Moment of Meditation: Three Dark Hours (Matthew 27:45)

''Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour (Matthew 27:45).''

From noon until three, the entire world was utterly dark as Jesus hung on the cross. Three hours. The whole world darkened. St. John calls this to mind in Revelation when the fourth trumpet sounded: "Then the fourth angel sounded: And a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night" (8:12).

The entire creation saw--and even felt--the three dark hours. Foreshadowed in the Exodus from Egypt by the three dark days of the ninth plague (10:21-29).

God turned out the lights while Jesus was on the cross. He turned His back on His Son. Jesus had become the rottenness of the entire world's sin (2 Corinthians 5:21). The holy God cannot stand sin. So He forsook Jesus because Jesus was now your sin.

These dark hours bring about the great Light of the resurrection. Without God placing your sin upon Jesus' shoulders, your sins would still be on you. You would still be responsible for atoning for them. But Jesus is your atonement. Because He hung on the cross. Even after God forsook Him for your sake. Amen.