In the late 1800s, there was a preacher named Charles Spurgeon who gave a sermon on the three hours of darkness we find in today’s passage. He wrote, “Expect, my brethren, that the clouds of darkness will gather as to a center around the cross, that they may hide it from the sinner’s view. But expect this also, that there, darkness shall meet its end. Light springs out of that darkness, the light eternal of the undying Son of God, who, having risen from the dead, lives forever to scatter the darkness of evil.”

We see at the end of that darkness Jesus cries out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” That doesn’t sound like evil is being scattered or defeated. It sounds like the opposite. It sounds like Jesus is abandoning hope and losing faith in God. But those nine words are just the surface of a deep, deep ocean of meaning. Those are the first words of Psalm 22, one of the Messianic Psalms. The Psalm is too long for me to recount in its entirety here, but I encourage you to read Psalm 22 every time you read the final words of Jesus. Psalm 22 is a lament. The author (David) is in an unbearable situation. He says that he is scorned and mocked by mankind, that all who see him mock him and mock his faith that God will deliver him. He says that a company of evildoers encircled him, that they have pierced his hands and feet, and that they divide his garments and clothes by casting lots. Sound familiar? But throughout the Psalm David praises God and affirms his faith and hope in Him. He doesn’t end the Psalm with the abandonment of hope, he ends it by telling how all the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord. That all the ends of the earth will proclaim His righteousness.

The last words Jesus speaks in Mark before He dies are not the words of one who is defeated, but the words of one who has absolute and complete trust and faith in God, even unto pain and death. Of one who knows that His death will bring the triumph of God and will forever shatter the darkness of evil.

[Mark 15.33-36]

15.33 And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 And 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?” 35 And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” 36 And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.”

[ WHAT ] is this passage saying and what is a key truth or thought that we learn?

+ Read Psalm 22, and discuss how it is a Messianic Psalm?

+ What is significant about what Jesus said?

+ The sixth hour is around noon, why is it significant that it became dark at that time?

[ HOW ] is the Lord calling me to action/obedience?

+ Is there sin to confess or a next step to take? How has it gone since last time?

+ Are there areas in life where I don’t have complete faith in God?

[ WHO ] am I walking with and praying for to discover Jesus?

+ What is my next step?