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Preached in Markham Baptist Church,
March 12, 2006
THE MIRACLES OF THE CROSS:
PART 1 - THE MIRACULOUS DARKNESS
Matthew 27:32-45
“When I survey the wondrous cross…” Imagine
anyone describing the cross - an instrument of torture, shame and death - as
wondrous. But certainly this is the view of Scripture. Our Lord dying on
the cross is seen as a triumph over the power and authorities that oppose
God (Colossians 2:15). Instead of an event we should be ashamed of, it is
the basis of our boasting – for through it the world has been crucified to
us (Galatians 6:15). And though the cross be a stumbling block to the Jew
and a laughing stock to everyone else – to us who are being saved, it is the
power of God and the wisdom of God (I Cor. 1:18-24).
It is with the hope that we see again the wonder
of the cross of Christ that we begin a new series during this season of
Lent, focusing on the cross. It is with a desire that each one of us would
be rescued from thinking that the cross is merely a nice ornament or even an
incidental event but an event filled with God’s power – before which we are
called to bow in humility, repentance, thanksgiving, joy and wonder.
Our approach over the next six weeks will be to
examine the miracles that surround our Lord’s death and to think their
meaning for each of us. Our text today is Matthew 27:32-46.
“From the sixth hour until the ninth hour
darkness came over all the land.” Darkness. Complete darkness comes
over all the land. The one whose birth is heralded by angels surrounded by
the glory of God. The one who is proclaimed to be the light of the world
dies in darkness. Horrible, lonely darkness. Darkness is unsettling. We
who have grown up in the suburbs don’t really know what darkness is. Even
when we go camping, we take propane torches, flashlights, and fires to
dispel the darkness. We don’t know what real darkness is and very few of us
actually sit in darkness – allowing it to envelope, probe and disturb
us.
This darkness was even more unsettling because
it was supernatural. This is not the normal darkness that comes with
evening. It is the sixth hour, according to Matthew Mark and Luke who all
record the event. All three use the Jewish system for counting hours. The
first hour is 6 o’clock in the morning. The third hour is 9 o’clock in the
morning. It is when Jesus is Crucified (Mark 15:25). The 6th
hour is 12 noon, the sun is at its height. And Luke simply says that the
sun stopped shining.
We know it is not an eclipse. An eclipse does
not last for three hours. Also, an eclipse cannot happen during a full moon
– the sun and moon are on opposite sides of the earth. And since the
Passover always is held during the full moon – the time when Jesus is
crucified – we know that this is not an eclipse.
It’s as if God is saying look, look, something
more significant here is happening than a man simply dying on a cross.
There is a meaning here, there are forces at work here that are deeper than
what you can see with the physical eye.
When we read the sentence, “From the sixth
hour to the ninth hour darkness covered all of the land,” we are meant
to stop and ask, what is going on? This is not natural. Something is
happening here that we must take note of.
And it must be something supernatural. For not only does darkness cover the
land, so does silence. For three hours is seems like the whole world has
come to a standstill. The gospels spell out so clearly all that happens
leading up to the cross – the trials, the denials, the desertions, the
mockery, the flogging, the crucifixion itself. There is so much activity –
but from the sixth hour to the ninth hour, darkness covers the land and
that’s all we know. There is nothing. No words, no mocking, no activity at
the foot of the cross, nothing for three long hours.
But that doesn’t mean that nothing was happening in the spiritual world. I
would like to suggest what this darkness signifies. There are many
theories. Some suggest that it is nature sympathizing with its Creator;
others suggest that it signifies the power of evil in the world. Still
others suggest that God sent the darkness as a veil to cover the shame
endured by His Son.
But any theory or suggestion we come up with must be rooted in Scripture –
must be rooted in what we know in the word of God. And I would like to
suggest to you that this physical darkness signifies the judgment of God
falling fully upon Jesus Christ the Lamb of God.
Let me explain. As we read Scripture we discover that a physical darkness
covering the land like this is a sign of judgment. In the Old Testament
book of Joel, we read of the Day of the Lord. It is a day of judgment, a
dreadful day for those who have turned their back on God and Joel describes
that day in chapter 2 verse 31 as a day when the sun will be turned to
darkness.
In Exodus 10 we read of the plagues of judgment that come upon the people of
Egypt when they refuse to honour God’s request to let His people go – one of
the plagues of judgment is darkness (Exodus 10:21-22).
