Miracles of Calvary: #1 Darkness
Matthew 27:45-49 – Victory Fellowship
March 6, 2022 - Rev. Roderick Grabski
I. INTRODUCTION
When considering the accounts of all the Gospels, Jesus’ death on the cross was accompanied by six miraculous events that lead to the concluding evidence of His Resurrection:
1) The Miraculous Darkness
2) The Tearing of the Temple Curtain
3) The Miraculous Earthquake
4) The Miracle of Opened Graves
5) Jesus’ Undisturbed Grave Clothes
6) Revivals to Life in the Calvary Graveyard
7) Resurrection Sunday: Evidence of the Resurrection
In my sermons, leading up to and including Easter, I will focus on each of these miracles. Jesus is more than a man and at His death, AND RESURRECTION, all Heaven and Earth proclaimed their witness.
II. THE MIRACULOUS DARKNESS
A. The Darkness Described (ever been in complete darkness?)
1. Supernatural (Exodus 10:21-23)
21 ¶ Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even a darkness which may be felt." 22 So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days. 23 They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, but all the sons of Israel had light in their dwellings.
2. Not a Natural Phenomenon – from noon to 3pm (brightest time o day)
3. Not an Eclipse - Passover during FULL MOON – over 3 hrs long
4. Seems to have come on Abruptly
5. The Darkness was Heavy and Silent (no words, not busy)
B. God was at Work in the Darkness
1. The Natural Order remained intact (suspended but unaltered)
2. God called Attention to the Sacrifice
3. IT WAS A MIRACLE! Amos 8:9 "It will come about in that day," declares the Lord GOD, "That I will make the sun go down at noon And make the earth dark in broad daylight.
C. WHAT THE MIRACLE OF DARKNESS TEACHES US:
1. It was God’s Confirmation of Jesus’ Character & Mission.(Centurion)
2. It Magnifies the Significance of Jesus’ Death on the Cross.
3. It Symbolizes the Inconceivable Suffering that Jesus endured.
Isaiah 53:4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.
III. CONCLUSION
A. In the Darkness on Calvary, God hid from human eyes the Intensity of Jesus’ Anguish
1. We hear the final cry (Matt. 27:46) About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "ELI, ELI, LAMAM SABACHTHANI?" that is, "MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?"
B. What the Darkness Proves:
1. The Father’s Righteous Anger
John 3:36 "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."
Romans 1:18-19 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.
2. The Son’s Perfect Righteousness
Phil. 2:6-11 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
C. What it All Comes Down To:
1. Redemption was Accomplished “It is finished!” (John 19:30)
2. The Lamb is Victorious! (Rev. 5:11-13)
11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing." 13 And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, "To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever."
PRAYER
SONG: Behold the Son of God
Matthew 27:45-49
45 Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour. 46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?" that is, "MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?" 47 And some of those who were standing there, when they heard it, began saying, "This man is calling for Elijah." 48 Immediately one of them ran, and taking a sponge, he filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink. 49 But the rest of them said, "Let us see whether Elijah will come to save Him."
