Darkness came over the entire land

Luke 23:44-24:12 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible 

It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the entire land until the ninth hour, ⁴⁵ because the sun stopped shining; and the veil of the temple was torn in two. ⁴⁶ And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into Your hands I entrust My spirit.” And having said this, He died. ⁴⁷ Now when the centurion saw what had happened, he began praising God, saying, “This man was in fact innocent.” ⁴⁸ And all the crowds who came together for this spectacle, after watching what had happened, began to return home, beating their chests. ⁴⁹ And all His acquaintances and the women who accompanied Him from Galilee were standing at a distance, seeing these things.

⁵⁰ And a man named Joseph, who was a member of the Council, a good and righteous man ⁵¹ (he had not consented to their plan and action), a man from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who was waiting for the kingdom of God— ⁵² this man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. ⁵³ And he took it down and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever lain. ⁵⁴ It was a preparation day, and a Sabbath was about to begin. ⁵⁵ Now the women who had come with Him from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how His body was laid. ⁵⁶ And then they returned and prepared spices and perfumes.

And on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.

24 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. ² And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, ³ but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴ While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in gleaming clothing; ⁵ and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why are you seeking the living One among the dead? ⁶ He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, ⁷ saying that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise from the dead.” ⁸ And they remembered His words, ⁹ and returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven, and to all the rest. ¹⁰ Now these women were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James; also the other women with them were telling these things to the apostles. ¹¹ But these words appeared to them as nonsense, and they would not believe the women. ¹² Nevertheless, Peter got up and ran to the tomb; and when he stooped and looked in, he saw the linen wrappings only; and he went away to his home, marveling at what had happened.

Today’s text says:  It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the entire land until the ninth hour, because the sun stopped shining; and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into Your hands I entrust My spirit.” And having said this, He died. Now when the centurion saw what had happened, he began praising God, saying, “This man was in fact innocent.” And all the crowds who came together for this spectacle, after watching what had happened, began to return home, beating their chests. And all His acquaintances and the women who accompanied Him from Galilee were standing at a distance, seeing these things.  Darkness has continued to increase over the entire land since the time Jesus died. The sun has continued to shine, but more and more the Son is being blocked and removed from our society.  Rather than beating their chests in repentance, many today puff out their chests in arrogance against Jesus. The deny that He is the Son of God. They deny that He lived and performed miracles. They deny that though He was innocent of sin, He died on the cross to pay for our sins.

The text says:   On the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in gleaming clothing; and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why are you seeking the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise from the dead.” And they remembered His words, and returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven, and to all the rest. Now these women were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James; also the other women with them were telling these things to the apostles. But these words appeared to them as nonsense, and they would not believe the women. Nevertheless, Peter got up and ran to the tomb; and when he stooped and looked in, he saw the linen wrappings only; and he went away to his home, marveling at what had happened.  Many, even some who believe in Jesus, fail to believe that He was truly raised from the grave, not just to heaven, but bodily to live again. Romans 10:9 says:  If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

We who believe in Jesus, that He was the innocent Son of God who died for our sins; that God raised Him from the dead to live again are called to tell others the truth so that they too might believe. In Matthew 5:14-16 Jesus says:  “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Your light must shine before people in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”  We are to be the light of Christ that shines in the increasing darkness of the land. In Acts 1:8 Jesus says:  “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and as far as the remotest part of the earth.”  In Mark 16:15-18 Jesus says:  “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.  The one who has believed and has been baptized will be saved; but the one who has not believed will be condemned. These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not harm them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”  We are not responsible for the decisions that others make if we are witnesses, if we are light and if we preach the gospel to the world. James 4:17 says:  For one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, for him it is sin.

Go Light Your World - Kathy Troccoli - YouTube

It’s the right thing to do!  Amen.