When it comes to the Total Eclipse, I got it wrong. I want to make it right.
I led a two-week mini message series for Easter called The Day the World Changed. You can watch that series by clicking here. The world changed the day Jesus died. The world changed the day Jesus resurrected. The message on March 24 was the beginning of Holy Week. We walked though Holy Week by focusing on Palm Sunday, Holy Tuesday, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. When we arrived at the time of Jesus crucifixion we read these words from Matthew 27:
Matthew 27:38-45 (NIV2011) 38 Two rebels were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. 39 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads 40 and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save
yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” 41 In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. 42 “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now
from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ” 44 In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him. 45 From noon until three in the
afternoon darkness came over all the land.
When I finished reading verse 45 I said this. This is a total solar eclipse. Much like the one you will see April 8. I was wrong. What happened in verse 45 was much more than a total eclipse. Let me explain. A total eclipse is a natural event. They last for several minutes and yes there is complete darkness, but again it’s only for a few minutes. Matthew tells us that the darkness lasted from noon to 3:00PM. Listen to the words of author and New Testament scholar, Dr. Mark Moore from his book, The Chronological Life of Christ.
“Between noon and 3PM darkness covers Judea. This is the first of three phenomena that accompany Jesus’ death. It is a supernatural sign of judgment (Amos 8:9-10) which cannot be explained naturalistically. For example, an eclipse doesn’t last for three hours nor does it occur during the full moon of Passover. No, the hand of God shrouded the land. After only six hours on the cross, Jesus dies. He cries out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi...” This fourth saying from the cross is perhaps the most theologically significant and perhaps too deep for us to fully appreciate. It seems Jesus is calling us back to Psalm 22:1.”
Psalm 22:1 (NIV2011) 1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? Dr. Moore continues, “This passage is an incredibly clear prediction of Jesus’ crucifixion. What is most striking about this Psalm is that it was written about 1000 B.C., a full 600 years before crucifixion was in vogue.
Secondly, Jesus is not merely quoting Psalm 22:1; he is describing his present and insufferable separation from his Heavenly Father. From eternity past, Jesus has never known what it was like to be alienated from God’s presence.”
When you experience this Total Eclipse on April 8, be reminded that what you are seeing is a natural phenomenon. The darkness that covered the world the day Jesus died was not natural. It was supernatural. It was of God. The reason Jesus died for me and for you was to turn away God’s wrath. The reason Jesus died was to pay the price for sin once and for all. That’s called atonement.
Jesus’ death is what I pray is on your mind when Ohio goes dark on April 8.
