DEVOTION - SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

DEVOTION – SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

“WHEN DARKNESS CAME”

BY

REV G. MEL DUNN

BRIDGEPORT AND CENTRE SQUARE UNITED METHODIST CHURCHES

“Pastors Trying to Figure Out What to do Now”

Luk 23:44  And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.

Luk 23:45  And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in the middle.

Luk 23:46  And crying with a loud voice, Jesus said, Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit. And when He had said this, He breathed out the spirit.

It was our last day in  Jerusalem.  On Sunday we would travel on to Galilee.   Our plans were formulated to make this day one we would always remember.

It dawned as all others had – bright and sunny,  a day for the camera fans among us.  We saw the old city of David.  We visited the pool of Bethesda.  We walked the Via Dolorosa.  We waited in line to see all the icons and lights and candles of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  We lunched in the Arab market and fought the crowds on the way back to our bus.

Now we were ready for the highlight of our day.  We were going to the Garden Tomb,  and we had reserved a private time for communion in the Garden overlooking the tomb at the Jewish ninth hour.

Everything was ready.  I had in hand my Olive Wood covered Bible from Bethlehem and I was prepared to read the resurrection story from Luke.  Our Episcopal bus captain had prepared and printed a long litany from the Book  of Common Prayer.

Two pastors with us were prepared to handle the elements,  and the Choir director from Texas was ready to lead us in appropriate songs.

And then the hour approached and suddenly we realized that the sky had clouded and a breeze was blowing through the Garden.   Then it became dark and a light misty rain began to fall.

We were suddenly aware that that the service was not going to go as planned.  We had to huddle and make quick plans to shorten our time in the gloom and rain.

We were at an hour and in a place where our Lord suffered more than anyone had ever suffered before or since,  and the time and the darkness matched the hour.

Oh, how much He suffered there for us – to reconcile all mankind to God.   It was not a place or a time for celebration.   That day was a day for rededication.      That day took on new meaning for me.   As a teenager,  I had taken Galatians 2:20 as a life verse and it hangs engraved on a plaque in my office.  But,  I don’t think I ever before really thought about what it meant to be “Crucified with Christ.”  There next to the tomb and in the shadow of the hill called “Skull”,  I was made to reconsider all that happened that day over two thousand  years ago.

“Dear Lord,  help us this Lenten season to remember how Jesus suffered for us and how great His love is.   Help