrong. He
sometimes uses physical signs to do this. (Joel 2:30,32, Amos 5:18, Revelation 6:12-17). And on
the *cross, Jesus was suffering the punishment for our *sins.
Jesus calls out to God
At this time, Jesus suffered great pain. He called out to God with a loud cry.
Matthew 26:46 At about 3.00 p.m. [that is, 3 o'clock in the afternoon] Jesus cried out with a loud
voice. He said, 'Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?' [These words are in the language called Hebrew.]
That means, 'My God, My God, why have you left me alone?'
This was an experience which no human has ever had. Jesus was now quite separate from God.
The darkness was a sign of God’s *judgement on *sin. At this time Jesus was carrying the *sin
of us all. Notice that Jesus did not say ‘God, where are you?’ He said ‘My God, why?’ This is
not the cry of a relationship that has ended. Jesus felt that God was no longer protecting him. But
he cried out to God in trust. Paul tells us the reason for this.
2 Corinthians 5:21 Christ did not do any *sins. But God made Christ become *sin instead of us.
This was so that we could be right with God.
Some people in the crowd laughed about Jesus’ cry. The first word that he said sounds a little
like the name of Elijah. They said that perhaps he was calling to Elijah for help.

The effects of *crucifixion
Finally, near to his death, Jesus’ mouth was very dry. He cried out, ‘I need a drink’ (John 19:28).
This is one of the effects of *crucifixion. Old books describe other men who died slowly on a
*cross. These men called out for water to the people who passed. Again, the *prophets wrote
about this, and Psalm 22 has these words:
Psalm 22:14,15 I spill out like water. They have pulled every bone in my body apart. My heart
has melted inside me. I have no strength left, like a baked pot. My tongue sticks in my mouth.
You have brought me to the dust of death.
Let us think about the meaning of these words:
· 'I spill out like water' – Jesus was extremely tired.
· 'They have pulled every bone in my body apart' – A very exact description of the effects of
*crucifixion
· 'My heart has melted inside me' – Jesus was nearly unconscious.
· 'My tongue sticks in my mouth' – His mouth was completely dry.
· 'I have no strength left, like a baked pot' – he felt as dry as a pot that men make. They bake it in
a hot oven until it is totally dry.
The *prophet wrote all of this 1000 years before the event. But these physical sufferings were
not the greatest pain. Jesus felt that God had left him alone. That was when Jesus felt the greatest
pain. That was when Jesus took your *sin and my *sin, and made them his own.
'This is the end'
Jesus gave one great final cry. ‘It is finished!’ [That means, 'this is the end'.] He had finished the
work that the Father [God] had given him to do. His work was complete. Our *salvation was
complete. And so finally, Jesus offered up his *spirit and died.
Luke 23:46 And Jesus cried out with a loud voice. He said, 'Father [God], I give my *spirit to
you.' After that, he breathed for the last time.
The soldiers did not break Jesus' legs
Jesus died much sooner than he should have done. Two criminals were with him. They were still
alive when he died. The authorities wanted the *crucifixion over. They wanted to take away the
bodies before the Sabbath [their holy day] began. It would begin at 6.00 p.m.. [That is, 6 o'clock
in the late afternoon, when nightfall began.] To make the men die more quickly, soldiers came to
break the legs of the two criminals (John 19:31-33). Then the criminals could not continue to
push up on their legs to breathe. When they could not breathe, they died.
But Jesus was already dead, so the soldiers did not break his legs. This made a *prophecy come
true. A *prophet had said that no bone of his should be broken. But, the soldier stuck a spear into
Jesus’ side. [A spear is like a long, sharp sword.] Blood and water came out from Jesus (John
19:34). This showed that Jesus was already dead.

