Strange Days in Jerusalem
The Six Miracles of Calvary
Using the theme based on the book, The Six Miracles of Calvary, by William R. Nicholson
Series Begins 2/28/2010
SERIES INTRODUCTION
Luke 24:13-32 And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. 14 And they talked together of all these things which had happened. 15 And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them. 16 But their eyes were holden that they should not know him. 17 And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad? 18 And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days? 19 And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people: 20 And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him. 21 But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done. 22 Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre; 23 And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive. 24 And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not. 25 Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: 26 Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? 27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. 28 And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further. 29 But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them. 30 And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. 31 And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. 32 And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?
INTRODUCTION
• The cross was the intersection of all the great roads of history, theology, redemption!
• It is the place where time and eternity come together.
• It is where God and man intersect.
• It is where divine sovereignty and human responsibility collide.
• In such a place, under such circumstances, it is no wonder that strange and amazing things will occur!
• Travel with me to about 29 AD!
• Let us walk up near the cross and then let us walk the countryside around Jerusalem.
• We will see many things, but first we will not see anything at all for God will turn the lights out on earth!
• We will observe a miraculous expansion a room of the Temple as God removes a wall!
• All nature will convulse so strongly that rocks will split in half!
• Come with me into a grave where the neatest dead man the world has ever seen walks away, leaving His clothes folded behind Him!
• Walk with us through cemeteries where the lids have all been blown off!
• And then, just when think we have seen it all, join me in the streets of Jerusalem as we see dead men walking!
• Truly, these are strange days in Jerusalem!
Sermon 1: The Miracle of the Darkness
Matthew 27:45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.
Mark 15:33 And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until
the ninth hour.
Luke 23:44-45 And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth [Mt. and Mk. = “land”] until the ninth hour. 45 And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.
I. The Setting of this Darkness
A. The Events (a busy time leading up to this)
Noon, by Jewish reckoning, at the half-way point of Jesus’ 6 hours on the cross. MacArthur Study Bible
• Jesus has been arrested in the garden.
• For the duration of the night, He is taken from one trial to another.
• Is beaten with stripes, forced to carry His cross, and is placed on the cross at 9:00 am.
• In those first hours on the cross, He cries, “Father forgive them.”
• Then He offers forgiveness to the penitent thief. (Remember that the conversation from the thieves was extended and repeated. Imperfect tense).
• Then Jesus makes provision for His mother, placing her in the hands of the faithful John.
• Yes, Jesus has been busy.
• The soldiers are busy watching.
• The Jews are busy wagging their tongues!
B. The Explanation
NOTE TO ME: The textual variant here makes no difference. The Greek word, whether we use ekleipo or skoteo, simply means “hidden.” See note from Robertson at the end of this sermon.
• Not an Eclipse (state the fact that some attempt to explain it as such, yet it could not be.
• It can only be explained as a Supernatural Event
1. Supernatural in Its Display
• The timing is sudden and at the Passover, always a time of full moon.
• It does not gradually darken.
• It is suddenly dark, then when it is over, suddenly light.
• NOTE: Ordinary darkness is dispelled by light.
• This darkness dispels the light!
QUOTE: 23:44–45 Luke was not asserting that a solar eclipse took place (a physical impossibility at Passover, which occurs during a full moon). The word he used (Gk ekleipo) merely means the sun was obscured. The physical cause of the darkness may have been thick clouds or a sandstorm, but the Gospel writers were interested in the phenomenon not for its physical but for its theological meaning. The Apologetics Study Bible
This could not have been caused by an eclipse, because the Jews used a lunar calendar, and Passover always fell on the full moon, making a solar eclipse out of the question. This was a supernatural darkness. The MacArthur Study Bible
2. Supernatural in Its Duration (An eclipse does not last that long).
• Yes, some have attempted to portray this as a solar eclipse.
• Yet the longest of those last minutes, not hours.
3. Supernatural in Its Distress
• Or effect (silence and fear. You could hear the drops of blood hit the ground)
• These intelligent Jews had heard of an eclipse, and perhaps had seen one.
