Let us turn once more to the
Word of God and turn into the portion of Scripture we were
reading in the Gospel. The Gospel as we find it here
in Luke's account. Luke chapter 23 and I'll read
verses 44 and 45 for our text. Luke 23 44 and 45 and it was about the sixth
hour and there was a darkness over all the earth until the
ninth hour and the sun was darkened and the veil of the temple was
rent in the midst. Here then in Luke's account of
the sufferings, the crucifixion, the death of the Lord Jesus in
verses 44 and 45 of this chapter and Jesus
we're told rather it was about the sixth hour and there was
a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour and the
sun was darkened and the veil of the temple was rent in the
midst what is seen is that the darkness that envelops Calvary
as the Lord Jesus makes this great sin-atoning sacrifice. Of course, in the following verse,
46, we're told how he cried with a loud voice and said, Father,
into thy hands I commend my spirit, and having said thus, he gave
up the ghost. It's the end. of all his sufferings. But now the whole scene is shrouded
in the darkness. So I want to say something with
regards to the darkness. What of this darkness? Well,
first of all, it was fearful. It was a fearful darkness. And in it we see something really
of the testimony of nature to what is transpiring at the death
of the Lord Jesus Christ There were those who, we might say,
were moved with enmity and indignation against him. They were there
ready to ridicule and to scoff him. Verse 35, we are told, the
people stood beholding And the rulers also with them derided
him, saying, he saved others, let him save himself if he be
Christ the chosen of God. And the soldiers also mocked
him, coming to him and offering him vinegar and saying, if thou
be the king of the Jews, save thyself. There were many there
to pour ridicule upon this dying man. there were those then who
were moved by great enmity many of course were were unmoved I
suppose quite apathetic quite indifferent as to what was happening
but now we see in the words that I've read as our text that inanimate
creation was certainly affected the sun was darkened it says
it affects that remarkable orb, the sun that of course gives
us life here upon the earth but the sun was darkened and in Matthew's
account we're told how the earth did quake and the rocks rent
and it reminds us I suppose really of the words of the hymn writer
when he speaks of how all these things were having their effect
upon the creation, although so many amongst humankind were completely
untouched. The rocks can rend, the earth
can quake, the seas can roar, the mountains shake, a feeling,
all things show some sign but this unfeeling heart of mine. says Joseph Hart in his hymn,
Our Unfeeling Heart, so we can read the accounts of the crucifixion
and we have it recorded of course on four accounts really, we have
a fourfold gospel and each of them give accounts in detail
of all that transpired in the death of the Lord Jesus and yet
we read, we read and We can be completely unmoved by it, we
just read it. And alas, we feel nothing at
all in our own souls, and yet how different it was for all
of creation. The curse of sin, we know, is
upon that world, that world that God made good. We have the record,
of course, there in the opening chapter of Scripture. And at
the end of all those six days of creation, the Lord God looks
upon His creation. He's made the heavens and the
earth. He's set man in the midst of the paradise which was the
Garden of Eden and He looks. And all is very good. All is
very good. But then we read of man and man's
disobedience. And the outcome of that and what
he said, remember there in that third chapter of Genesis when
the Lord God addresses himself to the man who stands at the
very apex of the work of creation. Genesis 3.17, unto Adam he said,
Because thou wast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast
eaten of the tree, of which I commanded this saying, Thou shalt not eat
of it. Cursed is the ground for thy sake. In sorrow shalt thou
eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns also and thistles
shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of
the field. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till
thou return unto the ground, for out of it was thou taken.
