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 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, ⁴⁵ for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. ⁴⁶ Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.

⁴⁷ The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” ⁴⁸ When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. ⁴⁹ But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things. (NIV).

Surely a supernatural darkness is inferred here?

The tearing of the temple curtain is also significant. Matthew and Mark add the detail that it was torn ”from top to bottom” (Mt.27:51; Mk.15:38). This too was supernatural, and it shows God’s initiative in opening the way to Himself through the Cross. When Jesus died, the veil in the temple was torn in two and ”the dividing wall of hostility” (Eph.2:14) came down. Through Jesus we can be reconciled to God and to each other.

The process of individuals being impacted continues. This time it is the Centurion. He recognised that Jesus was not the law-breaker He was charged with being. Wouldn’t we like to know how his life story unfolded after this?

In addition to him, those who came for the ‘show’ were profoundly affected by what they witnessed (48).

For us, another Easter has come and gone. But its wonder and mystery remains. It is always there. It never goes away. As someone observed, those of us who believe are ‘an Easter people.’ We don’t have to be able to fully explain how we can be saved through the Cross. Probably no-one can fully explain it all. What matters is that we know its saving significance in our own experience.

 As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. ²⁷ A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. ²⁸ Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. ²⁹ For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ ³⁰ Then

“‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!”
    and to the hills, “Cover us!”’

³¹ For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

³² Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. ³³ When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. ³⁴ Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

³⁵ The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”

³⁶ The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar ³⁷ and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”

³⁸ There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the jews.

³⁹ One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

⁴⁰ But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? ⁴¹ We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”

⁴² Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

⁴³ Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (NIV)

As we come to read Luke’s account of Jesus’ crucifixion, we find that his descriptions are simple, matter of fact. They are sparse in terms of graphic detail. He focuses on personal interactions and responses.

I note that Jesus is central. The entire world is either side of that middle Cross, rejecting or accepting. On which side are you?

Again, we have the assertion of Jesus’ innocence (40).

Again, we note the emphasis on one (43). We witness the saving of one lost sheep. In what looked like defeat there was victory. He came to seek and to save that which was lost, and He succeeded! If anything shows that salvation is by faith and not by works, this does. The ”criminal” had no time to earn anything. He was ‘a debtor to mercy alone.’ As are we all. We are all ‘criminals’ before God’s law, but the Kingdom of God is open to everyone who will sincerely repent and believe.

By the way, there is irony in verse 39. In order to save others, He could not save Himself.

‘There was no other good enough…’

‘The signs of renewal, wrought in the heart of the penitent thief, showed the sure work of the Holy Spirit. These were the fear of God, the sense of justice in His suffering, the confession of evil deeds, the recognition of our Lord’s sinlessness and dignity, and the anticipation of His coming Kingdom. We may begin a day under the dull skies of earth and close it where there is no need of sun or moon.’ F.B.Meyer

 Now Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had taken Ai and totally destroyed it, doing to Ai and its king as he had done to Jericho and its king, and that the people of Gibeon had made a treaty of peace with Israel and had become their allies. ² He and his people were very much alarmed at this, because Gibeon was an important city, like one of the royal cities; it was larger than Ai, and all its men were good fighters. ³ So Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem appealed to Hoham king of Hebron, Piram king of Jarmuth, Japhia king of Lachish and Debir king of Eglon. ⁴ “Come up and help me attack Gibeon,” he said, “because it has made peace with Joshua and the Israelites.”

⁵ Then the five kings of the Amorites—the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon—joined forces. They moved up with all their troops and took up positions against Gibeon and attacked it.

⁶ The Gibeonites then sent word to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal: “Do not abandon your servants. Come up to us quickly and save us! Help us, because all the Amorite kings from the hill country have joined forces against us.”

⁷ So Joshua marched up from Gilgal with his entire army, including all the best fighting men. ⁸ The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them; I have given them into your hand. Not one of them will be able to withstand you.”