• Yet this event dumbfounds them!
4. Supernatural and Documented to Be So!
(See quote from Tertullian below)
• Celsus, the famous opponent of Christianity, referred to this event in the 3rd Century.
SUMMARY: The three hours of darkness was a miracle. It was not an eclipse, because that would have been impossible during the Passover season when there is a full moon. It was a God-sent darkness that shrouded the cross as the Son of God was made sin for us (2 Cor. 5:21). It was as though all nature was sympathizing with the Creator as He suffered and died. When Israel was in Egypt, three days of darkness preceded the first Passover (Ex. 10:21ff). When Jesus was on the cross, three hours of darkness preceded the death of God’s Lamb for the sins of the world (John 1:29). Wiersbe, BEC
C. The Extent (either the whole land or the whole earth)
QUOTE: Darkness does not cover the entire “world” but the “whole land,” that is, of Judea or of the region of Jerusalem (Gk ge can mean “earth” or “land”). The Apologetics Study Bible
QUOTE: 23:44 Darkness covered the whole land (or earth, the Greek can mean either) from the sixth hour until the ninth hour, that is, from noon to 3:00 p.m. This was a sign to the nation of Israel. They had rejected the light, and now they would be judicially blinded by God. MacDonald, Believer’s Bible Commentary.
QUOTE: The geographical extent of the darkness is not known, although the writings of the church fathers hint that it extended beyond Palestine. The MacArthur Study Bible
QUOTE: This darkness was of a very special kind. First, it was “over all the whole land,. or as Matthew states, “over all the land” (Matthew 27:45). No one can say for sure whether this extraordinary darkness covered half the earth, as darkness would normally do in the absence of the sun. But if this phenomenon was limited only to Judea, it was more amazing still, for it would then be an example of the kind of concentrated darkness that God sent upon Egypt for three days. In that case, only Goshen, where the Israelites lived, had light (Exodus 10:21-22). In any event, we know with certainty that darkness extended over the whole of Judea. (Nicholson)
II. The Symbolism of Darkness (Gen. 1:2)
• Until God comes, and acts in this earth and in the heart of men, it is always darkness!
Genesis 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
A. Darkness, As God Made it, Is Good (Isa. 45:7; 104:20)
• Darkness has its place.
• It has a purpose.
• In normal settings, night can be restful, cooling, beautiful! God created darkness.
Isaiah 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness
Psalm 104:20 Thou makest darkness, and it is night: Wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth.
TRANSITION: But in the Scriptures, darkness is also rich in symbolic meaning.
B. Sin and Satan (Luke 22:53; Eph. 6:12)
Luke 22:53 (KJV) When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness.
Luke 22:53 (NASB) "While I was with you daily in the temple, you did not lay hands on Me; but this hour and the power of darkness are yours."
Eph. 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
QUOTE: The Dead Sea Scrolls contrast light and darkness as representing the forces of good and evil, both metaphysically and psychologically; a similar view has been noted in the Gospel of John. Harper's Bible Dictionary (1st ed.) (p 207).
C. Judgment
• In the Bible, darkness is often a symbol of God’s judgment, or the state of man as a result of God’s judgment.
• The great and dreadful day of the Lord is described as “darkness.”
1. The Giving of the Law (Ex. 20:21)
Ex. 20:21 [In giving the commandments] And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.
2. The Plagues (Ex. 10:21-22)
Exodus 10:21-22 [In the Plagues] And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt. 22 And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days:
3. Judgment of Disobedient Israel (Deut. 28:29)
Deuteronomy 28:29 And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee.
For further study, Ps. 35:6; 143:3; Is. 5:30; 13:10
4. Judgment of Heathen Nations (Is. 47:5)
Isaiah 47:5 Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called, The lady of kingdoms.
5. Disobedient Children (Pro. 20:20)
Proverbs 20:20 Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness.
NOTE: Hell and the Day of the Lord will be considered below.