Again in Amos 8 we read of a day of judgment and in verse 9 we read these
words, “In that day, declares the sovereign Lord I will make the sun go
down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight.”
Doesn’t that sound like it’s referring to the day of our Lord’s
crucifixion? It is a day of judgment. Darkness, covering the land,
signifies judgment.
And from the sixth hour to the ninth hour darkness came over
all the land. It was a time of judgment. And
that judgment was falling, centred on one person - Jesus Christ. As he hung
on that cross He was experiencing the judgment of God.
God’s judgment is real and it falls on one thing and one thing only – it
falls upon sin. God cannot stand sin. He cannot stand impurity. He does
not wink at it, He does not turn His back on it – He must judge it. It is
His character, it is part of His holiness. As we read the Old Testament we
see the nation Israel being wiped out by other nations but Scripture tells
us again and again that they are merely instruments of God’s wrath, of His
judgment falling upon His people for their sin.
Sin is falling short of the mark. That’s what sin means, to fall short of
the standard. God has set the standard and we have fallen short. He has
set the penalty for falling short and that is death. Separation from God.
Utterly and totally forsaken. That’s the judgment. And all who are in sin
are subject to God’s judgment.
And on this day the judgment of God is centred on, heaped upon, focused on
one person - Jesus.
And we say, How can this be? How can the one who lived the perfect life,
the one who was so close to God that he said, “My Father and I are one,”
this one of whom we know God said, “this is My Son with whom I am well
pleased” - how can He actually be judged?
We must remember why Jesus came into the world. He came to give His life as
a ransom for many (Matthew 20:28). He who had no sin was made to be sin for
us (2 Corinthians 5:21). He bore our sins in his body on the tree (1 Peter
2:24). The Lord laid the iniquity of us all on Him (Isaiah 53:6).
So as Jesus carries all the sin of the world on His shoulders – in His soul
– He who had never experienced separation from God – He who was one with the
Father – experienced the judgment of God.
This idea is strengthened by the fact that the text says that at the ninth
hour Jesus said, “Eloi, Eloi …. My God my God why have you forsaken me?”
It is a commentary of what has happened during the previous three hours.
Jesus has experienced being forsaken by God.
It is a great mystery, said the reformer Martin Luther after he had sat
contemplating this sentence for hours on end. It is a great mystery how God
can be forsaken of God.
Yet there it is. “My God, My God,” – an expression of faith – “why have you
forsaken me?” An expression from the depth of His soul. During those three
hours Jesus went to hell. He descended into the depths of judgment and He
was forsaken. As He who had no sin was made sin.
It is said that John Calvin always struggled with the Apostle’s Creed. Not
with its content or accuracy but with its order. The order goes - He
suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried. He descended
into hell.
Calvin suggests that the order should be “He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, descended into hell, was dead and buried.” Calvin rightly
understood that Jesus received the punishment of hell while He was on that
cross.1
The darkness is a reflection of the great agony of judgment which our Lord
is suffering as He stands in our place and the wrath of God is being poured
on Him for the sin of the world. He is forsaken. Cast into darkness.
Receiving the fury and curse of God. To be cursed is to be cut off from the
light of His presence.
It was always remain a great mystery and we will never be able to measure
the depths of our Lord’s agony as He the Son experiences for the first time
separation from the Father.
Walter Wangerin Jr. writes, “The loss of light for humanity is at once the
loss of love and life for Christ. He has entered the absolute void.
Between Father and Son there now exists a gulf of impassable width and
substance. It is the divorce of despising. For though the Son still loves
the Father obediently and completely, the Father despises the Son completely
because he sees in him the sum of human disobedience the sum of it from the
beginning of time to the end of time. He hates the son, even unto damning
him.
“And this is a mystery – that he can be the obedient glorious love of God
and the full measure of our disobedience both at once. But right now this
mystery is a fact. And the fact must seem to last forever. Hell’s horror is
that it lasts forever.”2
From the sixth hour to the ninth hour darkness covered all the land.
But out of this darkness comes a light. Here are five truths that we must
understand.
We must understand that our sin is fully on Christ. We have fallen short –
but Jesus Christ has gone as our sin representative.
2 Corinthians 5:21 - “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so
that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
1 Peter 3:18 – “He died for sins once for all, the righteous for the
unrighteous.
1 Peter 2:24 -“He bore our sins in his body on the tree.”
He bore all of our sin, the sin that we sometimes cannot forgive or forget,
the sin that often haunts our consciousness, the sin that yet breaks in on
us in our sleep. My friends, if you have given it to Christ in repentance –
it is fully on Christ. The darkness was real, he bore all of your sin.
