Matthew 27:45

Matthew 27:45

Good Friday and its Lessons.

There are two outward incidents recorded in connection with the story of the crucifixion which always impress the mind with a sense of solemnity: one is the rending of the veil of the Temple, the other is the darkness which is recorded to have passed over the face of the land. I propose to say a few words on the dark shadow which belongs to the best of things. We must not be discouraged if we find that the Divine light, coming into the world of human mist and darkness, has itself been at times obscured by that darkness; and now on this great day, this supreme trial of the Christian faith, it might have seemed that Christianity had turned out to be a failure. The grandest career, the holiest cause that ever dawned upon the earth, had ended not in a splendid triumph, but in a dismal ignominious defeat. What, then, do we learn from this?

I. The first lesson is patience and perseverance. We must be patient with others if they stumble in this darkness, if they do not at once find their way towards the truth. There is a darkness of the light for the whole earth, or at least a shadow of suspense and of waiting in which it may well be that some shall find it their first duty to stand and wait, for whom Luther's text and motto is their best decree, "In silence and in hope shall be our strength."

II. And secondly, the darkness of Good Friday at the cross of Calvary is a likeness of the opposition which each one of us ought to be and will be called to face in doing his duty. Those only can avoid offence who shrink from their appointed tasks, who yield to everything, and who so pass out of life without being spoken against because they never will be spoken of at all. "No cross, no crown;" that is to say, if there is no effort there will be no result worth having.

III. The darkness of the dismal tragedy of the Crucifixion, combined with what followed, reminds us of this yet further consoling truth: Failures are not perpetual failures. Good Friday was a failure as regarded all outward appearance, but after it came Easter Day, and Easter Day was a complete contrasting success.

A. P. Stanley, Christian World Pulpit,vol. xvii., p. 193.

Reference: Matthew 27:45. Spurgeon, Sermons,vol. xxxii., No. 1896.