The Darkness and the Cry

Passage: Mark 15:33-36

The Big Idea

From noon to three, darkness covered the land, the darkness of God’s judgment falling on His Son. Then Jesus cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” He was treated as if He had committed every sin ever committed, so that we would never be forsaken. And His cry is the first line of Psalm 22, a psalm that moves from abandonment to unwavering trust to the joy of a worldwide family praising God. Even in the darkness, Jesus was trusting His Father and thinking of His bride.

The Dark Side

There’s no limit to God’s love, and no limit to His power to redeem a lost and guilty sinner. The cross shows us that.

But if there’s no limit to His love and grace, there’s also no limit to the horror of His holy judgment against sin. The cross shows us that too.

Joni Eareckson Tada and Steven Estes, in their book When God Weeps, imagine this moment vividly. They picture the soldier swinging the mallet, his very heartbeat sustained by the Son he is nailing down, since in Him all things hold together (Colossians 1:17). They picture the Son, who designed every nerve in the human body, feeling those nerves perform exactly as designed. And then, worse than the physical pain, they picture the Son beginning to feel something foreign and foul: our sin, every kind of human wickedness, settling on His spotless soul, and the Father turning toward Him with the full fury of His holy hatred of sin, treating Him as if He personally had done it all. Of course the Son was innocent. The Father knew it. But Father and Son had agreed, and the unthinkable took place. The Trinity planned it. The Son endured it. The Spirit enabled Him. The Father accepted His sacrifice and was satisfied. The rescue was accomplished.

Adam Clarke wrote: “Reader! one drop of this cup would bear down thy soul to endless ruin; and these agonies would annihilate the universe. He suffered alone: for the people there was none with him; because his sufferings were to make an atonement for the sins of the world: and in the work of redemption he had no helper.”

Here’s our need: we need Jesus to be rejected and abandoned for us. We need this innocent Man to be forsaken in our place. Why? Because otherwise we would have to be.

Darkness at Noon (Mark 15:33)

When the sixth hour (noon) had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour (3 p.m.).

  • An ancient historian named Phlegon, quoted by later writers, recorded an extraordinary darkening of the sun “at the sixth hour” around this time, so that stars appeared, along with an earthquake.
  • This is remarkable because Passover always fell at the full moon, and a solar eclipse is impossible at full moon.
  • This was no natural event: not an eclipse, not a volcano, not a mass hallucination. It was a sign from God.

It echoes the ninth plague in Egypt, the darkness that could be felt, which came right before the Passover lamb was sacrificed (Exodus 10:21-23).

This was the darkness of God’s judgment, the dark side of His holiness.

Are we afraid of the dark? Not nearly enough.

Here are some questions you won’t like:

  • How much does God hate evil and sin?
  • How much have you sinned?
  • What does that make you?

This darkness was God’s hatred of evil being poured out on His beloved Son. Jesus was being punished spiritually. He was gathering all our sin and guilt into His own body, so that it could be destroyed in the fire of God’s wrath (1 Peter 2:24).

The Light of the World in the Dark

Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).

  • Of course the world went dark when its Light was being extinguished!
  • Jesus never sinned. He is perfect light. Yet He suffered in the dark.
  • The lovely face of His Father’s approval was turned away from Him.
  • He was cast out from God’s presence, where there can be no light.

Scripture describes hell as “outer darkness” (Matthew 8:12): fire, pain and anguish, but separated from the light of God’s presence, alone, cut off from every good relationship forever.

That’s why we preach with passion. That’s why we plead with the world to turn to God. Don’t believe the lie that hell isn’t real or isn’t that bad.

(And just how important is light? An old farmer once scolded his hired man for carrying a lantern when he went courting his girl. “When I went courting, I never carried one of those things. I went in the dark!” The hired man said, “Yes, and look what you got!”)

“My God, My God” (Mark 15:34)

At the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

Jesus had known great pain and suffering, physical and emotional, but He had never known separation from His Father. Now He did. In a real sense, He was forsaken by God at that moment, bearing the judgment our sin deserved.

And notice He didn’t just cry out in pain. He quoted Scripture. “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” is the first line of Psalm 22. Let’s walk through that psalm and see what Jesus wanted us to know about His suffering.

Psalm 22

Verse 1: Why are You so far from rescuing Me, so far from My cries?

  • Jesus felt alone, abandoned, ignored.
  • This is your Savior, the One who loves you. He’s been there.

Verse 2: I call out day and night, and You don’t answer; I find no rest.

  • Yet Jesus kept trusting His Father. He never stopped.

Verse 3: Yet You are holy, enthroned on Your people’s praise.

  • God is perfect and always does right. He’s worthy of praise.
  • Even if God did nothing to help Him, Jesus would still honor Him.
  • God is all about this relationship with His people, with His Son, with you.

Verses 4-5: Our ancestors trusted You, and You rescued them; they cried out and were never put to shame.

