Death Of The Light - A Good Friday Meditation Series

The Death of the Light

44 Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. 45 Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. 46 And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, "Father, ’into Your hands I commit My spirit.’ " Having said this, He breathed His last. 47 So when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God, saying, "Certainly this was a righteous Man!" Luke 23:44-47 (NKJV)

We watched in darkness. It was strange enough to have darkness at noon, but when you are intently trying to see what is going on, it becomes even more noticeable. Darkness at noon could be explained by a full eclipse of the sun, but then it lasted for three hours. That’s a little harder to explain away.

Then came the shout. Out of the darkness came that familiar voice that we had heard so often. And he cried,

“Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”

Then silence - darkness and silence. The crowd began to go; mumbling, praying, wondering. Finally a voice was heard. A Roman soldier spoke, “Certainly this man was innocent.” The soldier would have trouble sleeping that night.

We were standing watching at a safe distance. Those who had been closest to him. Those he had called his friends. We watched while a secret admirer came and removed the body from the cross. We watched while the body was wrapped and laid in a tomb. We watched while the stone was placed at the entrance. We watched in the darkness, but now the darkness was inside of us, yet we kept watching.

What did we see? What were we watching? Most of us had no idea. Some watched a man die who seemed to be a threat to the authorities. Some watched a criminal, accused of some hideous crime. I watched a dear and trusted friend die at the hands of sinners.

Wasn’t he the one who had talked so much about light? And now it was so dark that we couldn’t even see him die. We had no idea what we were watching. All we knew was that it was the end.

“Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”

Goodnight. Blow out the candle. The day is over. It is the end. Darkness.

We had no idea. For it truly was the end. It was the end of life as we knew it. It was the beginning of brand new day, yet we did not know it. It was the beginning of God’s kingdom here on earth. The death of an innocent man. The death of a friend. Certainly this was not God’s plan or was it?

Darkness for three hours in the middle of the day. How strange! How unusual! We had no idea. We didn’t have a clue.