For thus thou art, and unto thus shalt thou return." Cursed is
the ground for thy sake, Adam. Oh, the curse has affected all
that God had made so very good. Man's sin has brought that dreadful
curse upon a beautiful creation. And so Paul writing there in
the 8th chapter of the epistle to the Romans speaks about the
whole creation groaneth and travaileth together until now. And it's interesting because
on numerous times in scripture we see how nature is called upon
to testify against the sins of men. we see it in Moses as we
have the record of his song there in Deuteronomy chapter 32 but
see how the song of Moses is introduced as it were from the
end of chapter 31 He says in verse 28 there, Gather
unto me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, that
I may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth
to record against them. For I know that after my death
ye will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which
I have commanded you. And evil will befall you in the
latter days, because ye will do evil in the sight of the Lord,
to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands. And Moses
spake in the ears of all the congregation of Israel the words
of this song until they were ended. And now does the song
begin. Give ear, O ye heavens, and I
will speak. And hear, O earth, the words
of my mouth. He is calling all of creation
to record against this people. that creation, of course, that
is bearing the consequence, the curse of man's rebellion and
man's sin against God. And as it is in the case of Moses,
we see the same really with regards to the prophets. Even that gospel
book, the prophecy of Isaiah, what do we have there at the
beginning of Isaiah? the very opening words. There
in chapter 1 and verse 2, Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth,
for the Lord hath spoken. I have nourished and brought
up children, and they have rebelled against me. The ox knoweth his
owner, and the ass his master's crib, but Israel doth not know.
my people doth not consider. Again, how the prophet has God's
mouthpiece is addressing himself to the heavens and to the earth
to bear witness against the wickedness of those who were the ancient
people of God, those favoured people. You only have I known
of all the families of the earth and yet there is the Lord God
through his servant bearing testimony against them. how the earth is
addressed. There's that, I always find it
a remarkable verse in Jeremiah 22, 29. Oh earth, earth, earth,
hear the word of the Lord. The Lord God addresses the earth.
Nature testifies against the foolishness of men and the sins
of men. When we see it, do we not hear
even at the crucifixion of the Lord
Jesus as He is making this great sin-atoning sacrifice. There
is darkness over the whole of the earth for three hours. For
three hours! It was about the sixth hour and
was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. Again, We see it in that hymn
on Calvary, that long hymn, 53, it's in two parts, on the Passion
of the Lord Jesus Christ. The first part runs to some 14
verses, and the second part's another 10 verses. I suppose
it's more a hymn for reading and meditating upon than for
singing in the praises of God, with the language that we have
there in the second part. And there at verses 3 and 4,
when rocks and mountains rent with dread and gaping graves
gave up their dead when their fair sun withdrew his light and
hid his head to shun the sight then stood the wretch of human
race and raised his head and showed his face gazed unconcerned
when nature failed and scoffed and sneered and cursed and railed
or does it not make us when we read such words to stop and consider
that we can know of these things and read these things and yet
at times we seem to be so unmoved by the whole scene what's being
recorded here the sufferings of him who is the eternal son
of God but here we see him also of course as the son of man God
manifest in the flesh and that man holy, harmless, undefiled
and separate from sinners. That man who never sinned, never
transgressed any commandment of God, only honoured and magnified
the Lord God and yet here he is dying. Dying the most accursed
death, the death of the cross. We have the testimony of nature
then, against men in all their foolishness. as they scoff at
the sight or are so unconcerned at what's happening and you know
really the darkness said something further before us because isn't
the darkness in many ways a type of hell? when the Lord Jesus
speaks of that dreadful place he refers to it as outer darkness
it's the language that we find the Lord using in Matthew in
chapter 22 and verse 13 and again in Matthew 25 and verse 30 he
speaks of them going into outer darkness Jude in that short epistle at
the end of the New Testament speaks of the blackness of darkness
forever that's a description of hell the blackness of darkness
forever Where are the devils? Well again, Jude reminds us they
are reserved in everlasting chains under darkness. It reminds us,
doesn't it, that Satan is no free agent. He is subject to God. Of course,
we see that really in the accounts of the book of Job, in all that
befalls Job. The devil's not a free agent,
it's a mystery. In no way is God the author of
