Was the Darkness at the Crucifixion a Solar Eclipse?
Matthew 27:33-56
“Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.”
Well the much-hyped solar eclipse here in America has come and gone, and we are still here. All of those viewing glasses which were sold for ten times their value are filling the trash receptacles. I was watching the reactions of people here. Some were much awed. Others were afraid. I personally was somewhat underwhelmed by the experience.
In part of the build up to the event, Fox News on their web site had an article about famous eclipses. One of them showed a picture of Jesus being lifted up on a cross as an example of one. This has often been used as an explanation of the cause of the darkness at the crucifixion. It seems that everthing that happens in this universe must have a scientific explanation. But could there have been a solar eclipse at the time of the crucifixion?
Let’s take the air out of the bubble right away. The Bible says that Jesus was crucified at Passover time. There is much discussion over whether Jesus was crucified on the Passover itself or on the day of preparation for it when the lambs were slaughtered. Passover was always celebrated at the time of full moon, on the 14th day of the month. Months began at the new moon, and therefore the 14th/15th would serve as the time of full moon. But solar eclipses can only occur at new moon. The only eclipse that can occur at full moon was a lunar one. I certainly am not going to do the calculations necessary to determine if there was one on any of the possible dates Jesus could have been crucified since we are unsure of the year. If one occurred at the time of Jesus, it would have had to have been on the other side of the earth from Jerusalem where it was dark. If one had occurred the evening before in the Garden, the blood red color of the moon would have gone along with Jesus’ sweating great drops of blood and would have been mentioned. At any rate, since the question at hand is whether the darkness was caused by a solar eclipse, this is irrelevant to the topic at hand.
The timing of eclipses was determined early in human history. This was a step to gain control over the fear caused by the unexpected darkness of the sky. If one can predict them as acts of nature, then the fear is diminished. It becomes something as regular as sunset and sunrise, only it occurs at infrequent intervals.
So what do we make about this darkening of the land for three whole hours. People have tried every explanation, now and then, to not ascribe it to the hand of God. If some other plausible explanation can be found, then we are in control of the matter. For to know and predict is the first step to control.
Some movies pictured the event as a result of clouds from a large storm. One certainly cannot rule out this possibility, but people know what clouds look like. Jesus gave them credit for being able to forecast the weather from the clouds in the sky. But storms of any sort at Passover would have been rare as it was past the end of the rainy season in Israel. From Passover time until autumn, virtually no rain falls in Jerusalem. There might be a stray storm here and there, even a powerful one. But these storms would be very isolated and in only one spot. It would not account for three hours of darkness. Finally, no rain, lightning, or thunder are mentioned at the crucifixion. As lightning was feared as coming from God or the gods, such display of lightning, or the strong winds of a thunderstorm would have been seen as an evil portent. There are other great events mentioned in conjunction with the death of Jesus such as the tearing of the veil of the Temple, the earthquake, and dead people rising from the tomb. But no lightning or thunder. So I would have to say this does not explain the darkness.
Others try to explain this as being a moral darkness rather than a literal one. We even have an expression that someone is in the dark. This person can be in the physical light but be clueless. So in a moral sense, maybe the crowds might have pitied what they had done even as Judas had. When Jesus pronounced his forgiveness of them because they did not know what they were doing, i.e., they were in the dark, they may have felt remorseful and guilty. After all, they had handed a fellow Jew over to a foreign power for judgment, something which is expressly forbidden by the Torah, Could this darkness have been the moral darkness of guilt and remorse?
I do want to say that their may have been remorse on the part of some, although not from those who cast insults and taunts at Jesus on the cross. It was hardly remorse on their part. It might have revealed the darkness of their own hearts. So in a sense, this is true. If one adopted this line, they could explain away the statement of Matthew here as figurative language. This would make the hand of a Sovereign God who rules above the universe unnecessary to explain the event. It becomes then all science or all psychology. There is more here.
What humanity does not want to admit is that there is this Sovereign Lord God of the universe whose power in unlimited. This God can blow out the sun as easily as a child blows out candles on a birthday cake. This God is not bound by human knowledge. This God soars above human prediction and prognostication. This God cannot then be controlled. Rather this God brings everything to pass according to His will and purpose. This God is autonomous which means that we are not. This is a God to be feared. What do we do with this God who is limited only by His own character? This event at the cross then becomes a time for sober examination. Where do we stand in relation to this sovereign Lord?