⁹ After an all-night march from Gilgal, Joshua took them by surprise. ¹⁰ The Lord threw them into confusion before Israel, so Joshua and the Israelites defeated them completely at Gibeon. Israel pursued them along the road going up to Beth Horon and cut them down all the way to Azekah and Makkedah. ¹¹ As they fled before Israel on the road down from Beth Horon to Azekah, the Lord hurled large hailstones down on them, and more of them died from the hail than were killed by the swords of the Israelites.

¹² On the day the Lord gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the Lord in the presence of Israel:

“Sun, stand still over Gibeon,
    and you, moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.”
¹³ So the sun stood still,
    and the moon stopped,
    till the nation avenged itself on its enemies,

as it is written in the Book of Jashar.

The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. ¹⁴ There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the Lord listened to a human being. Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel!

¹⁵ Then Joshua returned with all Israel to the camp at Gilgal. (NIV)

It is beyond the scope of this simple devotional thought, to go into the complexities of what actually happened that day. But I will say that if we believe in the living God of the Bible, who created and controls all things, we will accept that all things are possible for Him. Once allow that there is such a God, and you don’t have problems with the idea of the miraculous. ‘The Canaanites worshiped the heavenly bodies, so this miracle must have impressed them greatly. If we are doing the will of God, prayer has tremendous power.’ Warren W. Wiersbe

Verse 14 says this ”…was a day when the Lord listened to a human being.” Thank God, that was not the only day. I have just been in a ‘Zoom’ prayer meeting with fellow-Christians who live in another area several miles away. By the ‘miracle’ of technology we are able to come together like this. But wonderful as it is, it is not truly a ‘miracle’. It can be explained in scientific terms. But what is miraculous is that we human-beings can talk to God, and He listens.

Furthermore, as William Temple observed, coincidences happen when Christians pray. Sometimes big coincidences!

 Three days after they made the treaty with the Gibeonites, the Israelites heard that they were neighbors, living near them. ¹⁷ So the Israelites set out and on the third day came to their cities: Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth and Kiriath Jearim. ¹⁸ But the Israelites did not attack them, because the leaders of the assembly had sworn an oath to them by the Lord, the God of Israel.

The whole assembly grumbled against the leaders, ¹⁹ but all the leaders answered, “We have given them our oath by the Lord, the God of Israel, and we cannot touch them now. ²⁰ This is what we will do to them: We will let them live, so that God’s wrath will not fall on us for breaking the oath we swore to them.” ²¹ They continued, “Let them live, but let them be woodcutters and water carriers in the service of the whole assembly.” So the leaders’ promise to them was kept.

²² Then Joshua summoned the Gibeonites and said, “Why did you deceive us by saying, ‘We live a long way from you,’ while actually you live near us? ²³ You are now under a curse: You will never be released from service as woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God.”

²⁴ They answered Joshua, “Your servants were clearly told how the Lord your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you the whole land and to wipe out all its inhabitants from before you. So we feared for our lives because of you, and that is why we did this. ²⁵ We are now in your hands. Do to us whatever seems good and right to you.”

²⁶ So Joshua saved them from the Israelites, and they did not kill them. ²⁷ That day he made the Gibeonites woodcutters and water carriers for the assembly, to provide for the needs of the altar of the Lord at the place the Lord would choose. And that is what they are to this day. (NIV)

I have long thought (and some of my own past experience comes into this) that when you see an obvious warning light on the ‘control panel’, as it were, and you ignore it, you will end up paying for it. I believe this speaks to the experience of the Israelites at that time. There was evidence that something was amiss, but they pressed on with their treaty with the Gibeonites regardless. They were deceived. We must ‘test the spirits’ to see whether they are from God.

Our sins may be forgiven, but we may have to live with the consequences. William Culbertson said, ‘How sad it is to have to live with the consequences of forgiven sin.’ Nevertheless, it’s been pointed out that the Israelites made their mistakes work for them. This, by the grace of God, is something for all of us to hold on to.