sin. He's the Holy One of Israel. The boy's too pure to behold
iniquity, he cannot look upon sin. But the great enemy of souls,
that wicked, proud spirit called Satan, He is reserved in everlasting
chains under darkness, it says. And when we read of God's dealings
with the enemies of the children of Israel, when he's about to
deliver them from all the bondage that they were having to endure
under the Egyptians, we're told, aren't we, that he visits these
various plagues, the ten plagues. And of course the final plague
is the destroying angel and that death that comes upon the households
of all the Egyptians. But there are the Hebrews and
they're sheltering under the blood. The Paschal Lamb has been
slain and they've taken the blood and they put it upon the doorpost
and the lintels and they remain indoors. And the destroying angel
passes over those houses, they're secure, they're safe. And of
course it's a Passover feast that our Lord Jesus Christ, when
he observed it for the final time here upon the earth and
then makes the sacrifice that is the fulfillment of that type. He's a paschal lamb, he's the
lamb slain from the foundation of the world, but as he observes
his final Passover, we see how he changes. He changes that Old
Testament feast into what we now know as that holy ordinance
of the Lord's Supper that we will presently in God's goodness
once again observe and partake of the broken bread and drink
of that cup of blessing the communion of the blood of our Lord Jesus
Christ that was the tenth plague and maybe there's some sort of
progression in those plagues the tenth one associated with
the Passover the destruction of all the firstborn sons of
the Egyptians, and the safety of all those of the Hebrews. But the plague immediately previous,
the plague immediately previous to that is the ninth one, of
course. And what is the ninth plague? It is that plague of
darkness. And we have the record, of course,
there in Exodus, in the 10th chapter, In verses 21 and 22, the Lord
said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that
there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness
which may be felt. And Moses stretched forth his
hand toward heaven, and there was a thick darkness in all the
land of Egypt three days. They saw not one another, neither
rose any from his place for three days, but all the children of
Israel had light in their dwellings. It was a darkness, it says there
at the end of verse 21. The margin reads that the Hebrew
is literally, that one may feel darkness. It was a darkness to
be felt. It was such a darkness. It's a type really of hell. And
it's what the Lord has delivered his people from. You know, we
don't only have the record in Exodus of the 10 plagues, we
have reference to those plagues also in the Psalms. In Psalm
78, and you can read there from verse 44, through 51. Read those verses, Psalm 78 from
verse 44 through 51, and you'll see there's the record of each
of the plagues, as the psalmist is recounting something of the
children of Israel. And with regards to that ninth
plague, besides the darkness, we also read of God sending evil
angels among them. the darkness is associated with
the evil angels if satan himself is reserved
in everlasting chains under darkness that's his abode, that's where
satan is how? and where is it that satan comes
from when he He walks about the roaring lions seeking whom he
may devour, the one that we wrestle against. Principalities, powers, says
the Apostle. The rulers of the darkness of
this world, spiritual wickedness in high places. The rulers of
the darkness of this world. Oh, what a darkness is this!
What does it indicate to us? the words that we have here,
does it not speak of the soul of the Lord Jesus Christ, that
darkness that he felt? That was a darkness that he felt
in the very depth of his human soul. He who knew no sin made
sin for us believers, says Paul, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. What did he endure? Was it not
a great darkness that came upon him? In Matthew's accounts we
see how that the darkness is associated with that awful cry
from the sixth hour. There was darkness
over all the earth until the ninth hour. And then Jesus cries
with a loud voice saying, which being interpreted, says Matthew,
is, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? The darkness
is associated with the cry that the Lord utters, that awful cry.
He feels so derelict, so deserted in his soul. Abandoned. That's how he feels. It's a mystery,
isn't it? because the one dying is God-man. Remember, we can
never divide the two natures. The two natures are in one person
and it is the person who is dying. And the person is the Lord Jesus
Christ and He is God manifest in the flesh. And he feels so
deserted of the Father. My God, my God, why? How could
there be such a separation? There can be no separation, because
the three are one God, undivided, indivisible. Oh, what awful darkness it was
then that came into the soul of the Lord Jesus. He says, doesn't
he, to the priests and elders, this is your hour. And the power
of darkness, when they come into the garden to arrest Him, this
is your hour. and the power of darkness, and he felt that darkness.
