Who can
truly fathom the depth of Christ’s love for us? Nailed to the cross and for
three solid hours from 12 noon, darkness engulfed the whole land. At an hour
where the sun should be shinning at its brightest, darkness overcame the land.
The darkness probably only covered the Holy City of Jerusalem and its
surrounding areas. It came suddenly and supernaturally. In the thick darkness there
was deep silence. No word was spoken. Just imagine a contrasting scene for a
moment! Thirty-three years back, at His birth, bright light and music from
heaven filled the sky in the middle of the night. Thirty-three years later, as
He died, darkness and silence blanketed the sky in the middle of the day. Darkness
signifies mourning. This was an indication of God’s judgment. In Amos 8:9-10
the Lord God declared, “It will come about in that day… that I
will make the sun go down at noon. And make the earth dark in broad daylight. Then I will turn your festivals into mourning. And all your songs
into lamentation; and I will bring sackcloth on everyone’s
loins and baldness on every head. And I will make it
like a time of mourning
for an only son, and the end of it will be like a bitter day.”
Then
again, darkness is a sign of the curse of God. It had once covered the whole of
Egypt when the Jews partook of the first Passover. Now again darkness had
overtaken Jerusalem and its surrounding areas as the definitive Passover Lamb
was being slain. Waves of sin of the entire human race was poured into the
sinless Christ. He who knew no sin was made sin for us. Hanging between heaven
and earth, He took our place in judgment. He was completely cut-off from God,
an agony that surpassed the pain He felt in His physical body. It was not just
for an hour, not for two, but for three hours. There had never been a moment in
all His life, not even for a minutest second, that He was ever separated from
the Father. But now for three solid hours, the God who is everywhere present
with Him, was nowhere near Him. What depth of misery?
Ordinarily
in similar scene, intermittent cries of deep agony would be heard. But for
three hours there was complete silence. And at the end of the third hour, from the
Lord’s deep misery came the cry, “Eloi,
Eloi, lama sabachthani?’ When interpreted, it meant ‘My God, my God, why have You
forsaken me?’” This was a quotation of Psalm 22:1 that had been foretold, years
before, that this would happen. Shock by His loud cries, the onlookers
jested over the two words “Eloi, Eloi….” Saying that He was calling Elijah to
come to His assistance.
At
this point someone came to offer Him a sponge soaked in numbing narcotic wine
and cruelly jested, “Let us see whether Elijah will
come to take Him down.” It was also at this point that the other Gospels
said that the Lord cried, “It is finished!” It was followed by, “Father into
Your hands I commit My spirit.” Mark tells us in verse 36 that He uttered a
loud voice and yielded His breath. It was common for anyone on the cross to get
progressively weaker till there’s no strength left. Then he would fall into unconsciousness
and into his death. But with the Lord it was different. He was fully conscious
to the very end. Death had no power to take Him had He not gave up His life
willingly. As He yielded His spirit to the Father, He signaled the completion
of the mission given to Him.
God’s
rescue operation was put into effect as Christ gave up His spirit. At the Cross
our salvation was radically and utterly done. Any belief or attempt today, to
try and add anything for us to be saved, will do injustice to what Christ went
through. What we see is the absolute depth Christ had taken to gain us our salvation.
Here is a more pertinent question for us today: What must we bring to Him that
will be a fitting response for all that He had done for us? May our song today and
always be:-
Thou Lamb of Calvary,
Savior Divine!
Now hear me while I pray,
Take all my guilt away,
O let me from this day
Be wholly thine!
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