DARKNESS
JOHN 12:44-50
Introduction:
It was 9:00 AM when Jesus was crucified, Mark 15:25,“And it was the third hour, and they crucified him.” The Lord hung there on the Cross of Calvary for three hours suffering and then God turned out the lights. It was dark from noon until 3:00 PM, Mark 15:33, “And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.”
I. DARKNESS IS A SYMBOL OF THE JUDGMENT OF SIN
Matthew 27:45, “Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.”
A. God turned out the lights of heaven, Luke 23:44, “And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.”
NOTE: “Darkness sometimes precedes earthquakes and one came at this time or dense masses of clouds may have obscured the sun’s light.” — A. T. Robertson
A. The darkness manifested the fact that the Lord COULD NOT LOOK ON as His Son bore our sins.
1. The Lord’s question, Matthew 27:46, “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
2. The Father’s answer, 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
3. God CANNOT LOOK upon our sin, Habakkuk 1:13a, “Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity:”
a. God does not take pleasure in wickedness, Psalm 5:4, “For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee.”
b. God is a holy God, 1 Peter 1:15-16, “But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; 16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.”
II. DARKNESS IS A SYMBOL OF THE JUDGMENTS THAT ATTEND ON THE COMING OF THE LORD
A. The Day of the Lord cometh, Isaiah 13:9-10, “Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. 10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.”
1. This will be the beginning of sorrow, Matthew 24:8, “All these are the beginning of sorrows.”
2. It will be a time of darkness and sorrow, Isaiah 5:30, “And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea: and if one look unto the land, behold darkness and sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof.”
3. It will be a day of punishment, Isaiah 24:21, “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth. 23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.”
B. After the tribulation of those days, Matthew 24:29, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:”
III. DARKNESS IS A SYMBOL OF MISERY AND ADVERSITY
A. The UNBELIEVER sits in darkness as a prisoner in a dungeon, Psalm 107:10, “Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron;”
1. These saw a great light, Matthew 4:16, “The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.”
2. It is the LIGHT that GUIDES the feet into the WAY of peace, Luke 1:79, “To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
B. Sin DRIVES men to TROUBLE and darkness, Isaiah 8:22, “And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness.”
1. Men LOVE darkness, John 3:19, “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”
2. “Works of darkness” are impure actions, Ephesians 5:11, “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.”
a. The Believer is admonished not to be involved in them, Ephesians 5:7-8, “Be not ye therefore partakers with them. 8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:”
b. Believers are to AVOID the wicked, Proverbs 4:14-15, “Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. 15 Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.”
3. The darkness of sin shuts out our prayers from the Lord, Lamentations 3:6-8, “He hath set me in dark places, as they that be dead of old. 7 He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out: he hath made my chain heavy. 8 Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer.”
C. Rejection of Christ as Savior sends men to Hell or “outer darkness,” Matthew 8:12, “But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
CONCLUSION:
“Outer darkness” refers to the darkness of the streets in the East, which are never lighted up by any public or private lamps after nightfall, in contrast with the blaze of cheerful light in the house. It is a darkness you can feel.
Christ is the way of escape if you will only trust Him.