Great Friday: A Dark Day

So good to have you with us this evening to celebrate the greatest day in the history of the world. Today is the most important day that the world ever experienced. It is the greatest day in redemptive history. It's the greatest day in human history. It's the greatest day in prophetic history. There is no greater day than Great Friday. It is the highest of all holy days. It's a higher day than Resurrection Sunday. It's a higher day than the birth of Jesus Christ. Because without this day, there is no salvation.

So this becomes the greatest day ever. In fact, it was foremost in the mind of our Lord. Everything before the cross pointed to the cross. Everything after the cross points back to the cross. In fact, even before time began, Christ was the lamb slain before the foundation of the world. So in eternity past, it was the forefront of all things. In Revelation 5, there is a song of the lamb, which goes, worthy is the lamb who was slain to receive glory and honor and praise. So even in eternity future, everything is going to look back on this day.

That's why he's called the lamb of God 28 times in the book of Revelation, because that is the name by which we will call him in glory, the lamb of God. And so everything for eternity future all focuses back on this day. This is the greatest of all days. But it's sad that so many people miss this opportunity to celebrate the death of Jesus Christ, our Lord. In fact, we even celebrate the Lord's table, right? As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you do proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

So the only memorial that Christ set up for himself, by which he was to be remembered, was the memorial not about his living, but in the giving of his life. Everything centers around the cross of Christ. Even in fact, in Luke chapter 2, when Christ was 12 years of age, when we have the only recorded words of our Lord before the age of 30, he tells his mother, don't you know that I must be about my father's business? So in the forefront of the mind of Christ at the age of 12 was everything about the mission his father had given him to accomplish.

In Luke chapter 9, the Bible says these words, verse number 22, the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised up on the third day.

Again, the cross was foremost in the mind of Christ. Later in Luke's gospel, in the 13th chapter, it says these words after Herod sought to kill Jesus, Christ says, I must journey on today and tomorrow and the next day, for it cannot be that a prophet would perish outside of Jerusalem.

Everything about the precise timing of Christ's death was all foreordained. This was the plan. Christ came to die. That was his mission. And so at the resurrection of Christ in Luke chapter 24, when the women were crying over the fact that they didn't know where their Lord was, two men in white apparel said that the son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and the third day rise again.

Don't you remember? They said. And then on the road to Emmaus, Christ said, oh foolish men and slow of heart, to believe in all that the prophets had spoken, was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into his glory? And then he would speak to his 12 or to his 11 and say, these are my words, verse 44, which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about me in the law and Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures.

And he said to them, thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day.

In other words, everything about this day matters. This is the day. That's why we call it Great Friday. We don't even call it Good Friday. We call it Great Friday because it's the greatest of all days. And everything about the cross is so encompassing in the scriptures. If we had the time, we could talk to you about the predetermination of the cross, how everything was set in motion from eternity past. We could talk to you about the proclamations about the cross that Christ himself gave and the instructions about the cross that he gave.

We can talk to you about the precision of the cross, how all the events surrounding the cross of Christ happened at the exact moment at the precise time that was ordained by him because as a sovereign God of the universe, he controlled everything. We could talk to you about the situation surrounding the cross, or the conversations from the cross, or the inscription above the cross. We can talk to you about so many things concerning the cross of Christ because it is the apex of redemptive history.

It is everything that salvation is, is Calvary's cross. And yet so very few people understand that. They can't wait to get to Sunday. And I think you need to be at Sunday celebrating the resurrection of Christ. But there is no resurrection if there is no death. And the death is while he was born. He was born to die. In fact, John says it this way, 1 John chapter 3. He says these words in verse number 8, the Son of God appeared for this purpose to destroy the works of the devil. The Lord appeared to die to destroy the works of the devil.

It says, you know, in verse 5, that he appeared in order to take away sins. The only way that happens is at Calvary's cross. So, of all the things I could talk to you about, I decided to look at one short passage of Scripture in Mark's gospel in the 15th chapter.