And really I want, in the second place, to concentrate more particularly
on that aspect. Darkness which may be felt. It
was fearful, yes. It's all of creation, bearing
its testimony against what man has done, bringing this awful
curse upon the whole of creation. It reminds us of the awfulness
of hell itself, that place of outer darkness. But that expression
that we have in the account of the ninth plague,
there in Exodus 10, even darkness which may be felt, it's a figure
of speech, of course. You don't feel the darkness. We turn all the lights off. Our
eyes tell us it's dark, but we can't feel it. Like I can hold
this lectern or touch the book, the Bible. We can't feel the
darkness. It's a figure of speech, but
surely it denotes something of the nature of the darkness. And
what was that darkness in the soul of the Lord Jesus? Well,
it was supernatural. And the darkness here is a supernatural
darkness. It's not just an eclipse, it's
something more than an eclipse, surely. For three hours, from
high noon, when the sun is at its zenith, the sixth hour, that
would be twelve noon, till three o'clock in the afternoon, which is the ninth hour, there
is this darkness. God withdraws the light of which
he is the very source. The sun comes to its zenith in
the sky at 12 noon and then God removes the light just as it
reaches that point. What do we see here? Well, God
himself, of course, is the real source of light. God can create light when there
are no light bearers. Because when we read, of course,
the account of creation, we see that, don't we? God said, let
there be light, and there was light. This is the first day
of creation. And it's not till we come to
verse 14 and the following verses, the fourth day of creation, that
we read of the light-bearers, the sun, the moon, the stars.
How are we to understand this? Well, the Lord Jesus himself
says, I am the light of the world. God can create light when there
are no light-bearers, because he himself is the light. And we see remarkable things
really associated with light and darkness when it comes to
the Lord Jesus Christ that is coming into this world. When you think of his birth and
what we have recorded here in Luke's Gospel There we see how
the darkness of night is turned into the brightness of day, as
the angels appear unto the shepherds. They're watching over their flocks
in the fields. Look at chapter 2, and we're
all familiar, I'm sure, with the account that we have, quite
a detailed account of course, in Luke's Gospel. Verse 8 of chapter 2, There were
in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping
watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord
came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about
them, and they were afraid. And the angel said unto them,
Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy,
which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day
in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord, and
this shall be a sign unto you. Ye shall find the babe wrapped
in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there
was with the angel a multitude, of the heavenly host praising
God and saying, Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace.
Goodwill toward man. Oh, they were sore afraid, he
says. Why? The glory of the Lord shone
round about them. Night is turned into day at the
birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then here, at the death of
the Lord Jesus Christ, why noonday light is turned into midnight
darkness. This is quite a supernatural
event that's being described. In other Gospels we read of the
graves being opened and bodies coming out of the
graves. There's something supernatural here. It was about the sixth
hour and there was a darkness over all the earth until the
ninth hour. And the sun was darkened and the veil of the temple was
rent in the midst. Yes, it's supernatural. It's
that darkness that is so intense, it's something that you can almost
touch it and feel it. But it's more than supernatural,
it's spiritual, isn't it? Because what is it indicative
of? It's indicative of what is transpiring in the very soul
of the Lord Jesus himself remember Isaiah 53 verse 10 and
the reading that we have there in the margin when his soul shall
make an offering for sin here is Christ he is making that offering
for sin he is pouring out his soul onto death When Jesus had
cried with a loud voice, he says, Father, into thy hands I commend
my spirit. And having said thus, he gave
up the ghost. He's pouring out his soul. He's
a real man. He has a true body. He has a reasonable soul. He's
as human as any one of us here this evening. He's the sinless
one and he's making this great sin atoning sacrifice and all
what darkness has entered into his soul. That is a mystery,
isn't it? That is the mystery of that great
cry, that awful cry of abandonment and dereliction. All the three
persons in the Godhead, Father, Son and Holy Ghost. One God, undivided, one God,
indivisible. And yet, here we see the Lord
crying out. Oh, what darkness He must have
felt in His own soul, He knew. a new separation, in a sense,
he's experiencing all that is said in prophecy, he's experiencing
the whole of what we have there in Psalm 22. Remember, that 22nd
Psalm opens, of course, with those words, My God, my God,
why hast thou forsaken me? And you know, it closes, doesn't
it? with those words, he hath done
this. The very final clause of the
psalm. And interestingly, the word this,
in our authorized version, appears there in italics. In other words,
it's one of those words that's been introduced in the translation
more literally. He literally says, at the end
of the psalm, he hath done. He hath done. I suppose He could
equally as well have been rendered. It is finished. I do believe that there the whole
of the Psalm is a description of all that the Lord has to endure
there upon the cross for His people. He was punished as a
substitute. They were the transgressors.
of God's holy law, that law which is holy, the commandment which
is holy and just and good. They were the transgressors.
