The Three Hours' Darkness
Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Matthew 27:45
From nine until noon the usual degree of light was present; so that there was time enough for our Lord's adversaries to behold and insult His sufferings. There could be no mistake about the fact that He was really nailed to the cross for He was crucified in broad daylight. We are fully assured that it was Jesus of Nazareth, for both friends and foes were eyewitnesses of His agonies: for three long hours the Jews sat down and watched Him on the cross, making jests of His miseries. I feel thankful for those three hours of light for else the enemies of our faith would have questioned whether in very deed the blessed body of our Master was nailed to the tree, and would have started fancies as many as the bats and owls which haunt the darkness. Where would have been the witnesses of this solemn scene if the sun had been hidden from morn until night? As three hours of light gave opportunity for inspection and witness bearing, we see the wisdom which did not allow it to close too soon.
Never forget that this miracle of the closing of the eye of day at high noon was performed by our Lord in His weakness. He had walked the sea and raised the dead and healed the sick in the days of His strength; but now He has come to His lowest, the fever is on Him, He is faint and thirsty. He hangs on the borders of dissolution yet has He power to darken the sun at noon. He is still very God of very God:
Behold, a purple torrent run
Down from his hands and head,
The crimson tide puts out the son;
His groans awake the dead.
If He can do this in His weakness, what is He not able to do in His strength? Fail not to remember that this power was displayed in a sphere in which He did not usually put forth His might. The sphere of Christ is that of goodness and benevolence, and consequently of light. When He enters the sphere of darkness making, and of working judgment, He engages in what He calls His strange work. Wo ...
Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Matthew 27:45
From nine until noon the usual degree of light was present; so that there was time enough for our Lord's adversaries to behold and insult His sufferings. There could be no mistake about the fact that He was really nailed to the cross for He was crucified in broad daylight. We are fully assured that it was Jesus of Nazareth, for both friends and foes were eyewitnesses of His agonies: for three long hours the Jews sat down and watched Him on the cross, making jests of His miseries. I feel thankful for those three hours of light for else the enemies of our faith would have questioned whether in very deed the blessed body of our Master was nailed to the tree, and would have started fancies as many as the bats and owls which haunt the darkness. Where would have been the witnesses of this solemn scene if the sun had been hidden from morn until night? As three hours of light gave opportunity for inspection and witness bearing, we see the wisdom which did not allow it to close too soon.
Never forget that this miracle of the closing of the eye of day at high noon was performed by our Lord in His weakness. He had walked the sea and raised the dead and healed the sick in the days of His strength; but now He has come to His lowest, the fever is on Him, He is faint and thirsty. He hangs on the borders of dissolution yet has He power to darken the sun at noon. He is still very God of very God:
Behold, a purple torrent run
Down from his hands and head,
The crimson tide puts out the son;
His groans awake the dead.
If He can do this in His weakness, what is He not able to do in His strength? Fail not to remember that this power was displayed in a sphere in which He did not usually put forth His might. The sphere of Christ is that of goodness and benevolence, and consequently of light. When He enters the sphere of darkness making, and of working judgment, He engages in what He calls His strange work. Wo ...
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