The Darkest Day in History
If I were to ask what day, in your opinion, was the darkest day in history, I could expect a variety of answers. Some might refer to some catastrophe such as the great fire of Rome, which actually lasted six days. Others would claim that, at least in their memory, it was the tragic felling of the Twin Towers of New York City, where thousands died in the resulting inferno.
Yet I would dare to say that the day now referred to as “Good Friday” was not only literally but also spiritually the darkest day in history, yet one which offered glimmers of light as well.
Have you ever seen an eclipse? The semi-darkness lasts for hours, as the moon gradually “covers” the sun and then gradually reveals the sun again. However, total darkness lasts only for a brief time, from less than a minute to nearly three minutes, depending on the location.
On that day in Passover so many years ago, the duration of the terrible gloom was much greater than that of any normal eclipse. For three long hours, blackness overwhelmed “the whole land,” which can also be translated “the whole earth.”
No one had taken flashlights, I’m sure. Not even torches.
Imagine the fear. Even those who had witnessed eclipses must have realized this was unlike any other. Surely there were those who thought it was the end of the earth.
At the moment Jesus gave up his spirit, a tremendous earthquake shook the land, increasing the pervasive sense of terror. Rocks were split, tombs opened, and “saints” who were dead came to life and appeared to many.
It was the darkest day spiritually, as well. Divinity-made-man seemed to be destroyed, defeated. The Messiah himself cried out to his Father, “Why have you forsaken me”? The weight of all humanity’s sin caused his heart to be crushed, to the point that he had even sweat drops of blood. The Father had to turn his back on his beloved son when he bore the terrible totality of evil at the moment of the Crucifixion.
Therein lay also the seeds of promise. No doubt there were those who whispered, “Didn’t he predict that he would rise again?” The dead who had just been resurrected must have caused hope to arise, as well. Even a Roman centurion was convinced, by the unusual “coincidences” he witnessed, that the middle-man of those who hung on the three crosses was truly the Son of God.
The light was breaking through.
Just as a seed must be buried and “die” before it gives forth life, the Messiah had to die before he could show us his victory over death.
The darkest day in history was the necessary prelude to the most victorious day in history, three days later! Only in the big picture do we understand why it is truly a “Good” Friday.
May we never forget that even in those days that seem to be the darkest, God never ceases to be at work.