Second, your sin through faith in Christ is fully paid for. Galatians 3:13 -
“He became a curse for us.” There is nothing left to pay. There is
nothing more for you to do. There is nothing more that God can demand of
you. But you say, my sin is so great and I’m sure God is still judging me
for my sin. To be sure, there are consequences to our sin. If you cheat on
your wife you may lose her respect and your home life may go down in flames,
and you will experience pain, but don’t think that’s God. If you have
repented of your sin, there is no more penalty, there is no condemnation
(Romans 8:1) for those who are in Christ.
Back in frontier times, a father and son were caught in a fast-moving
prairie fire. The fire was rushing at them so fast, with wind blowing it
their way, that they realized they couldn’t outrun it.
So the father stopped, took a stick he found, and dug a circle in the
grass. Then he set fire to the circle to burn off the grass. Once the spot
was burned off, he and his son stood in the centre of the circle.
The man’s son was still afraid and said, “Dad, the fire is going to come
through here and burn us. Let’s get in the wagon and run.”
“No,” his father replied, “We’re going to stand right here. The spot we’re
standing on has already been burned. It can’t be burned twice.”
That’s what Christ did for us on the cross. He was burned for our sins. As
long as we stand on Christ, the fire of God’s judgment cannot touch us.
Jesus has already died and you cannot be burned by God’s judgment.
Your sin through faith in Christ is fully paid for.
Thirdly, your sin is fully taken away. Hebrews 9:28 – “Christ was
sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people.” When God looks
at you He does not see one scarred by sin, He does not see your past,
however sordid it may be. He does not see your past no matter how far you
think you have sunk. He now – miracle of miracles – sees you as a new
creation!
“For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love,
(mercy) for those who fear him.” (Psalm 103:11)
John Phillips points out in his commentary that this is the vertical
measure. We take a point on this planet and we draw a line upward. We
extend that line beyond the clouds, up beyond the remotest planet, up beyond
the highest star. Up. That is the vertical measure of His mercy.
“As far is east is from west so far has He removed our transgressions
from us.” (Psalm 103:12) It is significant that the text says as far as
east is from west. It doesn’t say as far as south is from north. The
north-south measure is finite. Light travels from pole to pole fourteen
times a second. If you start traveling south there comes a time when you
come to the south pole a definite point and you must begin traveling north.
East and west are totally different. We can start to travel east and there
is no point, as long as we continue in that direction, at which we start to
travel west. Or we can start to travel west and no matter how long we
continue, there is no point at which we start to travel east. West is
always west; east is always east.
So we take a point on earth and draw a line vertically into infinity. We
also draw a line horizontally into infinity – so far has He removed our sins
from us. There is a point on this planet where those two infinite lines
intersect; the vertical line and the horizontal line. The point is
Calvary!
We draw all our lines from the cross. The upright of the cross, driven like
a stake into the ground is where we being our vertical line. We extend it
up into infinity. The crossbar of the tree, flung wide as though to embrace
the world, is where we begin our horizontal line into infinity. That is how
the Lord measures His mercy in terms of the cross.3
Your sin is fully taken away, and what God has taken away we have no right
to dig up.
God is fully with us. From the sixth hour to the ninth hour darkness came
over all the land. The Lord laid on Jesus Christ the iniquity of us all.
(Isaiah 53:6). He took our judgment. He was forsaken. So that you and I
can say we shall never be forsaken.
And then this. God loves sinners. God hates sin, he judges sin. He calls
us to holiness but never doubt the strength of his love for you. Never
think that God is against you. That has been settled on the cross he has
shown you with a proof that cannot be denied that he loves you so much so
that he would allow his son to die to bear your sin to bear his judgment so
that we can be free at last free at last thank God almighty we are free at
last. Never doubt the great love of God who died for us while we were yet
sinners to make us the righteousness of God.
From the sixth hour to the ninth hour darkness was over all the land.
Copyright MBC and Tom Cullen - March 2006
1. R.C. Sproul, The Glory of Christ
(Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, 1990), 161.
2. Walter Wangerin Jr. Reliving the Passion (Grand
Rapids Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992), 126.
3. John Phillips, Exploring The Psalms Volume Two
(Neptune, New Jersey: Loizeaux Brothers Publishing, 1988), 127-128. |
