Calvary
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no eclipse or other natural cause for this darkness, which was as deep
as midnight without moon or stars. It was a miraculous testimony
given by God that the faith of after generations might be confirmed.
In that thick darkness God’s presence was hidden. He makes
darkness His pavilion, and conceals His glory from human eyes. God
and His holy angels were beside the cross. The Father was with His
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Son. Yet His presence was not revealed. Had His glory flashed forth
from the cloud, every human beholder would have been destroyed.
And in that dreadful hour Christ was not to be comforted with the
Father’s presence. He trod the wine press alone, and of the people
there was none with Him.
In the thick darkness, God veiled the last human agony of His Son.
All who had seen Christ in His suffering had been convicted of His
divinity. That face, once beheld by humanity, was never forgotten. As
the face of Cain expressed his guilt as a murderer, so the face of Christ
revealed innocence, serenity, benevolence,—the image of God. But
His accusers would not give heed to the signet of heaven. Through long
hours of agony Christ had been gazed upon by the jeering multitude.
Now He was mercifully hidden by the mantle of God.
The silence of the grave seemed to have fallen upon Calvary. A
nameless terror held the throng that was gathered about the cross. The
cursing and reviling ceased in the midst of half-uttered sentences. Men,
women, and children fell prostrate upon the earth. Vivid lightnings
occasionally flashed forth from the cloud, and revealed the cross and
the crucified Redeemer. Priests, rulers, scribes, executioners, and
the mob, all thought that their time of retribution had come. After
a while some whispered that Jesus would now come down from the
cross. Some attempted to grope their way back to the city, beating
their breasts and wailing in fear.
At the ninth hour the darkness lifted from the people, but still
enveloped the Saviour. It was a symbol of the agony and horror
that weighed upon His heart. No eye could pierce the gloom that
surrounded the cross, and none could penetrate the deeper gloom that
enshrouded the suffering soul of Christ. The angry lightnings seemed
to be hurled at Him as He hung upon the cross. Then “Jesus cried
with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” “My God,
My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” As the outer gloom settled
about the Saviour, many voices exclaimed: The vengeance of heaven