The Darkest Day in History

Good morning everyone. I am so happy to see you all again this morning. To those of you joining us online, I want to thank you for joining us here. We are in the process of fully reopening our discipleship activities very soon. Actually on Easter Sunday, that is April 4th we will be returning coffee and treats to our lobby area. You will definitely want tot come and enjoy our amazing new coffee bar here in our newly remodeled space. It will be fantastic. We will even have a special coffee ordered by Bethany and I that we will have along with various creamers and syrups to put into your coffee. I promise you will NOT want to miss that! Then on April 11th we are having an anniversary party immediately following our morning worship. We are celebrating 20 years in this facility. April 18 brings our children’s church back and April 24th brings back the remainder of our Bible Studies for all ages all happening immediately following our morning worship. It is a great time to jump back in, or jump in for the first time…I promise you will be blessed more than you realize when you are able to come worship in person. So, I want to personally encourage you to make it a priority to join us in person on Easter Sunday April 4th, and then weekly after that as we will have an AMAZING April with many opportunities to serve you and many opportunities for you to serve others within the LRBC family.

Ok, now that I have really talked up the Month of April, I guess we should turn our attention to a list that I partially found, and partially made myself this past week. You see, the title of today’s message is “The darkest day in history”, and so I figured that I would think about some of the darkest days in history and share a top 10 list of the worst days in history, at least American history. So, let’s check this out together...

#10 - A ten-way tie between Pearl Harbor, the 1814 burning of Washington, the Dred Scott decision, the assassination of Lincoln, passing of the first Jim Crow laws, the 1929 stock market crash, the assassination of JFK, MLK's assassination, the Battle of Antietam, and 9/11 - I wasn’t around for most of those, but they were definitely pretty bad. 

#9 - The day The Office left Netflix - 83% of Americans spent the last 10 years building their entire personalities around liking The Office. When it left the world's most popular streaming platform, millions of people were lost. Many may never recover. 

#8 - When Taco Bell Stopped selling the Gordita - To this day, I still dream of its spicy, pillowy deliciousness. Long live the Gordita. Never forget. 

#7 - December 15, 2017: the day The Last Jedi hit theatres - A day that will live in infamy.

#6 - The day Marvel’s Infinity War came out and Spider-Man said, “Im not feeling so good Mr Stark”- The sadness that poured out that day was unmatched by any other event.

#5 - That time in 2015 that “the dress” broke the internet. Was it white and gold, or blue and black? - Arguably no one actually cared about this, but it became the defining conversation piece in February 2015.

#4 - All the days before air conditioning was invented - Seriously-- how did people even survive? 

#3 - The day they changed normal gas can spouts with those stupid locking things that don't work and make you spill gas everywhere!! - The decline of Western Civilization can be traced to this day.

#2 - That day Bo and Luke Duke were replaced by their inferior cousins Coy and Vance Duke - Actually this is the time that broke my childhood!

#1 - That day the new pastor moved the seats in the sanctuary and nobody knew where to sit - I still don’t know how I wasn’t fired immediately!

Ok, so clearly that was a little humor, with a little truth mixed into it. Some of you can really appreciate some of these dark days, others, well, you’re better than the rest of us. The reality is that none of these days were actually the darkest day in history. That is what we are going to be talking about today though. So, let’s turn our thinking to now and to the Scriptures that we are talking about now. We have been in the book of Mark for a few weeks now and we will be finishing up on Easter Sunday. We have begun looking at the dark portion of the Gospel and it has been a little hard to think about the things that happened to Jesus. It’s been a little hard to think about Jesus taking my place as he was judged and beaten and finally crucified. Last week we looked at Jesus’ crucifixion and realized the imagery that God orchestrated even in the death of his son. This week we are looking at the result of that crucifixion. Actually, that is why I titled today’s message “The Darkest Day in History” and I really believe that is true. Today we are going to look into the moment that Jesus died and discover what that means for us, today…Join me as we look at

Mark 15:33–41 ESV

And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” There were also women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. When he was in Galilee, they followed him and ministered to him, and there were also many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem.

So that is the whole story, but this morning we are going to divide this up into 3 sections and see how this day actually is both the darkest day and the best day in all of human history. So the first section we are going to look at this morning is...

Jesus Dies (v.33-37)

So let’s refresh our minds on these verses and then talk about what is going on here.

Mark 15:33–36 ESV

And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.”

Now you should understand here that the sixth hour is actually noon, and the 9th hour was 3pm. It is also worth noting here that the darkness was likely limited to the land where they were, not a darkness that filled the whole Earth. However, is there a logical explanation to the darkness? That is the question many people have asked before. For instance, was this an eclipse, or some sort of dust cloud? Well, not really. You see, these explanations have been thought through. First of all an Eclipse is impossible around the full moon. The time that we will see a solar eclipse enough to have noticeable effect will be when the moon is in the new moon phase., and that simply does not happen around this is time of year when Passover occurs. Secondly the idea that there would be some sort of a dust cloud that would happen during the rainy and wet spring season is something that just would not happen.

