It's funny how you read a
verse -- who knows how many times over the years -- and upon serious
reflection, what comes to mind.
"When it was noon, darkness came over the whole
land until three in the afternoon."
For a full three hours, it
was dark? And it was dark not just in Jerusalem,… or limited to the land of
Israel,… it encompassed the whole earth. Was this caused by an eclipse? While
it has that "wow" factor, the longest solar eclipse on record is
slightly over seven minutes.
Okay, let's take Mark at
his word; there were three hours of some serious darkness over the earth. What
was the vibe? How would it be described?
Old Testament scriptures give
an indication of what was encountered.
* "And if one look to the land -- only darkness and distress; and
the light grows dark with clouds."[i]
* "For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not
give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not
shed its light."[ii]
* "Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming,
it is near -- a day of darkness and gloom, and a day of clouds and thick
darkness!"[iii]
* "Is not the day of the LORD darkness, not light, and gloom with no
brightness in it?"[iv]
Thick darkness; clouds;
distress; gloom; no brightness. Seems ominous, overwhelmingly depressing and rather
disturbing. Did Mark have something else to say,… without really saying it? As
in, was this a literal darkness, or an existential darkness, or a mixture of
both or whatever lies between?
When "darkness"
was pondered by the study group, some of their thoughts included:
* "Death brings
darkness;" -- CJ*
* "The people were
living in darkness, and Jesus' mission had to go through darkness;" -- Yin*
* "Jesus was dying. The
extreme from full light to dark punctuates the story even more." -- Bev*
Metaphorically, the shadow
of death loomed over Jesus. He was immersed in "the darkest valley."[v] In this kind of dark, angst,
alienation and rejection are sure to follow. It makes Jesus' loud cry pierce
one's heart even more so.
"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
About 15 hours earlier at
the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus had fervently prayed, '"Abba, Father, for you all things are possible."'[vi] Now at Golgotha on a
cross, he called out to "God."
From "Daddy" to "God."
With his "forsaken"
question, even though Jesus uttered a direct quote from Psalm 22, there was a
diametric distance between the two words -- "Abba"
and "God." One more
intimate; the other more formal.
Other verses in Psalm 22
-- beyond Jesus' aching question -- provide further insight and descriptively layer
his inner torment. "Why are you so
far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day but
you do not answer; and by night, but find no rest."[vii]
Such pain. Such agony.
Suffering and dying. Immeasurable, intense feelings of abandonment and anguish --
physically and spiritually.
Did these feelings of
lament only apply to Jesus? What about his followers? What about others? Also,
had Jesus reached a point where doubts swirled around his head? Did he
experience a crisis of faith?
Not from the Jesus who was
completely human and completely divine. Yet, this unbearable moment did
allow Jesus to readily identify with humanity who had been separated from God. His
cry tells us he knew what that isolating disconnect felt like.
Stimulating further
conversation was a question asked by Jonathan*. "What was God feeling
during all of this?" Whoa! God has feelings? Did God actually anguish over
the suffering of Jesus?
Stated throughout
Scripture, God undeniably experiences emotions such as grief, anger, pleasure,
pity, love,…. Isaiah 63:9 stated how the people's distress depicted God's own. "In all their distress he too was
distressed."[viii]
While we can take solace that
God is with us -- "Immanuel,"
there is a clear distinction between God and humanity. It reminds me of 1
Samuel 16:7 -- "…for the LORD does
not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks
on the heart."[ix]
Whereas we are swayed by our emotions; God is not. Whereas our emotions are
subject to time, space and conditions, God's emotions are not.
Jesus suffered, and yes,…
God suffered as well. For six excruciatingly long hours, the crucified Christ stayed
on the cross. At its conclusion, the Gospel of Luke reported him saying, "Father into your hands I commend my
spirit."[x]
How did he reach that
point? It's similar to when Jesus had been in the Garden of Gethsemane praying.
As he did then, Jesus aligned himself with God in what he had come to do. Even
in darkness and despair, he firmly believed, "Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel."[xi] He knew "Even though I walk through the darkest
valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me."[xii]
And Jesus "breathed his last."
As Bev* shared, "For
me, faith was born at this point. The test has come."
NEXT
The opening; the insight
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