And I'll read it to you, set it in your mind, then answer three questions. Okay? Mark chapter 15, beginning with verse number 33. When the sixth hour came, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour. At the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani, which is translated, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? When some of the bystanders heard it, they began saying, behold, he is calling for Elijah. Someone ran and filled the sponge with sour wine, put on a reed, and gave him a drink, saying, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.

And Jesus uttered a loud cry, with a loud cry, and breathed his last. And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. When the centurion, who was standing right in front of him, saw the way he breathed his last, he said, truly, this man was the Son of God. Now, there are so many verses to look at when it comes to the cross of Christ.

But let's ask and answer three questions this evening. First of all, why was it dark? Second of all, why did Christ dismiss his spirit?

And then third, why did he die? Three questions, three simple answers. Why was it dark? The Bible says in verse 33, when the sixth hour came, that was noon.

He was crucified at nine o'clock, put on the cross at nine o'clock. He hung there for three hours. In those three hours, he spoke three times. He, first of all, gave a word of pardon.

And then he gave a word of promise. And then he gave a word of provision. The word of pardon was, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they were doing. Those were his first words.

Second words were to the thief, a word of promise. Today, you shall be with me in paradise. And then the third word was a word of provision.

When he looked at his mother and said, behold, your son. And then to John and said, behold, your mother. Even in his death, he offered provision for his mother. The first three words were spoken to people.

The last four words were spoken by Jesus about himself. But then it became dark. And the question is, how dark was it? Well, it wasn't just a few clouds floating by covering the sun. No, it went dark. It wasn't an eclipse because it lasted three hours. An eclipse would not happen at this time of the year because Passover happens during the full moon. So it wasn't an eclipse, and it wasn't just a few clouds passing by. This was an actual darkness. In fact, Luke's account tells us that the sun failed utterly.

In other words, the sun failed to do what the sun does. It failed to shine. And yet the Lord was able to sustain the universe, sustain the earth by the darkening of the sun. And the question is, why was it dark? Why would the Lord do this? Why would it be dark for three long hours? Simply because this was the fury of the wrath of Almighty God. You'll know that God is light. The Bible tells us that in him is light and there is no darkness at all. We know that John 8, 12 says that he is the light of the world.

We know that at his birth, the glory of the Lord would shine all around, right? And the glory of the Lord was the presence of God manifested in brilliant light. When he comes again in Matthew 24, the sign of the Son of Man will be the glory of the Lord shining all around. And yet this day, the Lord made it dark simply because it was the passing of judgment. And God wasn't judging man. He was judging his son for the sins of man. So that's why the world was dark, simply because he wanted you to see the magnitude of his love.

This is such a unique and incredible thing because as the world became dark, and if you go back to the Old Testament, you can read the book of Isaiah, the book of Amos, the book of Joel, the book of Zephaniah. All of them speak about judgment as darkness falling upon the world. As you recall, that there was darkness as one of the plagues in the book of Exodus before the first Passover lamb was slain.

So rightly so, there would be darkness when the last Passover lamb would be slain. The ultimate lamb would be slain because the Lord was passing judgment upon Egypt. Well, here he's passing judgment upon his son. And therefore, darkness would cover the land. And during the darkness, not a word was spoken, completely silent. Why? This is how you know the meaning of 2 Corinthians 5.21, that he who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. He became sin. He did not become a sinner.

Christ cannot sin. He is not a sinner, but he became sin for us so that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. This is called substitutionary atonement, Christ dying on our behalf. So the full fury of God's wrath, the infinite fury of God's wrath would be poured out on an infinite sun in a span of three hours. Only God can do that. And it's so important to realize this because during this time, he would cry out at the end, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? It's the only time that Jesus ever referred to his father as God.

He always called him father. But at this time, he says, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And you'll note that at the end, he will say, father, into thy hand I commend thy spirit. That's simply because everything about that communion and everything about that relationship and everything about the sweetness of intimacy had been restored. You see, the cry of our God, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me, signifies the fact that he had been abandoned by his father. He never lost his nature.

He never lost the essence of his deity. He was always God. He was always the second person of the Trinity.

