Luke 23:44 ¶ And it was
about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth
hour. 45 And the sun was darkened, and
the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. 46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice,
he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he
gave up the ghost. 47 Now when the centurion
saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous
man. 48 And all the people that came
together to that sight, beholding the things which were done, smote their
breasts, and returned. 49 And all his
acquaintance, and the women that followed him from Galilee, stood afar off,
beholding these things.
Now, here comes one of
those perplexing verses for modernists who want to interpret the Bible like
they do the owner’s manual for their car. It says literally in verse 44 that in
the sixth hour, which would be noon, as the daytime measured by the Sun, if it
was visible, was from 6am to 6pm our time, there
was a darkness over all the earth.
First, though, let’s
talk about time.
John 11:9 Jesus answered,
Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world.
This is a general
understanding of the hourly divisions of the typical day. These are not, “it
was 12:01pm.” In the ancient world a reference to time was a general thing,
say, within the hour. They were more likely to say, “work begins at first
light,” rather than, “show up at 7am for work.” The industrial regime of time
where your days are commanded by a clock and you are expected to be at a
certain place by a certain minute would not have been understandable by most
people until the last couple of hundred years. This is one reason why factories
had such a hard time with employees who came from a farm tradition although
mechanical clocks were common by then. Time was relative, not exact, and a
person could understand showing up at dawn but the concept of being “clocked
in” by 7am was, at first, very strange. Whether the darkness started at noon
exactly or at 12:15 or 12:37 we cannot know in this life because it came over
the earth in the sixth hour, sometime in the sixth hour, so the apostle John
would not have been standing in the crowd consulting with his non-existent
stopwatch.
Sun dials were in use
for thousands of years and are the oldest known device for measuring time. In
Isaiah, at least seven-hundred years before Christ, we have a mention.
Isaiah 38:8 Behold, I will
bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down.
Some sources report
that the earliest use of a minute for dividing an hour into 60 periods of 60
seconds is reported in the 1200s AD. Just want to point out not to read today’s
“accuracy” back into the Bible measurement of time. It is not necessary to do
so to understand what is being said to us.
This reference to all
the earth might be a reference only to that part of the world and not necessarily a solar eclipse that would have been seen in that part of the world although God
does use “natural” events to accomplish His purposes. So, whether it was a solar eclipse or not I am not saying and evidence that there was one at that time that would have been seen in Judea is just not there. Although as I said before I do not want to
make this study of Luke a harmonization of the Gospels I think some
cross-references here, as in other places, would be most helpful.
Matthew 27:45 Now from the
sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.
Mark 15:33 ¶ And when the
sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth
hour.
I believe this was a localized supernatural event. Remember two things.
One, that the darkness over the land of Egypt in Exodus 10 would not have been
over the entire planet. Two, when the Bible refers to the earth in most places
neither is it referring to the frozen tundra of Siberia or the jungles of the
Amazon River basin. It almost always is a reference to Palestine where events
are taking place after the focus is narrowed down to Abraham’s departure from
Ur in Genesis, chapter 11.
Regarding verse 45, the
veil in the tabernacle was to divide the people from the most holy place.
Exodus 26:31 ¶ And thou shalt
make a vail of blue, and
purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning work: with cherubims
shall it be made: 32 And thou shalt hang
it upon four pillars of shittim wood
overlaid with gold: their hooks shall
be of gold, upon the four sockets of silver. 33 And thou shalt hang up the vail under the
taches, that thou mayest bring in thither within the vail the ark of the
testimony: and the vail shall divide unto you between the holy place and the most holy. 34 And thou shalt put the mercy seat upon the
ark of the testimony in the most holy place.
Solomon carried that
over into the temple, of course.
2Chronicles 3:14 And he
made the vail of blue, and
purple, and crimson, and fine linen, and wrought cherubims thereon. 15 Also he made before the house two pillars of
thirty and five cubits high, and the chapiter that was on the top of each of them was five cubits.
Matthew and Mark both
report that the veil was torn from top to bottom indicating that this thick
piece of fine twined linen was torn by God, not man. The barrier between
mankind and God, the profane and the sacred, was ripped apart. God made
provision to dwell with mankind, in their heart of hearts. This is an act of
God, not performed by human willpower.
John 1:12 But as many as
received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his
name: 13 Which were born, not of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
The only work that man
or woman can do to initiate this act of God is to believe and have faith that
what Christ said about Himself was true, to believe that He was God in the
flesh, and in His resurrection.
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto
him, I am the way, the
truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
John 6:29 Jesus answered
and said unto them, This is the work
of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
John 3:36 He that believeth
on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not
see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
John 10:30 I and my Father are
one.
Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine
heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
The Cross was enough to
pay for our sins against God restoring and reconciling mankind to what was lost
in Adam and Eve’s sin against Him, which nature we inherited.
1Corinthians 1:18 For the
preaching of the cross is to them that perish
foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
Ephesians 2:14 ¶ For he is
our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of
partition between us; [Jew
and Gentile] 15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make
in himself of twain [Jew and Gentile]
one new man, so making peace; 16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in
one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: 17 And came and preached peace to you which were
afar off, and to them that were nigh.
Hebrews 9:24 For Christ is
not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now
to appear in the presence of God for us:
25 Nor yet that he should
offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year
with blood of others; 26 For then must
he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin
by the sacrifice of himself.
The Empty Tomb was
sufficient for our justification.
Romans 4:25 Who was
delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
The receipt of this free gift of eternal life
is based on belief and faith.
Romans 4:5 But to him that
worketh not, but believeth on
him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith
is counted for righteousness.
Ephesians 2:8 For by grace
are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9
Not of works, lest any man should boast.
1Timothy 6:12 Fight the
good fight of faith, lay hold on
eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good
profession before many witnesses.
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is
impossible to please him: for
he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
The deposit on this promise of eternal life is
the indwelling of the Holy Spirit; the Spirit of God and of Christ. There are
so many verses that detail this it would take up many pages to list them all.
John 14:23 Jesus answered
and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will
love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
Romans 8:9 But ye are not
in the flesh, but in the Spirit,
if so be that the Spirit of God
dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ,
he is none of his.
2Corinthians 1:22 Who hath
also sealed us, and given the earnest
of the Spirit in our hearts.
46 says And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice,
he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he
gave up the ghost.
Psalm 31:5 Into thine hand
I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.
Matthew and Mark both
have Jesus quoting the first verse of Psalm 22, a Psalm about His mission,
struggles, agony, and those who will be born of the Spirit.
Matthew 27:46 And about the
ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?
that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
Mark 15:34 And at the ninth
hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which
is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
Psalm 22:1 ¶ « To the
chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar, A Psalm of David. » My God, my God,
why hast thou forsaken me? why art
thou so far from helping me, and
from the words of my roaring?
John reports this;
John 19:30 When Jesus
therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his
head, and gave up the ghost.
For verse 47 Matthew
and Mark also report the Centurion, the Roman army officer in charge, as saying
something additionally to a righteous man.
They have him acknowledging that Jesus must be the Son of God, a declaration
that would save the Centurion like the thief on the cross.
People watching mourned
in grief and desperation and the women who had helped Jesus and the disciples
stood back and watched Him die, no doubt, weeping bitterly.
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