Who is this God? The philosophers do not know. They call themselves agnostics which being translated into Latin is ignoramuses. Some would say god is like us only bigger. He is the most powerful. But they would choke to call him all-powerful. This is because one who is only most powerful is like king of the mountain. One may not be able to push him off the mountain, but perhaps several working together could. But an all-powerful God cannot be toppled. Others would say god is the ground of all being or a world soul. God is the hidden cohesion like that of an ant colony. How an ant colony works together is a marvel. There is an unseen cohesion that coordinates the activity of the anthill. Some think god is like that. But this god is impersonal. That’s all right for those who see it that way. Its better than all all-powerful, all knowing personal God who is aware of all that each individual does or even thinks. Some say god or the gods are like us. This would make this god capricious and arbitrary. We make fine ruin of our own society. All we don’t need is a more powerful version of us.
To find out who this all-powerful, everywhere present, all knowing God is, we have to look at the Bible. We could not know anything for certain about God except He reveal it to us. We should be able to knw God in our intellect and in our seeing the hand of God in nature, but we have fallen. We are sinners. We do not see creation correctly, so the things we deduce about God through nature is distorted. The same is true of our philosophy, reason, and logic. These are no longer accurate ways to the true knowledge. Only Scripture and the aid of the Holy Spirit can give us a correct picture of who God is.
Whereas the bible does not tell us everything about God, what it does tell is true and sufficient for us as creatures. The Sovereign God of Scripture is revealed as creator of heaven and earth and is above them. He created humankind for the special purpose of caring and ruling over the earth. We learned that Adam and Eve wanted more and were deceived by Satan and fell. We know that Adam and Even tried to hide themselves from God and His wrath afterward. We know that God had the right to kill the human race but instead chose to redeem it. It was God who sought out Adam and Eve. Yes there was a curse and judgment but also a promise of redemption. A child would be born of a woman who would crush Satan’s head. This child’s foot would be bruised in the process.
The gospel of John says the “Word became human flesh and dwelt among us.” The Word came to us as Jesus of Nazareth who is recorded as having gone around doing good. He was rejected by His own people and betrayed by them to the Romans. He was falsely accused and crucified. This is what the text we read today picks up.
We have briefly mentioned the signs and wonders which accompanied the crucifixion. The darkness was miraculous as there is no scientific answer. Darkness is seen in the Bible as the judgment of God. Originally it was only a time for creatures to rest, but afterwards is associated as evil. The darkness demonstrates the wrath of God being poured out on this Jesus. It was a literal darkness which served to Israel as a sign. But there was also the sudden tearing of the heavy veil of the Temple’s most holy place which revealed an empty room. The Ark of the Covenant was long gone from there. The utter emptiness of Judaism was exposed. There was another sign also. There was an earthquake, another even which raised terror and still raises terror in people. We would like to gain some sense of prediction and control over earthquakes, but the suddenness of them is unsettling. It shows us we are not in control of our environment at all. Then there were some of those who were dead and rose from their graves and went home. This is even more disturbing. As much as we want to control death and its lack of predictability, we at least want the dead to stay buried. The fact that there will be a resurrection is terrifying to appear before the Judge in eternal judgment. Since death is not the end of all things, then what comes next?
The greatest sign that day were not these disturbances of the order of the natural world and our virtual control over it. The greatest is that is was no ordinary man who hung on the cross that day. The person who hung there, hung there in fulfillment of the prophecy of Scripture. He died there on the cross for your sin and mine, not His own. This is no other than God the Son. This perfect Human, the Son of man and Son of God was raised on the third day. He showed himself to those whom He had chosen alive. They ate with Him. They touched Him. And they saw Him ascend back to the Father in heaven with the promise of His like return.
How great the assurance Paul gives us in Romans that even though we were still at war against God, Christ died for us. If we will believe in our heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and confess that Jesus is sovereign LORD, we shall be saved. For those who know Him, this is the God of true grace. How much better than hoping that humanity will someday get it right. This is who God is. He calls through His called preachers to consider these facts, to think again on them. This is one of the meanings of repent, to rethink where you stand and make the correct decision. God commands people everywhere to repent. The days of ignorance are over. To those who call upon his name, they shall be saved. To those who obstinately reject Him, the forebodings of eternal judgment. The day of your eclipse is over. You cannot hide from the light. The Son is shining.