And what did the Lord experience? He experienced that dreadful
curse of the broken Lord of God. All the darkness and blackness
of that law. When Moses is recounting to the
children of Israel in Deuteronomy recounting something of their
history. They've come now to the end of
the 40 years of wilderness wanderings around the borders of the promised
land and you know in Deuteronomy 5 of course we have the repetition
of what was given at Mount Sinai and recorded in Exodus 20. There
are two separate accounts in the books of Moses of the giving
of the law. Exodus 20 is the actual event
and then he reminds the children of Israel of that law in Deuteronomy
chapter 5 and so in the previous fourth chapter he is describing
something of the scene when God gave the commandments Deuteronomy
4.11 the mountain burned with fire into the midst of heaven
with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness. Oh, that's the law
of God. How it's that law which is holy,
that commandment which is holy, it's just, it's good. And yet,
what a terror that law is to sinners. Oh, by that law comes
the knowledge of sin, the darkness of it, thick darkness. But here is a sinner's comfort,
the Lord Jesus Christ has satisfied all of that divine justice that
is revealed to us in the law of God. The law is a revelation
of who God is. He's holy, He's just, He's righteous. And the transgressor of the law,
what What is the consequence of sin? The soul that sinneth
it shall die, says the Lord. The wages of sin is death. And the Lord Jesus Christ has
answered all those demands in the room and place and stead
of His people. He has satisfied divine justice,
He has opened up the way for sinners to come to God. That's what the Lord has done,
answered every demand of the Lord of God. He did it, of course,
by the life that He lived. He was obedient to every commandment. He honored it, He magnified it.
By His obedience in living, He wrought a robe of righteousness.
but that was not sufficient to save the sinner because the sinner
was the transgressor and transgression would mean death and so Christ
who lived the righteous life must now die that accursed death
as a substitute and he has done that in order to open up the
way for the sinner to come to God and to know peace with God
All we see is here in that awful darkness that entered into the
very soul of the Redeemer. It was about the sixth hour there
was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. And the
sun was darkened and the veil of the temple was rent in the
midst. Oh here it is at the end of the
text you see. The veil of the temple, rent
in the midst. Remember that veil, you see,
that separates the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. Who
could enter beyond that veil? Who could go into that Holy of
Holies? Where was, of course, the Ark
of the Covenant and the Mercy Seat, covering that Ark, the
place where only the High Priest was ever allowed to venture.
And he could only do that on that one day in the year, Yom
Kippur, the Day of Atonement. And he must go there and sprinkle
blood, the blood of the trespass offering. The blood of that goat
was to be slain. Two goats taken, one to be the
scapegoat, the other to be the sacrifice. The scapegoat taken
at the hands of a strung man into the wilderness and let go.
The removal of all that sin on the scapegoat but also there
must be another goat that will be the sacrifice and the shedding of blood or
without the shedding of blood no remission. But it was only
that one day in the year that the high priest could go into
that place, the holy of holies. But now, all's opened, because
we have Christ the fulfilment, or the fulfilment of all those
types and shadows, the fulfilment of all that was typified in the
scapegoats, in the sacrifice goat, in the trespass offering,
and the way opened up remember how we see the answer of course
to all those things in the book of Leviticus when we turn to
the New Testament and especially the epistle to the Hebrews and
the words that the apostle writes there in Hebrews 10 verse 19 and I close with these words
having therefore brethren boldness to enter into the holiest by
the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he hath
consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh.
And having an high priest over the house of God, let us draw
near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our
hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed
with pure waters. Oh let us hold fast our profession
of faith without wavering. Oh the Lord God grant that we
might be those then who do come by the faith of Jesus Christ.
We look to this one and all that he said before us in all the
blackness of the darkness that he experienced there at Calvary. Oh, the Lord be pleased to bless
his word to us. Amen.