Actually, Mark is showing the reader a connection to another prophecy that we can see in

Amos 8:9 ESV

“And on that day,” declares the Lord God, “I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight.

Mark is ensuring that everyone knows that this is not a typical day, in fact, this is a day that should be remembered as the darkest day in history, literally. To the reader this is a supernatural event, and today 2000 plus years later, that is still the best explanation of what took place on that day. From noon, until 3 pm the land, whether it is the region, or the entire globe is not overly clear, but either way, the land was dark…there was night in the middle of the day. This was not a cloudy day like during a storm, this is a day when the sun’s light was literally removed. If it was simply a dark cloudy day, then it would not have been impactful enough to write about. The very fact that every single Gospel writer wrote about this tells us this was an impactful event, and an event that was worth noting.

However, that’s not all becuase the day Jesus died, really the hour Jesus died, he cried out. He didn’t just yell and scream from pain. No, he cried out in pain and anguish. The words he cried out according to Mark is, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” This phrase is then translated for us so that we can understand it. Now this is interesting becuase Jesus cried out in Aramaic and the all of people around him didn’t fully grasp what was happening. Some thought that he was crying out for Elijah to come and rescue him, others thought he was delirious in pain and so they took a sponge with the sour wine that Jesus had refused earlier for Jesus to have a little relief. All of those were wrong and so Mark makes clear for us as the readers what Jesus actually said.

He did not cry for Elijah, he was not delirious…no, he was crying out to God saying, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” That’s a really important phrase that Jesus is crying out to the Father. I wonder though…do you know why it is an important phrase? Well, we could say that it is important becuase Jesus was feeling the separation from the Father as Jesus took on the sin of the world. Remember in Mark 10:45 we see that Jesus suffered as “a ransom for many”. Theologian James Brooks says,

Mark 17. The Crucifixion (15:21–41)

while he bore the sins of the world, God could not be with him; and he was literally abandoned not only by his disciples but also by his Father. This view is quite in keeping with the theme of the loneliness of Jesus, which has been prominent since the Gethsemane scene (14:32–41)

That is enough for us to understand what is happening and how Jesus is feeling. The thing is, there is more happening in this phrase. Jesus speaking in Aramaic is important, becuase this language is what allows others to understand that Jesus is pointing back to

Psalm 22:1 ESV

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?

This allows us to see the suffering of the suffering servant. This is the moment that Jesus truly feels alone and abandoned, not just by his disciples, but by the Father. That is an intense abandonment. I know that several of you have felt something like this before. At least, you thought you were alone. You thought that God had abandoned you, you felt lonely. However, you knew that the truth is that God never actually abandoned you, this was just a temporary feeling and you needed to simply replace the faulty thoughts with truth. For Jesus though, this was a real abandonment. Jesus was literally severed from the Father as he experienced real spiritual death, the price of sin. There is something that I love about this cry to God that we read from Jesus. Jesus, at the time of suffering cried out to God in a real way, but even in his cry he knew the truth. You see, the phrase he chose to point us as the reader to is that of a God that of confidence that God will deliver. You see, when we take Psalm 22:1 alone we see a complaint of despair. However, when we take the chapter as a whole in context, we see that at one point Jesus was abandoned by God, and he felt that very plainly; but even then, however, he had confidence that God would restore him.

This is the the moment Jesus died. Actually we read that in vs. 37 that Jesus cried out with his last breath. This is the moment Jesus died for you and for me. This is the moment that Jesus experienced the spiritual and physical anguish that matched the emotional anguish in the garden of pressing. This is the moment that changed everything!

So what changed? Let’s take a look...

Jesus Changes (v.38)

Mark 15:38 ESV

And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.

Ok, so this one verse doesn’t seem like much is goin on, right? I mean, big deal some curtain tore....I’ve torn lots of curtains, what was so special about this curtain? Well, there are actually a couple of things that are really important about this curtain. First of all the temple is 30 cubits tall which is about 52 feet tall, then according to Josephus the temple was raised to 40 cubits would would be approximately 70 feet tall. So that means that this curtain is at least the full 52 ft tall. So that is a really long curtain to tear in half. But thats not it…We know that this is a thick curtain based on the fact that it was meant to shield all view into the Holy of Holies. Many have said it was have been approximately 4inches thick. Jewish legend says that two horses could not have ripped this curtain in two. That is pretty intense! That is the physical miraculous event. However, the physical is nothing compared to the spiritual.