Jesus carried the *sin of the world
Pilate was surprised that Jesus died so soon (Mark 15:44). But Jesus carried the *sin of the world
on that *cross. He suffered so much in these last three hours. That was what really killed him.
Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus bury Jesus' body
Two members of the Jewish council, Joseph (from Arimathea) and Nicodemus, asked Pilate for
Jesus’ body. [The Jewish council was a group of Jewish leaders.] Nicodemus was the man who
had earlier come to talk to Jesus by night.
Joseph and Nicodemus took the body down from the *cross and buried it.
A guard at Jesus' grave
The Jewish council asked for a guard at the grave. The Jewish rulers were afraid that Jesus'
*disciples might try to steal the body. The Jewish rulers did not want anyone to pretend that
Jesus was not really dead. They did not want any more problems with Jesus! They did not realise
that Jesus would become alive again very soon.
Jesus would be alive, because Jesus defeated death itself! And later, Jesus would go up to
*heaven.
© 2002-2005, Wycliffe Associates (UK)
THE THREE HOURS' DARKNESS
Lonnie Branam
Luke 23:26-45
Luke 23:26-44 records the last six hours of Christ's life on earth. The visit of God the Son to the
earth ended in the noon-day of His life. He died as a young man and was not allowed a normal
lifetime. The apostles held that generation of Israelites primarily responsible for His calamitous
death. Preaching to a large gathering of Jews in Jerusalem, the apostle Peter said, “The God of
our fathers glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of
Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. But you denied the Holy One and the Just and
asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from
the dead, of which we are witnesses”(Acts 3:13-15). In this message we shall be concerned
primarily with the last three hours of the Lord's life. Luke in chapter 23:44 makes a very
interesting and significant statement about the final hours of His life. He said, “Now it was about
the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.” Mark tells us that
He was crucified at the third hour of the day. According to Jewish time, Jesus was crucified at
nine o'clock Friday morning. The first three hours on the cross would bring the time to twelve
noon. About the sixth hour or twelve o'clock noon a supernatural darkness came over the land
and lasted until the ninth hour or three o'clock in the afternoon. Luke states that the sun's light
failed and at the moment Christ died, that heavy veil in the temple that separated the Most Holy
Place from the Holy Place was ripped apart from the bottom to the top. This darkness was not
caused by an eclipse, nor was it a natural darkness. The only way to account for it was a miracle

performed by God the Father or possibly by Christ Himself. I would like for us all to think on the
three hours darkness. Those three hours of darkness was God answer to Israel, God's answer to
Pontius Pilate, God's answer to the religious leaders of Israel, God's answer to all the people who
participated in the scoffing of the cross, and God's answer to an unbelieving world.
First I refer you to a prophecy in the book of Amos which some feel was fulfilled by the sun
refusing to shine when the Prince of life was killed. Amos 8:9 says, “And it shall come to pass in
that day says the Lord God, that I will make the sun go down at noon , and I will darken the earth
in broad daylight.” It's a question whether this prophecy should be understood literally or
figuratively. Some of the early Christians in the second and third centuries believed it was
literally fulfilled by the three hours of darkness at the cross. It is an undisputed fact that the only
time in recorded history that the sun went down at noon and God darkened the earth in broad
daylight
was at the crucifixion of Christ. However, some commentators think this prophecy is to be
understood figuratively of some great calamity that was to happen to Israel for their disobedience
to God. There were many calamities in Jewish history. If the darkness did not literally fulfill this
prophecy, it most certainly fulfilled the prophecy, figuratively speaking. If it was speaking of
some calamity to come on Israel, the greatest calamity in Jewish history occurred at the cross. No
calamity could be compared to what befell Israel at the crucifixion. When Israel killed Christ,
they killed their own nation. Like the Gentiles they became spiritually dead, and since the death
of Christ they have been without hope and God in the world. When they ended the life of their
Messiah, they ended the Jewish religion as a valid religion; for Jesus nailed the Jewish religion to
the cross. In a real sense the Jewish people themselves nailed their religion to the cross. It died
when He died. When they rejected God's Son as their Messiah and King, God rejected them as
His chosen nation. What a calamity! Whether literally or figuratively, Amos 8:9 can most
fittingly be applied to the three hours darkness. One thing is certain the sun literally refused to
shine at noon time at the crucifixion, and at the same event Israel suffered the greatest calamity
of their history. As long as they continue to reject Christ, they will be a nation without a religion.
Secondly, the three hours darkness identifies the day of Christ's crucifixion as the most important
day in human history, a day that will live in infamy, a day that will never be forgotten either in
this world or in the world to come. A phenomenon happened on this day that had never happened
on any other day since the planets started revolving around the sun, and they started their
movements when God created the heavens and earth in the beginning. No one claims a solar
eclipse caused this darkness, for a solar eclipse can last no longer than seven or eight minutes.
Every school child knows that day and night is caused by the earth rotating into the rays of the
sun, and rotating out of the rays of the sun. The sun only lights one half of the earth at a time. It
is dark on one side and light on the other. And since time began, each and every day has had
about 12 hours of day light and 12 hours of darkness, but there has been one and only one
exception to this scientific fact. The one day in history that the sun went down at noon and
refused to shine, and the earth was darkened in broad daylight was that day when Jesus was
crucified. We know the exact day He was crucified. That day was on the Friday before the
Jewish Passover Day in the year 1 A.D. God honored this day, honored Christ, and distinguished
it from all other days by overruling the laws of nature on that day. God supernaturally closed the
eye of day at high noon, but someone
says, “Where about the law of day and night; what happened to it? I will tell you what happened
to it; God suspended it as a tribute to the Savior of the world. Morever God dwells in heaven and