He was always the son. Nothing ever changed, but the communion and the fellowship that he'd always experienced from eternity past for those three hours was absent. Because Habakkuk 1.13 tells us that our Lord is of pure eyes than to behold evil. The Bible tells us in Galatians 3.16 that Christ was made a curse for us. In 1 Peter 2.24, Christ bore our sins in his own body on the tree. Isaiah 53, he was wounded for our transgressions. In 1 John 4.10, he, our Lord, sent his son to be the satisfaction for our sins.

You see, what is so important to realize is that during those three hours, Christ experienced spiritual death. It wasn't enough for Christ to only die physically. He had to die spiritually. Why is that? Go all the way back to the book of Genesis, the third chapter, right?

Christ said in chapter two to Adam and Eve, the day you eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you will die. So in chapter three, they eat, but they live. They don't die. Or did they die? The answer is yes, they did die. They died how? Spiritually. The sweet communion that they had with God in the garden was broken because of their sin. And so because of one man's sin, death passed upon all men for all have sinned. So now when you're born, you are born dead in your trespasses in sin. You're born separated from God.

That's called spiritual death. There's a separation between you and your God. That's what death is all about. Death was never defined in the Bible as a cessation of existence. Death is only defined in the Bible as separation. That's why there's spiritual death, physical death, and eternal death. What is spiritual death? Spiritual death is man being separated from God. What is physical death? Body being separated from soul. What is eternal death? Body and soul separated from God for all eternity. That's eternal death.

It's a separation. Here, our Lord had to die spiritually. He had to be separated from his father in heaven because he was bearing your sin and mine. He was taken upon the sin of the world. He was dying for you and for me. And therefore, there was this abandonment by his father because he's a purer eyes than to behold evil. And while he bore in his body your sin and mine, he actually became sin. He wasn't a sinner, but he became sin for us. In other words, he experienced the full fury of God's eternal wrath upon himself simply because he wanted you to see how much he truly loved you.

Why was it dark? Simply so that you could see his love. He wanted you to see his love for mankind, his love for every soul because that's the way our God is. And so, he would cry out, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And they thought he was calling for Elijah because they know the book of Malachi. In the book of Malachi, it says that Elijah will come before the day of the Lord, the coming of the Lord. So, it's not in terms of anticipation, but it's a mocking of our Lord. Well, maybe he's calling for Elijah, but his poor soul thinks that Elijah is going to come and rescue him.

But that's not the case. Of course, then he cries out and says, I thirst. Why would he cry out for that? Simply because all hell had come to Mount Calvary that day. And he had bore the eternal wrath of God for those three hours and to fulfill the psalmist of Psalm 69 because he knew what was written that had to be fulfilled. And so, he said, I thirst. And then he said, it is finished. What was finished? The price had been paid. The separation from the father and the son was the price that needed to be paid so that you were no longer separated from God, that you could actually enter his presence.

But notice what the Bible says. It says, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. That's just so important. Why is that important? Because you see, that veil symbolized the fact that man would never, ever experience the intimacy with God because there was always a barrier between he and his God. And only the high priest could go in once a year on the day of atonement. And yet, on this day, it was torn from the top to the bottom to signify that now entrance into the presence of God was now open through the death of the son.

When Christ says, I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man comes into the father but by me. The only way to get into intimacy with the father is through the son because the veil had been torn in two. Now, think about this. All these priests are in there. They're sacrificing in the temple. All these worshipers are in there, and the veil is torn in two because access to God has now been granted. And now, you're able to understand how to enter that presence through the death of Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Why was it dark? Simply that you could see his love. Why did he dismiss his spirit? Because that's what he did. In fact, John's account tells us in John chapter 19, verse number 3, he delivered up his spirit. And in Matthew's account, it says he dismissed his spirit. In other words, he voluntarily gave up the ghost. In other words, the reason he dismissed his spirit was to signify his lordship, that he was Lord of life and death. He is the King of glory. If you go back and you read Revelation chapter 1, you realize that it's the Lord who holds the keys of death and Hades.

Back in John chapter 10, he says, no man takes my life from me. I lay it down on my own initiative. And if I lay it down on my own initiative, they'll take it back up again. In other words, no one controls life and death but me because I hold the keys to death and Hades. So, the reason he dismissed his spirit was to signify the fact that he was Lord of all. It signifies his lordship, that he's the King of glory, that he's in charge of everything, even his own death. He was going to die precisely at the right moment, at the right time, when all prophecy up to that point had been fulfilled and he was willing to give his life away.

