The Darkness could not overcome the Light

Luke 23:44-45 Good Friday Tenebrae

In the name of Jesus.

“It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.” (Lk 23:44-45) From noon until three, as Jesus hung upon the cross, darkness covered the earth. Historians, astrologers, and even meteorologists have weighed in on what caused the sun to darken for three hours that Friday afternoon. Theories range from eclipses to windstorms and sandstorms that might have caused the darkness. What’s important about this darkness isn’t a astrological or meteorological cause, but what it means. In other words, it doesn’t matter to us how it got dark, but it does matter to us that the darkness tried to cover the Light of the World.

There are three things to remember about the darkness of Good Friday tonight, in this service of darkness. The first thing to remember takes us back to the very beginning of Scripture. When God created the heavens and the earth, Genesis says, “The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” The Lord spoke, and it was light. John gives another perspective of this action in John 1:4–5 “In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” Jesus then confesses in John 8 that He is the Light of the world. There is light in this world because Jesus is the origin of light and the creator of all that is. On that Friday, as Jesus hung upon the cross, the Light of the world was suspended over the world He made - and it was dark. The Light of the World was going out. On that day, the One through whom all things were made died. Jesus of Nazareth was not merely a good man or an exemplary man. He was and is God in the flesh who was present with God at creation, and He died. The Light of the world was going out, indeed, and all creation recognized the death of the Creator.

The second thing to remember in this service of darkness is that, in Scripture, darkness points to judgement. During the 9th Plague in the land of Egypt before the Passover, the Lord sent three days of darkness on the land that was so thick it could be felt, according to Exodus 10. The prophets confessed that darkness was a sign of God’s anger against sin, as Isaiah said

Isaiah 13:9–10 “Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the land a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it. For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light.”

and Jeremiah said

Jeremiah 15:7–9 “I have winnowed them with a winnowing fork in the gates of the land; I have bereaved them; I have destroyed my people; they did not turn from their ways. I have made their widows more in number than the sand of the seas; I have brought against the mothers of young men a destroyer at noonday; I have made anguish and terror fall upon them suddenly. She who bore seven has grown feeble; she has fainted away; her sun went down while it was yet day; she has been shamed and disgraced. And the rest of them I will give to the sword before their enemies, declares the Lord.””

and Amos said

Amos 8:9–10 ““And on that day,” declares the Lord God, “I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight. I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth on every waist and baldness on every head; I will make it like the mourning for an only son and the end of it like a bitter day.”

And so the second meaning of the darkness over Golgotha is that, in the Cross, we see the promised judgment of God upon human sin. The darkness signifies that God himself is acting here to pronounce sentence upon the wickedness of the world. The event is frightening, indeed. It is therefore our privilege, on Ash Wednesday and on Good Friday, and, indeed, whenever we confess our sins, to step forward in repentance as we read in the Epistle of Peter, "Now is the time for judgment to begin with the household of God" (1 Peter 4:17). It is our proper part, this day, to think of our own disobedience of God's holy commands, our faithlessness and chasing after false gods, our indifference to his sacrifice of unconditional love, our contempt of his righteous judgments upon the greed and injustices of our society. The prophets of old called the people of Israel to repentance; the darkness over Calvary summons us, the people of God today, to confess our sins at the foot of the Cross.

And finally, the third significance of the darkness of Calvary starts by being reminded of Jesus’ own words in Luke 22:52–53 “Then Jesus said to the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders, who had come out against him, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs? When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.”” The darkness shows the empire of evil warring against Jesus, God in the flesh. Chaos, night, and darkness engage in battle against Jesus, the Light of the World. This cosmic battle for all creation occurs as Jesus hangs on the cross, and the army of sin and death “does their worst” against Him. As Satan is unleashed against the Son of God, you can almost hear the whispers, “I told you that they wouldn’t care. One of your own disciples betrayed you. They all ran away. The boldest of them denied you while you were on trial. Where are all your followers now? Where are the people you healed and the tax collectors and sinners that you spent all your time with? They don’t care, you are alone and abandoned, even by God.” This is the ultimate assault of sin and death in the world, attacking God Himself.

This evening, with the lights out and a single candle flickering in a blackened and dark church, it seems like the darkness wins. It seems like the light of the world is snuffed out. On Calvary, God died. But don’t be deceived. Sin, death, hell, Satan, and the forces of evil did not win. Jesus laid down His life to restore all creation. The Light of the World from the beginning used His death to restore all things, and as He breathed His last, the Lord Jesus made all things very good once again. Covered in darkness with the body of Jesus on the cross, all things are restored as evil is undone. You will see His resurrection and His glory, but today, the Light of the World conquers all evil in the darkness. Amen.