He does as He wishes. We can only conclude that God wanted it to be a reminder to the world
that the greatest event of the ages took place on that day.. God put His mark on that day.
Thirdly, I would suggest that God performed this mighty miracle to strike fear into the hearts of
the enemies of Christ, to make them look up and consider heir ways. He wanted them to know
they had made the greatest mistake in their lives. This darkness showed in a most convincing
way whose side God was on in this shameful event. What a wake-up call that mid-day midnight
should have been to the sons of men!. It is true that they knew not that the Divine Son of God
was among them; nor that He was working out human redemption. Nevertheless, the most
wonderful hour in all history seemed likely to pass by unheeded, when suddenly night came on
and chased away the day. It was a wake-up call that God was witness to this great event. All
must have been asking one another, “What means this darkness? What is happening?” Business
stood still; farmers stopped working, and the day seemed to end at noon. It was the middle of the
day when men are the busiest, but on that day they made a pause. Not only on Calvary, but on
every hill and in every valley the darkness settled down. None could move unless they groped
their way like the blind. The master of the house called for light at noon, and servants must have
trembled as they obeyed such an unusual summons. At twelve o'clock noon the lights were
twinkling in Jerusalem. The Holy city was a city by night, only men were not in their beds. Luke
says there was darkness over all the earth from twelve noon till three o'clock. Many think the
word earth should be translated land and means the darkness fell only the land of Palestine. I
think God turned out the light on the world. It is easier to believe that than to believe the sun was
darkened and in some way it only darkened Palestine. I doubt not that shuddering came on the
masses of people.
Fourthly, I would suggest that God darkened the earth in broad daylight because the last dying
moments of Christ's life was too sacred for human eyes to see. Normally, we don't want a crowd
around a loved one who is struggling for breath and about to die. This is a private moment in
every person's life. The presence of loved ones and dearest friends is fitting, but around Christ
that day was an irreverent crowd of revelers, skeptics, scoffers and unbelievers who couldn't wait
for Him to draw His last breath. They had stripped Him nearly naked and gambled for the very
clothes that were on His back. That darkness was a sacred concealment of the wounded body of
Jesus, wounded even for all those around Him who hated Him and wanted Him dead. Thus it
was most fitting that God should cover Him, hide Him away from brutal eyes that they might not
see all that He suffered when He was made sin for us. Suffice it to say that the last three hours of
the Lord's sufferings was far too sacred for human eyes to see. None of us who believe in Him
will ever know just how sacred this scene was. None of us know the full meaning of the cross
We know some things. We know His death was an example of self-sacrifice. It was a wondrous
obedience to God's will. We know He tasted death for every member of the human race. We can
see that and much more. We know His sufferings should have been suffered by the entire human
race, as a punishment for their sins. But this is not all that is in the cross. There is much more to
the Redeemer's death. We know not the full impact it had on the Father, what impact it had on
the angelic world, what bearing it will have on the inhabitants of earth when they finally arrive at
the House-- that is, the Father's House of many mansions. God only knows the love of God.
Christ alone knows all that He accomplished when He cried with a loud voice, “Father into your
hands I commit My spirit.” His last words were “Father I place My Spirit in your hands.” This is
another evidence, among many , that we continue to live after we die.
Finally, we may do well to consider the probable impact the three hours darkness had on the
different groups around the cross One of the most active and antagonistic groups around the

