Good Friday Darkness
Holy Week 2023 • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
[PRAYER]
45 Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour.
33 When the sixth hour came, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour.
44 It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45 because the sun was obscured; and the veil of the temple was torn in two.
The darkness that came with the death of Jesus came during the brightest part of the day, i.e., from 12-3 p.m. It wasn’t a solar eclipse or some other natural occurence. It was a supernatural act of God the Father in fulfillment of His Word.
9 “It will come about in that day,” declares the Lord God, “That I will make the sun go down at noon And make the earth dark in broad daylight.
[INTER] But as His Son died on the cross, what was God the Father saying through this darkness?
Major Ideas
Major Ideas
In the Bible, darkness sometimes represents mystery and the death of Jesus on the cross was surely a mystery.
In the Bible, darkness sometimes represents mystery and the death of Jesus on the cross was surely a mystery.
[EXP] It was no doubt most mysterious, most confusing for the Apostles and other disciples of Jesus.
About five days earlier they had ushered Him into Jerusalem hailing Him as King of the Jews, and now He was dead on a Roman cross.
How did this make any sense?
The death of Jesus, however, didn’t appear mysterious to everyone.
The Jewish religious leaders who had conspired to put Him to death considered His death the just consequences for what they considered to be Jesus’ blasphemies.
He had made Himself equal with God, so in their way of thinking, He deserved to die on a Roman cross.
In their minds, there was no mystery in the death of Jesus, just another blasphemer getting what he deserved.
Likewise, the Romans, at least most of them, didn’t consider the death of Jesus to be a great mystery.
The Jews wanted Him dead, and the Romans satisfied their murderous hunger for the death of Jesus in order to keep the peace.
In their minds, Jesus was just another criminal departing this earth they way so many criminals had before—by way of the cross.
But when the darkness covered the land and Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed His last (Mk. 15:33, 37), there was one Roman who saw through the darkness—through the mystery—to the light of Christ.
39 When the centurion, who was standing right in front of Him, saw the way He breathed His last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”
[APP] God’s plan of salvation had been shrouded in darkness, shrouded in mystery, but in the death and resurrection of Jesus, God the Son, the veil was torn away so that the mystery was now revealed.
The Apostle Paul describes the revelation of this this plan of salvation, in the revelation of this Gospel, in terms of mystery and light in Ephesians 3.
Paul marvels at the grace of God in calling him to be a preacher of “the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to bring to light the mysterious plan that God, the Creator of all things, had kept secret from the beginning,” (Eph. 3:8-9 NLT).
The death of Jesus was covered in darkness, covered in mystery, but like that Roman Centurion, we have seen the light of God’s grace in Jesus Christ.
We understand that in the death of Jesus, the Son of God was dying in our place.
He was dying to save us.
[TS]…
In the Bible, darkness sometimes represents judgment and the darkness that surrounded the death of Jesus on the cross was certainly a judgment.
In the Bible, darkness sometimes represents judgment and the darkness that surrounded the death of Jesus on the cross was certainly a judgment.
[EXP] When Pharaoh refused to let His people go, God brought judgment on Egypt in the form a great darkness.
21 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.” 22 So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days. 23 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.
The darkness represented God’s displeasure, His judgment on Pharaoh’s stubborn wickedness.
The darkness that surrounded the death of Jesus likewise represented God’s displeasure, His judgment on the stubborn wickedness of all men.
When a judge issues his judgment, he finds a person either “guilty” or “not guilty” based on the evidence.
It is apparent that those who crucified Jesus were guilty because as Jesus hung on the cross, He prayed, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”
Only the guilty need forgiveness.
The darkness was God’s judgment of “guilty” on the Jews who orchestrated the death of God’s Son.
The darkness was God’s judgment of “guilty” on the Gentiles who accomplished the death of God’s Son.
But the darkness was also God’s judgment of “guilty” on His own Son who, although He had no sin, became sin so that all the guilty can be made righteous in Him (2 Cor. 5:21).
[APP] When Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them,” He was at that very moment providing the very means whereby they might be forgiven.
The Bible says that without the shedding of blood there can be no forgiveness of sins.
In other words, the guilty cannot be forgiven unless an atoning sacrifice is offered in their place.
Jesus is that perfect atoning sacrifice who took on our guilt and offered Himself in our place so that we can be forgiven.
The darkness that surrounded the cross said, “Guilty,” by the light of God’s grace in the face of Jesus Christ says, “Forgiven.”
[TS]…
In the Bible, darkness sometimes represents evil and the murder of Jesus on the cross that Friday was certainly a great evil.
In the Bible, darkness sometimes represents evil and the murder of Jesus on the cross that Friday was certainly a great evil.
[EXP] God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all, and yet God brings darkness to surround the death of His Son because a great evil has taken place.
The death of Jesus was a murder; the most heinous murder ever committed.
And the evil at work in the murder of Jesus goes all the way back to Satan’s rebellion in heaven, to Adam and Eve’s fall in the garden, and to the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness.
Just before Jesus began His public ministry, He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil (Mt. 4:1).
The devil tempted, but Jesus resisted by perfectly obeying God’s Word on every occasion.
Then the devil left Jesus until a more opportune time.
It seems that Jesus later heard the opportunistic whisper of Satan in Peter’s rebuke.
Jesus said that He must go to Jerusalem, be handed over to evil men, be crucified, and then resurrected three days later.
Peter said that would never happen so long as he was around.
Jesus said, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s,” (Mt. 16:23).
And the evil plotting of Satan reached its zenith when he filled Judas Iscariot who then handed Jesus over to those who murdered Him.
3 And Satan entered into Judas who was called Iscariot, belonging to the number of the twelve. 4 And he went away and discussed with the chief priests and officers how he might betray Him to them.
Jesus knew that His struggle was “not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places,” (Eph. 6:12).
God the Father brought darkness to surround the death of His Son because a great evil had taken place, but that great evil was playing right into God’s hand.
The evil behind Herod’s mockery of Jesus, Pilate’s indifference toward Jesus, and the Gentile’s brutal execution of Jesus was satanic in origin, and yet the Apostle Peter prays in Acts 4:27-28…
27 “For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur.
[APP] God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all. He does not create evil. He is not the source of evil.
But He did use the freely chosen evil actions of all those who had a hand in murdering Jesus to win for Himself glory and to win for us salvation.
God the Father brought darkness to surround the death of His Son because a great evil had taken place, but God worked that evil to our good (Rom. 8:28).
20 “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.
[TS]…
Conclusion
Conclusion
The death of Jesus was a mystery but a mystery now revealed.
We know that the cross was not a loss. We know that Jesus died and rose from the dead to win for us salvation.
The death of Jesus was a judgment, but those found “guilty” can find forgiveness through faith in the risen Jesus.
The death of Jesus was an act of great evil, but an act of great evil that God used for His greater glory and our greater good, which was His plan all along.
[PRAYER]