DISCOURSE: 1411
THE SUPERNATURAL DARKNESS
Matthew 27:45. Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.
IT might well be expected that the crucifixion of the Son of God should be accompanied with circumstances of a peculiar nature; sufficient, when properly understood, to remove the offence of his cross, and to distinguish him from all others who should suffer the same kind of death. The whole creation is at God’s command, and ready, in any manner that he sees fit, to display his power. The sun in particular has been made his instrument for that end. In the days of Joshua, it suspended its course for the space of a whole day [Note: Joshua 10:12-13.]. In the days of Hezekiah, it reversed its natural course, and went backwards ten degrees on the sun-dial of Ahaz [Note: 2 Kings 20:11.]. And now, at the death of Christ, when risen to its meridian height, it veiled its face in darkness [Note: The sixth hour corresponded with our noon.]. How far the darkness extended, whether over the whole earth, as some think, or over the land of Judζa only, as our translators thought, we do not take upon us to determine; though we incline to the latter: but, whether more or less, it could not proceed from a natural cause. It could not be an eclipse, because the moon at that time was at the full: and even if it had been an eclipse, it could not have been total for more than a quarter of an hour; whereas this continued for the space of three hours. It was manifestly a miraculous darkness, produced by the almighty power of God, and that too for ends worthy of a divine interposition. It was,
I. An attestation to our Saviour’s character—
[It was ordained of God, that every species of testimony should be given to his Son, in confirmation of his claims as the true Messiah. The particular kinds of testimony were, many hundreds of years before, made the subject of prophecy: and they were almost all of such a nature, as to be independent of his own followers, and consequently incapable of being brought to effect by any concerted plan of theirs. The miracle now exhibited was of that kind: for the whole creation could not have produced such a change in the face of nature: and as it could not be counterfeited, so neither could it be denied: it carried its own evidence along with it.
That this darkness was foretold, we cannot doubt [Note: Amos 8:9.]. The prophet Joel most indisputably refers to it [Note: Joel 2:30-32.]: for an inspired Apostle quotes his very words, and declares, that those words related to events which were to happen at that precise period, for the express purpose of attesting the Messiahship of Christ [Note: Acts 2:16; Acts 2:19-21.].
Behold then a proof which cannot reasonably be doubted. True it is, that the Jewish historian does not record the fact: but we well know how averse he was to mention any thing that tended to the honour of Christianity, and therefore can account easily for his omission of so extraordinary an interposition of the Deity in confirmation of our religion. But the fact itself is undeniable: and if the three days’ darkness in Egypt was a convincing testimony from God to the mission of Moses, so was this to the Messiahship of Christ.]
II.
An emblem of his sufferings—
[“Darkness” is often used in Scripture as a figurative representation of affliction [Note: Isaiah 5:30; Isaiah 8:22.Ezekiel 32:7-8.] — — — But it was peculiarly proper as an emblem on this occasion. Our blessed Lord was under the hidings of his Father’s face, and in the depths of dereliction cried, “My God, my God! why hast thou forsaken me?” His sufferings were such as no finite imagination can conceive. The torments which men inflicted on his body were small, in comparison of those which he now endured in his soul. All the hosts of hell were, as it were, let loose upon him; as He himself says, “This is your hour, and the power of darkness [Note: Luke 22:53.].” Above all, the wrath of God was now poured out upon him, as the Surety and Substitute of a guilty world; according to that declaration of the prophet, “It pleased the Lord to bruise him [Note: Isaiah 53:10.].” Under such circumstances, what in the compass of created nature could so fitly represent his sufferings as the event before us [Note: Compare Micah 3:6-7. with Psalms 22:1-2. where the image as applied to the false prophets corresponds with the fact as exemplified in our Lord.]? Hear the description given of those sufferings by the prophet David [Note: Psalms 88:3; Psalms 88:6-7; Psalms 88:14; Psalms 88:16.] — — — and no wonder “the sun went down over him, and the day was dark, when he had no answer from his God.”]
III.
A prognostic of the judgments that should come upon his enemies—
[These were spoken of by Moses and all the prophets; and that too under the image which we are considering [Note: Isaiah 13:9-11.Jeremiah 15:1-3; Jeremiah 15:9.] — — — The prophet Amos, in a fore-cited passage, connects the calamities which they should endure with the very event which prefigured them [Note: Amos 8:9-10.]. Our blessed Lord also foretold them in language not dissimilar [Note: Mark 13:24-26; Mark 13:30.]. And how awfully have these predictions been verified! Surely from the foundation of the world there has never been an instance of any nation suffering such various, accumulated, and continued calamities as they. The darkness of their minds too, no less than the wretchedness of their condition, shews to what an extent the wrath of God is upon them: for a veil is upon their hearts, thicker than even that which obscured the meridian sun. O that at last the veil might be taken away, and that the light of God’s countenance might be once more lifted up upon them!]
Though this subject may appear unconnected with practice, it may be justly improved,
1.
For the humbling of the impenitent—
[How awful does the insensibility of man appear, when we see even the material creation more affected, as it were, at the death of Christ, than they! It is a fact, that many who have heard of the death of Christ times without number, and who profess to believe that he died for their sins, have yet never once mourned for those sins which nailed him to the accursed tree. Were they to hear of the slightest accident that had befallen their friend or relative, or any trifling loss which they themselves had sustained, they would be affected with it: but the crucifixion of the Lord of Glory is heard of by them without any emotion, even though they themselves were the guilty causes of his death. But let such ungrateful people know, that if ever they be brought to a just sense of their sins, they will “look on Him whom they have pierced, and mourn, and be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born [Note: Zechariah 12:10.].” The Lord hasten this penitential season to every one of us [Note: Jeremiah 13:15-16.]! — — —]
2. For the comforting of the afflicted—
[It is not uncommon to find persons deeply distressed on account of the hidings of God’s face. And we acknowledge that they have cause to be distressed; because it is the most afflictive of all events, and because it never takes place but for the correction of some evil in them. Our blessed Lord, though he had no sin of his own, had evil enough upon him, even the sins of the whole world: and Job, though in some sense he was “a perfect man,” had much to learn, and much to attain. Yet let not any one despond, as though the cheerful light of the sun should no more appear: but let those who “walk in darkness and have no light, learn to trust in the Lord, and to stay themselves upon their God [Note: Isaiah 50:10.]:” and then “their light shall rise in obscurity, and their darkness be as the noon-day.”]
3. For the encouraging of all—
[Reviving are those words of the Apostle John, “The darkness is past, and the true light now shineth [Note: 1 John 2:8.].” All that was obscure in the death of Christ is now made plain; and, blessed be God! the whole mystery of Redemption is now exhibited before our eyes. Yes, on us “the Sun of Righteousness has arisen with healing in his wings.” But as we know not how long the light shall continue with us, let us “walk in the light whilst we have it, lest darkness come upon us [Note: John 12:35.].” If any thing in the dispensations either of providence or of grace be dark to us at the present, let us contentedly say, “What I know not now, I shall know hereafter;” and let us wait in patience for that world, where “our sun shall no more go down, neither shall our moon withdraw itself; but the Lord will be our everlasting light, and the days of our mourning shall be ended [Note: Isaiah 60:20.].”]