Darkness

Darkness

⁴⁵ Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land.

Matthew 27:45

This, for me, is the most difficult time of Jesus’ mission while here on earth. Jesus was with the Father and Spirit before anything was produced. Before anything was created, even before emptiness- before space itself or even time existed, the triune godhead existed without anything else existing. They were one in their existence. That unity continued when time and space began. When the universe and matter and energy were created by the voice of God, that divine unity continued. Even though they now could also have distinctive physical forms separate from each other in this newly created space, they were still of one mind and purpose. Their thoughts and voices, lived within their distinct beings.

Even when the fateful moment occurred that Jesus’ heavenly and godly form was transformed into a human group of cells that multiplied and grew into a baby and finally into a man, the spiritual connection with his Father continued. Whether preaching, healing, walking or laughing, the Father was there. All of Jesus’ miracles were done through his connection to the Spirit and God. One of the universal standards of God is the unity and connection that exists between them. That has always been and always will be- except for this one dark day…

For one day, and specifically for a few dark hours, God was not united and together. For a few dark hours, the universe and God himself was changed. Starting at Gethsemane and culminating to its horrendous peak at the hours of darkness, Jesus was left separated from his Father and from the Spirit. The ever present voice and presence of God was not in Jesus’ mind. For the first time in all of existence, Jesus felt completely alone and in the dark. Amazingly enough, it was at this moment that Jesus truly understood what it really meant to be a sinful human being. It was in these dark hours that Jesus’ heart was ever changed to give even more mercy and understanding to us fallen human beings. He knew how hard and painful it was to feel alone and lost. I believe that in these hours, Jesus became even more determined to free us from this horrible reality.

In truth, just like our existence, Jesus was not truly alone. According to all our senses, the darkness being a physical representation of what Jesus heart was feeling, it seemed and felt that Jesus was alone. He could neither feel, nor hear, nor sense the presence of his Father. How many times do we find ourselves in a similar situation?

But the reality was that God was right there. He was right behind that darkness focused and faithfully believing in his Son. He knew what Jesus was made of. He knew that Jesus would be victorious. He knew that his death would be the greatest victory of all of existence. But he also knew that Jesus had to do it seemingly alone. But he was with Jesus just as he is with us.

God bless,

Pr. Steven Couto