To Encourage You

Luke 23:44-45 “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.”

I found it interesting to hear that over 60 percent of those who experience a total eclipse react to that experience emotionally. Some of the reporters that spoke on TV as they experienced the most recent eclipse said that that is the way it affected them. They got tears in their eyes. It was an awesome experience that many had never witnessed. It was a cosmic event that was so out of the ordinary. Some described it as beautiful. Others said it was awesome and unforgettable. Some said they could feel it in the pit of their stomach. Others spoke of how it united everyone in a common experience, a kind of unity. It didn’t matter who you were, what race, what economic status, what age, everyone found themselves in a sense united for the four minute period that the moon blotted out the sun.

This morning I thought of another eclipse, but this one was much more profound. Rather than four minutes, this one lasted for a full three hours. The passage above from Luke 23 says it started at the sixth hour (i.e., 12 noon) and lasted until the ninth hour (i.e. 3 pm). So here, during the brightest time of day, when the sun was highest in the sky, total darkness suddenly fell. So what was happening at this time? The crucifixion of the Son of God. This one who had just before this, been transfigured so that “his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light,” was being put to death, mercilessly tortured and murdered by a bloodthirsty crowd. It was a darkness in more ways than one and the reaction of those who saw it was emotional. For example, we are told that a centurion who was taking part in Jesus’ execution “ praised God, saying, ‘Certainly this man was innocent!’” (Luke 23:47). “And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts” (Luke 23:48).

You see, those who witnessed the recent eclipse were awed that the light of the sun was suddenly blotted out for a few moments. Many reacted emotionally at the wonder of it all. But how many are affected emotionally by the events of the greatest eclipse the world has ever experienced. Are you in awe of the fact that the Creator of the sun submitted Himself to die on a cross? And why did He do this? Why did the one Who was the “the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature,“ this One Who “upholds the universe by the word of his power” (Hebrews 1:3) suffer the ultimate humiliation, one that the whole universe reacted to by way of a three-hour eclipse? It was to touch the world with a united experience of the unparalleled love of God. For it was at that moment that Jesus was dying on the cross so that our sins could be forgiven forever and we could, by faith, inherit eternal life. As the darkness enveloped the world, and the Light of the World experienced darkness, we who were once under the dominion of darkness (Colossians 1:13) could be born again to be identified forever with our Savior as one with Him, the light of the world (Matthew 5:14). And now, instead of dwelling in darkness, the Savior has implored us to “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

So has this happened to you? Has the darkness of your life been replaced with Jesus’ glorious light? It can be if you will put your trust in Him. As the apostle Paul, speaking on behalf of all of Jesus’ disciples said, “We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:20-21). What a glorious truth this is!