The Darkness Of Death Dispelled
Or
Access To God At Last
Sunday July 30, 2023
Scripture To Consider:
“Now 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, saying, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?’ which is translated, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’ Some of those who stood by, when they heard that, said, ‘He is calling for Elijah!’”
“Then someone ran and filled a sponge full of sour wine, put it on a reed, and offered it to Jesus to drink, saying, ‘Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to take Him down.’ And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last. Then the veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom.”
“So when the Centurion, who stood opposite Jesus, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, ‘Truly this Man was the Son of God!’ There were also women looking on from afar, among who were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joses, and Salome, who also followed Jesus and ministered to Him when He was in Galilee, and many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem.” Mark 15.33-41
Something To Consider:
At high noon on the day of Jesus’ death, darkness clothed the whole land. For three lingering hours the darkness of death laid heavy over all of humanity, for the true Passover Lamb of God, Jesus, hung in the balance for all those in need of atonement.
At three in the afternoon the darkness of death was dispelled by the excellent and beautiful light of God’s Word, as Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” For the first time in the life of Jesus of Nazareth, and for our sake, He was forsaken by God His Father. He was forsaken because of His taking upon Himself the enormous load of the sin of the entire world, past, present, and future.
At that very moment Jesus was alone with the weight of the world’s iniquity heavy upon Himself. And for the most part, the world sat then, and still sits now, in total opposition to all that Jesus died for. In every generation since the death of Jesus, the majority of individuals when presented with the good news of Jesus and the forgiveness of sins that is so graciously available, reject Christ!
Do we have that level and depth of love for those in our sphere of influence as did Jesus? Is it even possible to obtain that immense love for anyone other than for ourselves? If so, it can only be obtained as the darkness and fear of death is dispelled in our own lives as was in the life of Jesus.
Something Else To Consider:
Even in the darkness of death Jesus made sure that the light of God’s Word was elevated and honored. For at that instance the mind of every Jewish scholar and every lover of God’s Word, was in their mind immediately carried back to Psalm 22, which begins with the same exact words that Jesus spoke from the cross, when He said, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
Psalm 22 in its entirety is an extremely detailed and descriptive word picture of the agony of death upon a cross. Psalm 22 begins with these words, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, and from the words of My groaning?
David continues by stating, “O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear; and in the night seasons, and am not silent. But You are holy, enthroned in the praises of Israel.” Even in the midst of God’s silence, David assures himself that God is holy!
Even in the midst of anguish and the feeling of his being forsaken of God, David wrote; “But You are holy…” And not only that God is holy, but that He is seated upon His rightful throne and that we have access to God at last through what Jesus has accomplished in His atoning death upon an old rugged cross there upon Calvary’s hill.
Something More To Consider:
In John 19.30, John records the last words of Jesus, by writing, “It is finished!” And with Jesus breathing His last breath, the temple veil separating the holy place of God from man, which some suggest was as thick as eighteen inches, was torn from the top to the bottom.
Paul writing in Ephesians 2.18, clarifies the significance of that event, by stating; “For through Him [Jesus] we both [Jew and Gentile] have access by one Spirit to the Father.” The darkness of spiritual death has been dispelled by the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and spiritual access to God is now available at last to all who will come.
And yet, just because a gift has been given, it does not mean that gift has been received. The prophet Nehemiah declared of God in Nehemiah 9.17, “You are a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful.” And God spoke through Jeremiah another prophet in verse 34 of Jeremiah chapter 31, by stating, “I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
A Few Final Words:
John the beloved, in 1 John 1.9 revealed, “If we confess our sins, He [God] is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” But we must confess our sins in true repentance. Forgiveness is not automatic without confession and true repentance and by our turning away from sin!
We must allow the Word of God to become a lamp unto our feet and a guiding light unto our path. And it all begins in humility at the foot of the cross. No one gets to the Father without going through Jesus and that means our surrendering and submitting to His will at the foot of our own cross.
Every time the darkness of death is dispelled by the brilliance and illuminating light of God’s Word, even the enemies of God must admit that Jesus was, is, and forever shall be the one and only true Son of God.
And according to John’s record, “So when the Centurion, who stood opposite Jesus, saw that He cried out like this, and breathed His last, he said, ‘Truly this Man was the Son of God!’”
Prayer:
Our Father in heaven, worthy is the Lamb that was slain for the sin of the world, gaining for us all one-time rebellious sinners, free but very costly access to God at last, in and through Jesus Christ of Nazareth. In Him Always, Amen!
According to Jesus 