Darkness at Noon

Narrator: Chris Genthree
 •  3 min. read  •  grade level: 5
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At nine o’clock in the morning, the sun was a coppery color. It looked like a large penny in the sky. Later it became so dark outside that we needed to turn on our car’s headlights. The clouds had a reddish-brown glow. By noon, when the sun normally is brightest, it was so dark that stores and gas stations had their signs lit and lights turned on inside. It was almost as dark as night. This unusual darkness was very strange and scary. We had never seen anything like this before.
Maybe you are wondering what caused this darkness at noon. It was thick smoke from forest fires many miles away.
It made us think of another time when the sun got dark at noon and stayed dark for three hours. This was total darkness. It was not caused by forest fires, and it was not an eclipse. I think that most of you know when this happened. It was while the Lord Jesus was hanging on the cross.
You remember how they crowned Him with thorns and spit on Him. Then they nailed Him to the cross at about nine o’clock in the morning. They made fun of Him and cursed Him and then sat down to watch Him (Matthew 27:3636And sitting down they watched him there; (Matthew 27:36)). They said, “If Thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.” Others said, “If He be the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.” Matthew 27:40,4240And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. (Matthew 27:40)
42He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. (Matthew 27:42).
Both of these things are true. He is the Son of God and He is the King of Israel. But what if He had come down from that cross? We would not have a Saviour. Jesus came purposely to die for us.
What the people and soldiers did to Him was terrible, but there was something much, much worse. Jesus, who was without sin Himself, was made sin for us. “For He [God] hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Corinthians 5:2121For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthians 5:21). “Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree.” 1 Peter 2:2424Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. (1 Peter 2:24). Many years before, the prophet Isaiah wrote, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.... Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him.” Isaiah 53:6,106All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)
10Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. (Isaiah 53:10).
God stopped the light of the sun when Jesus was made sin. Sin is so terrible that God would not look on it on His beloved Son. In Psalm 22:33But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. (Psalm 22:3) it says, “Thou art holy, O Thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.” God would not allow men to look at Jesus either, while He suffered for us.
Children, His suffering for our sins was far worse than all the things that those men did to Him. As terrible as the suffering was for the Lord Jesus, it is a blessing to us. “He bare [took] the sin of many.” Isaiah 53:1212Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. (Isaiah 53:12). Salvation is offered to everyone, but it is given only to “all them that believe.” Romans 3:2222Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: (Romans 3:22). Are you one of those who believe? Do you have salvation?
Those hours of darkness He suffered for sinners
On Calvary’s cross, all for-saken, alone,
While making atonement, and bearing the judgment
Are ended, and now He’s on high on the throne.
O come now to Jesus, that dear loving Saviour,
Receive Him this moment, and peace shall be thine.
“How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation.”
ML-10/25/1992