cross were the religious leaders of the Jews. They scoffed, blasphemed, insulted and made fun of
Him, but when this strange darkness covered the entire area, one would suppose they were
smitten with great fear, bewilderment and raised serious questionings. One would suppose
beneath their confident and defiant attitude there must have been some secret misgivings as to
the course they were taking. The crucified One is screened from view. The scoffs and shouting
are silenced, and I am sure there was a terrible silence. Surely they said what can this mean? God
was speaking in His own chosen way and rebuking them for their guilty deed. I wonder if some
were not thinking, “Is it, then, the blood of our Messiah we have been shedding? If it didn't fill
them with fear, it should have. I wonder what affect this darkness had on the general multitude.
How must they have been filled with awe, if not agitated by great fear. Darkness at high noon is
enough to make anyone afraid. I wonder if some did not say, “Have we crucified our King? Will
His blood be upon us? Is God trying to tell us something?" Well, He was, whether they realized
it or not. Surely, this phenomenon raised questions in their minds. Then there were the Roman
soldiers who gambled for His clothes at the foot of the cross. They were trained to face peril and
to be calm in the
most dangerous situations. You would think they would be the least moved by this strange
happening. Scripture records only one statement that came from the crowd around the cross. As
strange as it sounds, it came from one of the Roman soldiers, and it came from the Roman
Centurion who was in charge of he crucifixion. What affect did the strange happening have on
him? The word of God says, “He feared exceedingly and said, Truly this man was the Son of
God”(Mark 15:39). What he meant was, “This man must have been who He claimed to be.” If
this was the impression made on the executioner, it may well have been the impression made on
many others. We have no record of what others may have said but the Roman centurion gave the
only logical conclusion right- thinking people could arrive at. As to its affect on the disciples
who we standing by, some near and some at a distance, it must have come as a relief. At least
this welcome darkness hid them, for they were too near the cross for security yet too far away
from the Master to be of service to Him. If the Roman soldier could see the meaning of darkness,
we would think the disciples also saw the meaning. Most likely they saw the hand of God in this
darkness.
In addition to the darkness, there was an earthquake which split the rocks and opened up many
graves around Jerusalem. Many bodies of the saints came back to life. The opening of the graves
occurred at the moment Jesus died, but their resurrection and visible appearance in Jerusalem
occurred after the resurrection of Jesus. These people probably had recently died, and their return
to their loved ones in Jerusalem would be evidence that a great miracle had taken place. Also the
moment Jesus died the veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom. This veil divided the Most
Holy Place, where God resided, from the Holy Place where the priests presided. When the veil
was split it meant that no one needs any longer to be afraid to approach God. The death of Christ
made all welcome to come to God and receive His blessings. Under the law of Moses none could
enter into God's presence but the High Priest, and that but once a year. The death of Christ gave
the entire human race free access to God.. That was symbolized by the veil being torn and
making a free entrance into the Most Holy Place. The sin that darkened Christ and made Him die
in the dark, darkens the whole world. The sin that darkened Christ and made Him hang on a
cross in the dark is darkening all who are not Christians. They will continue to live in the dark
and will die in the dark unless they come to Him who only is the light of the world and can give
light to them..

Jesus was in darkness for three hours

Jesus was in darkness for three hours

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Jesus was in darkness for three hours