  • Jesus knew from God’s Word that those who trust the Lord are never put to shame.
  • He is the ultimate example of trusting the Lord. All the others were only foreshadows of His trust.

Verse 6: But I am a worm, not a man, scorned and despised by everyone.

  • The Hebrew word here, tola, can mean “worm” or “scarlet,” because a red dye was made from a certain kind of insect.
  • Some writers have drawn a beautiful picture from this: the female of that species attaches herself to a tree to lay her eggs, protecting her young with her body, and dies there, staining herself and the wood crimson. Whether or not every detail fits, the image is fitting: Christ dying on the tree, shedding His blood to bring many sons to glory (Hebrews 2:10).

Verses 7-8: Everyone who sees Me sneers and shakes their heads: He trusts the LORD; let the LORD rescue Him, if He delights in Him!

  • Jesus experienced exactly this mocking (Mark 15:29-32), people challenging His faith in His Father and misunderstanding His purpose.

Verses 9-10: Yet You brought Me safely from the womb and taught Me to trust You from My mother’s arms; I’ve depended on You since birth.

  • Jesus focused on His Father, not the problems, the people or the pain.
  • He remembered God’s love and faithfulness. That’s what we should do too.

Verse 11: Don’t stay far away, for trouble is close and no one else can help.

  • If Jesus asked for anything, it was His Father’s presence. That’s what He valued most, and the very thing He couldn’t have that day. But He still wanted it.

Verses 12-13: Enemies surround Me like the strong bulls of Bashan, roaring at Me like hungry lions.

  • Many see here a picture of the spiritual forces of darkness gathered around the cross, like the hordes of Mordor, gloating over His suffering (Colossians 2:15 shows how that turned out!).

Verses 14-15: I’m poured out like water; every bone is out of joint; My heart melts like wax; My strength is dried up and My tongue sticks to the roof of My mouth.

  • Jesus had nothing left. Every bone and joint ached. He was utterly thirsty (John 19:28).
  • And He kept trusting the Lord.

Verses 16-18: Evil men circle Me like dogs; they pierce My hands and feet. I can count every bone as they stare and gloat, dividing My clothes and gambling for My garment.

  • Crucifixion, described centuries before it was invented.
  • Fulfilled, detail for detail.
  • Jesus knew the rest of the psalm would be fulfilled too!

Verses 19-22: But You, LORD, don’t stay far away; hurry to help Me… You have answered Me! I will declare Your name to My brothers and praise You among Your people.

  • The psalm turns! Jesus knew this would end in victory.
  • A congregation would be born. His bride was on the way.
  • Hebrews puts these very words in Jesus’ mouth: He is not ashamed to call us brothers (Hebrews 2:11-12).

Verses 24-31: God has not ignored the suffering of the afflicted One; He heard His cry. The whole earth will remember and turn to the LORD, every nation will worship Him, and generations not yet born will hear of His righteousness: He has done it!

  • Jesus did all this to invite us into a trusting, eternal relationship with His Father.
  • The invitation goes out to the ends of the earth.
  • People will be saved! God’s family will grow!
  • That’s what Jesus was focused on as He suffered: His brothers and sisters who would believe, His bride.
  • And notice the last words: “He has done it.” Jesus’ final cry from the cross was, “It is finished!” (John 19:30).

Misunderstood (Mark 15:35-36)

Some bystanders heard it and said, “Listen, He’s calling Elijah.” Someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to Him to drink, saying, “Wait, let’s see whether Elijah will come to take Him down.”

  • Misunderstood.
  • Jesus was displaying perfect love and faith, offering His own body, and the people had no idea what was happening.
  • They assumed He was calling for Elijah, whom popular belief expected to come to the aid of the righteous in trouble.
  • They had no clue.

Do we?

Do We Understand?

Jesus hung on the cross and took our punishment. He endured our hell. He bore God’s wrath. We needed Him to, and He did it!

He satisfied everything. He paid the full price.

Think about what He has done for you. If you trust Him, you’ll never be punished for your sin. You’ll never be rejected. Never left alone. Never abandoned. Never unloved! Jesus bought all of that for you with His precious blood, no matter how bad you’ve been or how much you’ve sinned. Jesus paid it all!

So respond to this gospel today:

  • Confess your sin to God, from the heart.
  • Accept Jesus as your substitute, from the heart.
  • Say yes to His proposal! He’s asking you to be His bride, to be faithful to Him and love Him, because He loved you first and has provided everything you’ll ever need.

And if you’re already His, follow Him! Pursue intimacy with Him. Praise your God and give Him thanks every day.

Grace Takeaway

At noon the sun went dark, and at three the Light of the world cried out, forsaken. He was abandoned so that you never will be. Yet even in that darkness, He was praying Psalm 22, trusting His Father and looking ahead to the family He was purchasing with His blood. “He has done it.” Receive what He finished, and you’ll never walk in that darkness.

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