I Tell You The TRUTH,

Mark 15:

33At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"--which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

I'm always amazed when I do word studies of the Bible what I find. The correlation's between the Old Testament and the New are unending and full of exciting revelation. In preparation for this Holy Week, I've found myself continually reading of Christ's encounter with His Cross and all that surrounded it. Mark 15:33-34 caught my attention when another correlation came to my mind. I thank the Lord every time this happens, for His Word is still living and continues to open our eyes to more and more wonderful things.

The firs thing I noticed was the three hours of darkness (from the sixth hour to the ninth). Recently seeing the movie "The Prince of Egypt" brought to my mind one of the plagues God fell upon Egypt. So I went to Exodus and began reading the encounter and here is what I found…

Exodus 10:

21Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness will spread over Egypt--darkness that can be felt." 22So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and total darkness covered all Egypt for three days. 23No one could see anyone else or leave his place for three days. Yet all the Israelites had light in the places where they lived.

During the second to last plague, the Lord brought darkness on the all Egypt for three days in order to show the people that He was the Lord God Almighty. This was no ordinary darkness. It was so dark that it could be felt. If you've ever gone spelunking, you know what cave darkness is like. You don't move around much when its that dark.

And do you know what happened at the end of three days of darkness? Ever heard of Passover? Every first born in Egypt that was not covered by the blood of a sacrifice lamb died. The head of each household would slaughter an unblemished lamb and take the blood of the lamb put some on their door ways. You should note that they did not simply smear the blood all over the door way (as we've seen in movies), but they were to put a patch of blood on both sides and on the top, creating a motion of, yes, a cross.

I believe the three hours of darkness Christ spent on the cross represent again the power of God, and also the Passover, Jesus being the Passover Lamb, the perfect sacrifice. The hand of God was on display as He darkened the sky again. Then, at the end of the darkness, God Himself offered the One Sacrificial Lamb for all time. And now the Passover angel of death will never touch one of us because of His blood over us.

After the darkness ended, and before Jesus died, He quotes scripture from Psalm 22:1

1My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Why are you so far from saving me,

so far from the words of my groaning?

Now, here's something else to let truly soak in. God's word tells us that He will never forsake us, yet here, God the Father forsakes the Son of God. God the Father turns His almighty back on God the Son in order that the Son might take our place in baring our sin so that the Father would never have to forsake us. Jesus was forsaken by all, the world, His closest friends, and even His Heavenly Father. It was part of His plan for us.

As I contemplate the fact the He was forsaken and that you and I will never be forsaken, I'm reminded of the old hymn…

What a friend we have in Jesus,

All or sin and grief to bare.

What a privilege to carry,

Everything to Him in prayer.

We are a privileged people, the children of God. He continues to bare it all for us. He will never forsake us, even in our darkest hour, He will be faithful.

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