DARKNESS.
And now darkness falls upon the earth. The sun hides itself. Worse than all, the Father hides His face from His Son. What else is the meaning of that bitter cry:
“My God! my God! Why hast Thou forsaken me?”
Ah! It had been written, “Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.” Jesus was made a curse for us. God cannot look upon sin: and so when even His own Son was bearing our sins in His body, God could not look upon Him.
I think this is what bore heaviest upon the Savior’s heart in the garden when He prayed:
“If it be possible, let this cup pass from me.”
He could bear the unfaithfulness of His friends, the spite of His enemies, the pain of His crucifixion, and the shadow of death; He could bear all these; but when it came to the hiding of His Father’s face, that seemed almost too much for even the Son of God to bear. But even this He endured for our sins; and now the face of God is turned back to us, whose sins had turned it away, and looking upon Jesus, the sinless One, He sees us in Him.
In the midst of all His agony, how sweet it must have been to Christ to hear that poor thief confessing Him!
He likes to have men confess Him. Don’t you remember His asking Peter, “Whom do men say that I am?” and when Peter answered, “Some people say you are Moses, some people say you are Elias, and some people say you are one of the old Prophets,” He asked again, “But, Peter, whom do you say I am?” When Peter said, “Thou art the Son of God,” Jesus blessed him for that confession. And now this thief confesses Him—confesses Him in the darkness. Perhaps it is so dark he cannot see Him any longer; but he feels that He is there beside him. Christ wants us to confess Him in the dark as well as in the light; when it is hard as well as when it is easy. For He was not ashamed of us, but bore our sins and carried our sorrows, even unto death.
When a prominent man dies, we are anxious, to get his last words and acts.