Many of us will have seen the solar eclipse on Friday morning, or at least seen pictures of it later in the day. It was certainly an eerie experience to watch the sky darken and even to feel the temperature drop slightly. Can you imagine, then, what it would be like to experience real darkness in the middle of the day, and not only for a few minutes but for three full hours? That is exactly what the Gospel writers tell us happened when Jesus was crucified: “At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour” (Mark 15:33, NIV).
Was this, then, a solar eclipse? No, that is impossible. For one thing, solar eclipses do not last for three hours, even if you are right in line. For another, solar eclipses happen with a new moon; and Jesus died at Passover which always coincides with a full moon (just check your diary!) The moon couldn’t have been further away from producing an eclipse! So, what was going on? This darkness was supernatural, a sign of God’s judgment and displeasure – but with whom? The next verse tells us: “And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, … ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’” The extraordinary, yet wonderful, truth is that God’s judgment and displeasure was falling on his own Son. But how could that be? Jesus had only and always lived his life to please his Father, which is not something that you or I could claim. The glorious truth is that the judgment you and I deserve was falling on Jesus. In that darkness lies our hope.