Lesson One • Darkness
Mark Pittenger
Every year in August, my family takes a trip up north to Roscommon, Michigan. My grandparents own a cabin up there so this has been a family tradition that started when my mom was a kid. One of my favorite things about being up there is the night sky! Most nights, you can see so many stars! However, when the stars are covered by clouds or you get into the forests at night, it can get very, very dark!
A few years back, my mom was reading about a cemetery that is about 20 minutes from the cabin. It is the remains of an 1870s lumber settlement and is claimed to be one of Michigan’s eeriest places to visit. So, of course, we had to go!
After driving down a few backroads and a two-track trail, we arrived at the cemetery. There is a forest around three sides of it and a small parking lot on the other. There were no lights there and we arrived just before dusk. We decided to wander into the woods and check it out. So, there we go, my uncle first, I followed behind him, and then a line behind me consisting of other family members. Not long after getting into the woods, the sky darkened and we could not see anything. It was so dark that we had to hold onto the shirt of the person in front of us to stay together! We eventually made it back to the parking lot safely, with a great story to tell!
Anyone who has experienced this type of darkness knows the eeriness of it. However, this darkness could be explained by nature! In Mark 15:33, we see a kind of darkness that could not be explained naturally. It is a kind of darkness that only made sense with a supernatural explanation. Mark 15:33 reads, “And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.” As Jesus hung on the cross giving His life for us, God the Father poured out the wrath of our sin onto Jesus. In doing so, it gave the people who were present at the crucifixion, a very apparent warning! At that moment, the whole earth was covered in darkness!
The Bible is not the only documentation of this darkness. Secular historian Thallus (52 A.D.), believed to be a Samaritan, documented this event. He is quoted as saying, “On the whole world there pressed a most fearful darkness.” One of the things that make this event significant is that it happened at the sixth hour, meaning twelve-noon. This event described by Mark’s Gospel, as well as a secular historian, happens in the middle of the day!
Thallus is further quoted as saying, “This darkness appears to me without reason, an eclipse of the sun.” He is saying it looks like an eclipse, but no eclipse is happening. It is just deep darkness without reason! What a powerful statement coming from a secular historian; however, he could not be more wrong. There was a reason! God was warning the people what life without Jesus looks like. It is a place that would be described as dark, earth-shaking, uncomfortable, and unpleasant.
Old Testament prophecy, which the witnesses would be familiar with, foretold of this event. Joel 2:10 reads, “The earth quakes before them; the heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.” Even knowing this prophecy, while witnessing this event unfold before their eyes, the Jews did not accept what was happening.
Although they had enough to know Him and should have known Him, we have something more than they did. We have the Old Testament prophecy and the documentation of those prophecies being fulfilled in the New Testament. We have the proof that Jesus is who He said He is and that He endured the wrath of His Father for our sake.
It is a scary feeling to be lost in darkness, so I ask, do you realize the significance of the darkness at the cross and what it means for us? We do not have to suffer the wrath of God. Jesus paid it all!
Amos 8:9 adds, “‘And on that day,’ declares the Lord God, ‘I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight.’”