D. Separation from God, or Man’s Lost Condition (Pr. 4:19; Lk. 11:34; Jn. 3:19; 12:46; 1 Jn. 1:6; 2:9; 2 Cor. 6:14-15)
Proverbs 4:19 The way of the wicked is as darkness: They know not at what they stumble.
Luke 11:34 The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness.
The apostle John picks up this theme in his writings!
John 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
1 John 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
1 John 2:9 He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. 10 He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. 11 But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.
Paul Writes …
2 Corinthians 6:14–15 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? 15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
III. The Significance of This Darkness
A. Providential
It is unmistakable that God Himself is at work here! No other explanation!
QUOTE: 23:45 the sun was darkened: This testimony of creation was designed to signal the importance of Jesus’ death. Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Commentary.
QUOTE: The supernatural activities during his last three hours on the cross signaled God’s work on earth to provide salvation through the Savior. Nelson’s New Testament Survey
QUOTE: Tertullian [160 to 220 AD], in his Apologeticus, tells the story of the darkness that had commenced at noon during the crucifixion; those who were unaware of the prediction, he says, "no doubt thought it an eclipse". He suggests that the evidence is still available: "You yourselves have the account of the world-portent still in your archives." Tertullian, Apologeticus, Chapter 21, 19
B. Prophecy (Ps. 22:1-2; 112:4)
Psalm 22:1-2 1 My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? 2 O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.
Again, Jesus knows what we go through! A sympathetic High Priest!
Psalm 112:4 Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.
C. Picture (John 12:46; 1 John 1:5)
John 12:46 I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.
1 John 1:5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
D. Protection (so as not to allow the suffering of the Son to be mocked further)
QUOTE: Well might the sun in darkness hide, And shut his glories in, When Christ, the mighty Maker, died, For man the creature's sin. At the Cross, Isaac Watts
• In the daylight half of the crucifixion, the Jews held back nothing.
• Save yourself!
• If you are the Son of God, come down.
• He saved others, himself he cannot save.
• He calls for Elias, let’s see if Elias will come.
• Yet all that chatter is silenced.
• No recorded words take place during this part of the narrative.
• It is as if God has said, “Enough, enough!”
E. Precursor (of the darkness of Hell and Judgment)
1. The Day of the Lord (Joel 2:2; Amos 5:18,20; Zeph. 1:14)
Joel 2:2 A day of darkness and of gloominess, A day of clouds and of thick darkness, As the morning spread upon the mountains: A great people and a strong; There hath not been ever the like, Neither shall be any more after it, Even to the years of many generations.
Amos 5:18 Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! To what end is it for you? The day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.
Amos 5:20 Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? Even very dark, and no brightness in it?
Zephaniah 1:14 The great day of the LORD is near, It is near, and hasteth greatly, Even the voice of the day of the LORD: The mighty man shall cry there bitterly. 15 That day is a day of wrath, A day of trouble and distress, A day of wasteness and desolation, A day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness,
2. Hell (Mt. 8:12; 22:13; 25:30; 2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 1:6,13)
Matthew 8:12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Matthew 22:13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Matthew 25:30 And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
2 Peter 2:4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
Jude 1:6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
Jude 1:13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.
QUOTE: This was a sign to the nation of Israel. They had rejected the light, and now they would be judicially blinded by God. (Nelson’s New Testament Survey)
F. Proclamation (these supernatural events are used to frame this event and magnify the death of the Son)
• At Jesus’ baptism, God thundered from Heaven.
• At Jesus’ death, God silenced men with His silence and darkness!
• These supernatural phenomena are used to frame this event and magnify the death of the Son of God!
• The Jews repeatedly asked, “Show us a sign.”
• How about this sign?
EXTENDED QUOTE: But what happens at the sixth hour? Silence. Sudden and somber silence. The very narrative speaks the word “darkness” and then itself goes silent. The hours between twelve o’clock to three o'clock are a blank page in the story, and the reader feels the solemn silence of the event. The evil cruel taunts, the sarcastic comments, all are hushed now.
