“… I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight.”

Amos 8:9

God created the world and established its seasons and rhythms. He commands the tides and storms. We rightly expect the stars, planets, sun, and moon to follow the patterns ordered by their Creator.

That orderly pattern was disrupted when Jesus died on the cross. It was as if all of creation was mourning for its Creator as, in Jesus’ last hours, “the sun’s light failed” (Luke 23:45). When He breathed His last, the earth shook, rocks split, and tombs opened. The returning light revealed that Jesus was dead; His work of redemption finished. He was buried, but on the third day the light of the rising sun shone down on His empty tomb. By His death on Good Friday and His victorious resurrection, Jesus defeated the darkness of sin and death. Now we live in the light of God’s grace!

Carol Geisler
Orange, CA

Jesus, thank You for enduring the darkness of sin and death to save me. Amen.

Reflect: Today, on Good Friday, imagine daylight turning to darkness when Jesus died.

Read: Amos 8:9-10 and Mark 15:33-41