There Was Darkness
Matthew 27:45
While the gospel writers tell us “There was a darkness all over the land,” they don’t help us understand what it meant. This was not a natural phenomenon. It wasn’t an eclipse. A supernatural event is the only explanation. It was miraculous darkness.
When I hear the word “miracle” I always think of some kind of spiritual good coming to a person. A healing, a special provision, or an answer to an impossible prayer is where my mind goes. This was a miracle of a different kind, a dark kind of miracle.
No one prayed for or sought this miracle out. It was imposed by divine fiat.
Different commentators ascribe varying meanings to it. We can see from the text this darkness was felt as much as it was seen. The mocking and verbal assaults of the crowd die out. There is silence. The darkness casts a gloom over every soul. They felt the weightiness of what was happening.
The lone voice that is heard is the voice of the Savior crying out, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” Matthew gives us the translation: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” It seems to me, that the cry of Jesus during those three hours gives us the best explanation for the darkness that covered the land. The darkness was the physical manifestation of what was transpiring in the spiritual realm.
Jesus was experiencing forsakenness. Forsakenness is darkness. The most horrible kind of darkness. Hell. It was our hell and Jesus walked into it for us. He bore it on our behalf and in our place. He cried out “why have you forsaken me?” so that we can know the peace of “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” He entered that darkness so that we can walk in His light.