When these three hours of darkness ended and the light returned, all was busy and noisy again. Jesus ends this time by speaking and the crowds begin to move around again. But during those three hours, we see only darkness, and hear only the sounds of silence. The divine Sufferer is silent, as if beneath that horrible darkness some huge horror shadowed his own soul. And everything is quiet. The taunts and insults stop. The crowds are distracted by the darkness. The dripping of His blood is deafening.
The darkness is frightening, and as the crowds experience this supernatural darkness, they tremble at the mysterious connection of this event to the crucifixion of Jesus.
The gospel writers do not make this connection for us, recognizing it is totally unnecessary. The darkness speaks for itself. The little they do say is like a parenthesis between what came before, and what follows that one little word -- darkness. The darkness itself casts a shadow of silence over the whole three hours, giving the reflective reader time to appreciate how awful this foreboding gloom was. This was a dark three-hour divine pregnant pause, designed to arrest out attention. And as a final exclamation mark on this incredible scene, the gospel writers close the story of the crucifixion and its incredible wonders. They do so by sharing the response of those who had experienced all these things. We read that the centurion and those who were watching “were terrified” (Matthew 2 1: 4), and “beat their breasts and went away (Luke 23:48). (Nicholson)
G. Purchase (Ps. 107:11-15; Col. 1:13; 1 Thess. 5:5)
Psalm 107:11–15 Because they rebelled against the words of God, And contemned the counsel of the most High: 12 Therefore he brought down their heart with labour; They fell down, and there was none to help. 13 Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, And he saved them out of their distresses. 14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, And brake their bands in sunder. 15 Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, And for his wonderful works to the children of men!
Colossians 1:13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
1 Thessalonians 5:5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
It was in these moments that our redemption is made complete. Jesus, after this, says, “It is finished.” But before that, He cries, “My God …”
QUOTE: We must keep in mind that what our Lord accomplished on the cross was an eternal transaction that involved Him and the Father. He did not die as a martyr who had failed in a lost cause. Nor was He only an example for people to follow. Isaiah 53 makes it clear that Jesus did not die for His own sins, because He had none; He died for our sins. He made His soul an offering for sin (Isa. 53:4–6, 10–12). Wiersbe, BEC
QUOTE: We are told there was darkness from the sixth to the ninth hour; that is, from midday to three in the afternoon. Even the elements expressed the anger of the Father as Jesus took upon himself the guilt of his people. He ‘became sin’ for us (2 Cor. 5:21). Childress, G. (2006). Opening up Luke's Gospel (207–208). Leominster: Day One Publications.
QUOTE: Jesus cried: Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Here we have the high cost to Christ of His atonement for our sins, who was accursed of God as our sin-bearer (cf. 2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 3:13) and suffered the agony of spiritual death for us. (KJV Study Bible)
CONCLUSION (John 12:35; Rom. 13:12; 2 Pet. 1:19)
• What can we see in this darkness?
• We see the seriousness of sin.
• We see the great price paid for our redemption!
• We see a reminder to turn to the light while it is still day!
John 12:35 Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.
Romans 13:12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
2 Peter 1:19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
______________________________
EXTRA MATERIAL SUPPORTING THE SERMON OR UNUSED
Robertson on Luke 23:45 The sun’s light failing (tou hēliou ekleipontos). Genitive absolute of the present active participle of ἐκλειπω [ekleipō], an old verb, to leave out, omit, pass by, to fail, to die. The word was used also of the eclipse of the sun or moon. But this was impossible at this time because the moon was full at the passover. Hence many documents change this correct text to “the sun was darkened” (eskotisthē ho hēlios) to obviate the difficulty about the technical eclipse. But the sun can be darkened in other ways. In a London fog at noon the street lights are often turned on. The Revised Version translates it correctly, “the sun’s light failing.” Leave the darkness unexplained. In the midst (μεσον [meson]). In the middle. Mark 15:38 and Matt. 27:51 have “in two” (εἰς δυο [eis duo]). Robertson, A. (1997). Word Pictures in the New Testament.
