Darkness Fell Over the Whole Land: Luke 23:44-45
“44) It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45) because the sun was obscured; and the veil of the temple was torn in two.” Luke 23:44-45
Luke highlights two phenomenon that accompanied the death of Jesus. The first relates to darkness falling over the whole land from the sixth to the ninth hour. The second relates to the veil in the temple being torn in two. We will deal with them separately.
There is question over which time system was used by Luke and Matthew to describe the darkness. The Romans and the Jews counted the time of day differently. The Roman day started at midnight, while the Jewish day started at sunrise. This is a six hour difference in the start of a day, but both systems place the event in full daylight. The Jewish clock would place the fall of darkness at high noon.
No matter which system you adopt, the phenomenon was the same. Darkness fell over the land for three hours. This was a very abnormal phenomenon.
The description of it “falling over the land” indicates that it happened immediately. It wasn’t like sunrise and sunset. It was not gradual. It was more like turning off a switch. Suddenly; light was gone!
This reminds the serious Bible student of the plague of darkness that came over the Land of Egypt as recorded in Exodus 10:21-39. In the case of Egypt, the darkness lasted three days, but the Jewish people had normal light.
Separating light from darkness as described in both events is an eerie phenomenon. God separated the light from darkness in Genesis 1:4. This kind of total separation of light and darkness “in open space” requires intervention from God.
Three things may have contributed to this phenomenon as recorded by Luke. First, the Creator was being crucified and the created realm was crying out in protest. (See Romans 8:19-22)
Second, the Sustainer was being crucified and normality was moving toward chaos. According to Colossians 1:17, Jesus holds all things together by the word of His power. With Him being removed from office, random chaos was taking charge.
Third, the time frame of His crucifixion was turned over to the kingdom of darkness. The black darkness of Satan was in full manifestation. Evil was on display. Jesus as the light of the world was being rejected.
All of these may have blended together, but what was significant is that it was manifest in the physical realm. The physical realm and the spiritual sparred together for three hours during the crucifixion of Jesus.
I believe these two realms constantly influence and interact with each other. The spiritual realm and the physical realm are the two polars of reality presented in the Bible.
The Bible was written against the backdrop of Supernaturalism. The modern philosophy of naturalism as adopted by the western church is a terrible distortion of biblical truth and reality. It minimized God while glorifying man. This movement gave birth to modern humanism. It is fueled by atheism.
The story of the crucifixion shatters a naturalistic world view. The laws of nature were interrupted by a paranormal event; “darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour.”
Daily Bible Commentary By Terry Baxter: Cofounder of GoServ Global
Sent from my iPhone
“44) It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45) because the sun was obscured; and the veil of the temple was torn in two.” Luke 23:44-45
Luke highlights two phenomenon that accompanied the death of Jesus. The first relates to darkness falling over the whole land from the sixth to the ninth hour. The second relates to the veil in the temple being torn in two. We will deal with them separately.
There is question over which time system was used by Luke and Matthew to describe the darkness. The Romans and the Jews counted the time of day differently. The Roman day started at midnight, while the Jewish day started at sunrise. This is a six hour difference in the start of a day, but both systems place the event in full daylight. The Jewish clock would place the fall of darkness at high noon.
No matter which system you adopt, the phenomenon was the same. Darkness fell over the land for three hours. This was a very abnormal phenomenon.
The description of it “falling over the land” indicates that it happened immediately. It wasn’t like sunrise and sunset. It was not gradual. It was more like turning off a switch. Suddenly; light was gone!
This reminds the serious Bible student of the plague of darkness that came over the Land of Egypt as recorded in Exodus 10:21-39. In the case of Egypt, the darkness lasted three days, but the Jewish people had normal light.
Separating light from darkness as described in both events is an eerie phenomenon. God separated the light from darkness in Genesis 1:4. This kind of total separation of light and darkness “in open space” requires intervention from God.
Three things may have contributed to this phenomenon as recorded by Luke. First, the Creator was being crucified and the created realm was crying out in protest. (See Romans 8:19-22)
Second, the Sustainer was being crucified and normality was moving toward chaos. According to Colossians 1:17, Jesus holds all things together by the word of His power. With Him being removed from office, random chaos was taking charge.
Third, the time frame of His crucifixion was turned over to the kingdom of darkness. The black darkness of Satan was in full manifestation. Evil was on display. Jesus as the light of the world was being rejected.
All of these may have blended together, but what was significant is that it was manifest in the physical realm. The physical realm and the spiritual sparred together for three hours during the crucifixion of Jesus.
I believe these two realms constantly influence and interact with each other. The spiritual realm and the physical realm are the two polars of reality presented in the Bible.
The Bible was written against the backdrop of Supernaturalism. The modern philosophy of naturalism as adopted by the western church is a terrible distortion of biblical truth and reality. It minimized God while glorifying man. This movement gave birth to modern humanism. It is fueled by atheism.
The story of the crucifixion shatters a naturalistic world view. The laws of nature were interrupted by a paranormal event; “darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour.”
Daily Bible Commentary By Terry Baxter: Cofounder of GoServ Global
Sent from my iPhone
