Darkness

The Bible does not tell us what the weather was like the day Jesus was lead to Calvary.  We know there were throngs of people there, following, watching, waiting.  We know Jesus was beaten so badly that someone else had to carry his cross up the hill for him.

I've always pictured a cloudy, gloomy kind of day, because that's how it must have felt for those who loved Jesus.  But I wonder if it wasn't a bright, sunny day...perhaps even with pleasant temps and warm breezes.

Until noon.

At noon, as Jesus hung on the cross, the sky darkened.  For three hours, it was the darkest of nights in the middle of the day.  Perhaps the skies boiled with foreboding clouds and gusting winds.  I can only imagine the stormiest of storms hitting at mid-day, but without the rain.  Scripture tells us that it was dark for 3 hours; perhaps there was even thunder and lightening.  But the day was black as night for 3 long hours, as the Son of God took upon himself the dirty, vile, grimy, gritty, ugly, repulsive, reprehensible sin that belonged to me.  And you.  Every nasty thought, word, deed...he accepted the punishment, the consequence of them all.

I cannot imagine that day.  I cannot imagine His suffering at the hands of the Roman soldiers, both physical and verbal.  The slightest pain, the simplest offense sends me into "woe-is-me" mode.  My mind cannot comprehend His pain.

Nor can I understand why He would suffer all that just for me.

I know he loves me - oh, how he's proved it o'er and o'er!  How can I but live for Him, then?  How can I fail to surrender my own selfish desires in light of all He's done for me?

Don't let the bunnies fool you - Easter is all about Jesus.  There is none other.

~Tammy~