You see, during this day there were two apocalyptic events that happened. The first is that darkness took over the sky. The second is the tearing of this curtain. That is how big of a deal it is to have this curtain tear in two. Let’s talk about why it was such a big deal though. You see, this curtain was torn completely in two. This is not just a little separation that will need a seamstress to fix, no, this is a complete separation of this curtain into two separate curtains.

Ok, so the deal is that this curtain is what separated the Holy of Holies from all people. This is the place that only the priest could go and they could only go one time per year. They would also tie a rope to themselves when they entered into the Holy of Holies so that if they were not purified and entered into God’s presence they would die. This is a series place here! This event had a major impact for all of eternity. You see, it symbolizes the destruction of the temple and the removal of the sacrificial system where the priest would come to God for you. More than that though, it symbolizes the opening of the way to God for all people. You see....Jesus changes the rules at this moment. This was always the plan and Jesus is fulfilling the rules, but becuase of Jesus’ death, we no longer have to live under the old covenant…He is implementing something brand new!

Thats some pretty big stuff there...but thats not all, becuase next we immediately see how...

Jesus saves (v. 39-41)

Mark 15:39–41 ESV

And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” There were also women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. When he was in Galilee, they followed him and ministered to him, and there were also many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem.

There is something pretty amazing that happens in those verses we just read. You see, way back in very beginning of this book, Mark says that “Jesus is the Son of God.” However, no other person has made that statement until right now. That is important, becuase we can see through the miracle of the cross is confirmed at the end of this Gospel. You see, “The Son of God” is Mark’s concrete christological title, which until this moment has remained unconfessed by any human. The centurion is the first person in the Gospel to confess Jesus as the Son of God, and the confession is evoked by Jesus’ passion—his suffering and death on the cross.

The thing is that this centurion has undoubtedly heard about Jesus, and has definitely seen and heard of him being called the King of the Jews. Then he watches Jesus suffer and die on the cross in a way that he has never seen another. Actually, the fact that the passion and death of Jesus on the cross evoke the confession of the centurion indicates that he, by divine revelation, has been granted the mystery of faith in Jesus as the Son of God. James Edwards says,

“The Gospel of Mark reaches its climax in the confession of the centurion, ‘Surely this man was the Son of God’ ”. He goes on to say, “The cross is the intersection where God meets humanity. Saving confession is not predicated on prior knowledge, proximity to Jesus, or privilege; it is, rather, an act of faith in a divinely revealed act of atonement.”

This mans confession, is the saving knowledge of the church! The cross is the birthplace of faith, the centurion’s confession is a saving confession of Jesus as God’s Son. The fact that the Son of God chose not to come in exaltation, but to come following the path of servanthood, especially the path of a suffering servant, so that through his sacrifice the world may have access to the Father themselves, is the ultimate show of goodness and grace.

What is my confession?

This morning I want to be very clear with everyone here and everyone watching online. The Cross is the ONLY hope you have for a lasting relationship with God. You see, we all, every single one of us has sinned, and does continue to sin. Our sin has consequences…as a matter of fact, our sin has caused us to be worthy of death. We have in fact received a death sentence, but this isn’t a physical death, but a spiritual death. This death is a permanent separation from the goodness of God. That anguish that Jesus felt for those moments leading to his physical death, is what we all deserve to experience for an eternity. However, there is a way that we can gain a pardon, that we can experience life instead of death. That pardon is only provided through the death of Jesus. The Cross is the only thing that allows us to enter into the presence of God. The cross is the only way that we can have direct access to God the Father.

Now the cross isn’t the end of the story, but it is the pivotal moment in history that allows us to shed our sins, and allow them to be erased using the blood of Jesus Christ. In a couple of weeks we will celebrate Easter and that is the next step in the story, because if Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, then all of this would have just been a delusional innocent man dying for nothing. However, what we are going to see in a couple of weeks is that while Jesus was absolutely innocent, he was most certainly not delusional. So, come back on Easter Sunday and hear about the morning that changed everything!

For this morning though, I want to invite you to look at the cross....The cross is front and center this morning becuase I want each and every person to come face to face with the cross and make a decision. Can you confess that this man is the Son of God, like the centurion did? If so, then as I pray this morning I want to invite you to spend a moment between you and God and confess your sin and worship him, thank him for saving someone as sinful as you…If your here this morning or watching online, and you haven’t yet made that decision to acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God, but you want to, then let me encourage you to simply acknowledge Jesus. As I pray take a moment to admit your own sin to God and believe that Jesus did in fact die for your sins, and confess that Jesus is your Lord. Maybe this morning your prayer, your cry is that of a father who needs Jesus’ help for his son saying, “I believe, help my unbelief”

—Prayer—