The Battle for Eternity

By Danny Saavedra

“From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ (which means ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’). When some of those standing there heard this, they said, ‘He’s calling Elijah.’ Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. The rest said, ‘Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.’ And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.”—Matthew 27:45–50 (NIV)

Living in South Florida, I’ve become accustomed to the sky going from super sunny to completely covered in dark clouds in minutes. But I can’t imagine how dark the sky must have gotten for three hours in Jerusalem on the day Jesus, “the Lord of glory” (1 Corinthians 2:8 NIV), was crucified.

According to John Gill, “the whole world was darkened until the ninth hour.” Literal darkness covered the earth while Jesus carried the sins of all humanity—the real darkness that has altogether corrupted the world. It was the most intense battle in the history of the universe on the battlefield of eternity. God vs. sin as Jesus bore the darkness of sin fully so we may walk in the light, and He could make “his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6 NIV).

And because of the sins He had taken upon His shoulders, Jesus experienced separation from the Father for the first and only time in all of eternity. Because the Son had taken sin upon Himself, the Father, who cannot look upon sin, turned His back. Thus, Jesus, quoting Psalm 22:1 (NIV), says, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” This is the only time in all the Gospels that Jesus didn’t address God as Father. At this moment, it almost seemed like the forces of hell were winning the battle.

Now, it’s believed by many scholars that the people misheard Jesus as saying Elias instead of Eloi. Thus, mocking Him, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.” Why Elijah? Because Elijah was believed by the Jewish people to come before the Messiah—the Elijah that was to come had already come in the form of John the Baptist. As Barnes points out, “They derided him now, as calling upon Elias when God would not help him; still keeping up the pretensions to being the Messiah, and invoking Elijah to come from the dead to aid him.”

Upon hearing this, a soldier offered Jesus a drink using a sponge on a staff. John reveals the staff was a hyssop branch, which was used to spread the blood of the lamb to the homes of the Israelites in Egypt. This element was part of the Passover Seder called the karpas. During the Seder, the karpas is dipped in salt water to represent the tears shed during the bitter years of slavery. Now it was used to give Jesus, the Passover Lamb, the bitter wine that represents the suffering caused by sin. Seriously, reading this all, how could you not think that darkness had Jesus against the ropes and about to be knocked out?

But here’s the thing . . . the karpas didn’t just represent the bitterness of sin and slavery, it ALSO represented the sea God parted during the exodus. And oh, my friends, our Lord and Savior Jesus wasn’t losing at all. It was He who had darkness on the ropes. And when Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “It is finished” (John 19:30 NKJV), having accomplished the work He’d come to do, having paid the full price of sin, were told, “Jesus breathed his last.”

At that very moment, Jesus turned the sea of sin into a highway to bring us into the Promised Land through His blood. The debt was paid; the darkness of sin had been conquered on the cross. And in a few days, the flame of death would be utterly extinguished when Jesus would breathe again!

Pause: How does knowing all that Jesus experienced on the cross and throughout this dark day impact your perspective?

Practice: If you’ve never received Jesus or repented of your sins and trusted in Him for your salvation, today can be your day! Today can be the day you look upon the face of the Savior and give your life to Him. Today can be the day you know for sure you’ll be in paradise forever with the God who loves you unconditionally. If you’d like to receive Jesus, please e-mail me at DanielS@CalvaryFTL.org.

Pray: Father, thank You for sending Your Son to pay the price for my sins! Amen.