Morning Devotionals

by Don Emmitte

 

March 14th, 2008

 

"Friday of Passion Week, 2008"

Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. On reaching the place, he said to them, "Pray that you will not fall into temptation." He withdrew about a stone's throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. "Why are you sleeping?" he asked them. "Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation." (Luke 22:39-46 NIV).

The first action of God in the act of creation was to send light to overcome the darkness that once was our entire universe. In the redemption of our souls, God once again sent light to overcome the spiritual darkness that blinds the soul to His great goodness. From the instant Adam and Eve sinned, a spiritual darkness overcame the souls of men. That spiritual darkness culminated on the Friday of our Lord’s crucifixion.

As Jesus’ human body—beaten, tortured and naked—hung on the cross of wood, God sent darkness across the whole land from twelve noon until three p.m. when Jesus breathed His last breath. God magnified His Light by sending the darkness. This was a very unusual darkness. The darkness was a metaphor for the spiritual reality that was taking place. There was one Roman Centurion who received the message of the darkness and could see by the way Jesus died that He was the Son of God.

No wonder when Jesus left the garden and found his disciples asleep he told them to “get up and pray so that they would not fall into temptation.” It was a dark moment in history. The darkness that surrounded the cross was a message to all gathered there and to all who read about the events of that day. God showed us the darkness of this event in many ways. The Gospels tells us graves were opened, and the curtain in the temple tore from top to bottom at that moment in time.

None of us is immune from the darkness of our souls. God created a sun to give us light and energy to live on the earth. God has also sent His Son into the darkness of our souls to be the light and energy our souls were created to need. A Roman Centurion received the message God sent through the darkness that day, but the Pharisees and elders seemed to miss the message once again. Do you receive the message of the darkness of the cross? Do you recognize the darkness in your soul and let Christ’s light in?