When the ransom had been paid, it was time to die. So, he could say, it's finished. He could say, Father, into thy hands, I commend my spirit. Why? Because the communion with the Father had been restored. That which had been the broken fellowship and intimacy that they had had for all eternity that was broken for those three hours was restored because he had done exactly as the Father had promised. He fulfilled everything that God said because he came to do the will of his Father who is in heaven.

And so, therefore, the reason it was dark is that we would see his love. The reason he dismissed his spirit was to signify his lordship. I am the good shepherd, he said, and the good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. The inscription above the cross, Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. How would he show everybody that he was the king? By showing them that he would give his life away and that he would take it up again, that he was in charge of his death. Nobody has ever been in charge of their death except Christ because he is sovereign, he rules over all.

And why did he die? He died to save our lives. Look what it says in verse 39, when the centurion who was standing right in front of him saw the way he breathed his last, he said, truly this man was the son of God. Now, think about the centurion. There's no doubt that he was the leader of not just those hundred men but the leader of the cohort that went to go and get Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. There is no doubt that he was with Christ all throughout his trial. He heard every word that was spoken, everything that was said.

There was no doubt that he was there during the beatings of Christ, during the king's game in the praetorium. He was all a part of that. And so as he was leading the procession of Christ up to Mount Calvary, he was there throughout the whole six hours as Christ hung on the cross. So he heard every word that was spoken by the Lord. He had seen it all. In fact, Matthew's account tells us that he simply said he was praising God for truly this man was innocent. This man understood, this centurion came to grips with the reality of saving faith.

He gave glory to God and praised his glorious name. Why? Because the reason he died was to save lost men, to save your life and mine. I love what it says in 1 Peter chapter 2, verse number, excuse me, chapter 3, verse number 18, Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous in order to bring us to God. That's why he died, to bring us to God. Remember that old Negro spiritual written in 1899? It talks about, were you there when they crucified my Lord? It just repeats that phrase over and over again.

Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Oh, it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. And then the next day it says, were you there when they kneeled unto the cross? Were you there when they kneeled unto the cross? Oh, it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when they kneeled unto the cross? The third stanza, were you there when they pierced him in the side?

It repeats it over and over again. Oh, it causes me to tremble. Then the fourth stanza, were you there when the sun refused to shine? Sometimes it just causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. That Negro spiritual was the first Negro spiritual ever put into an American hymn.

First one, because it so exemplified the overwhelming attitude of the cross of Christ. Because truly it should cause us all to tremble, to realize what Christ had done for us. That now if you're born again and you've given your life to Christ, you have new life in Christ and you're able to experience the glories of heaven. But that's why he came. He came to save men's lives, that we might experience the beauty and the glory of heaven. I wonder tonight, if you know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, if you've given your life to Christ, this is the greatest day to do so if you never have, because it's the day in which we celebrate the death of Jesus Christ our Lord.

The opportunity that God gives us to celebrate his death is often, but so many times we overlook the cross. The cross is central to the mission and mind and ministry of Christ. It should be central to the mission, mind, and ministry of Christians. The cross of Jesus Christ our Lord, for there the price was paid. There your sins were atoned. There, there, and there only is the only way we can experience the saving grace of Jesus Christ our Lord. Let me pray with you.

Father, we thank you Lord for the saving and the chance you give us to gather together to reflect just one more brief moment on the cross of Christ. Sometimes it seems to be so overwhelming to realize that what you did for us is beyond anything we can comprehend this side of eternity. In fact, we will spend the rest of eternity praising you as the land that was slain because you're the one who receives glory and honor and praise. Our prayer Father is that all who are here tonight would know you as their Lord and Savior, that if not, that they would give their life to Christ tonight.

They'd realize the importance of saving grace. Lord, we are grateful for this time and our prayer, Lord, is that you'd go before us, that as we celebrate this weekend, anticipating Lord, once again, you're coming again, that we never forget what you did for us on Calvary's Mount. In Jesus' name, amen.