The Miracle of The Eclipse

Today was the day of the solar eclipse. It was long anticipated. People traveled for miles to get a glimpse of it.

Spectators spoke of it in scientific, emotional and spiritual terms. Some spoke of feeling unity with each other and with the universe.

Many were awed by the fact that they were witnessing something they had never seen before and perhaps would not see again.

Many were amazed by the coming of darkness and how completely it shut out the light of the sun. They watched and then as sunlight returned, they began packing up their things to return to their unspectacular lives.

Was there a spiritual message in the eclipse? Absolutely! But the real message may have been lost on some.

The miracle was not in the coming of darkness. This world is already dark.

As with the eclipse, initially the darkness was not noticed … or at least it seemed manageable.

But as the darkness progressed, many became concerned that things were out of control. The evil deeds, once carried out in darkness, began to be evident even in the light of midday.

People became afraid. They blamed each other for the darkness. Instead of candles being lit, each day candles were snuffed out. And the darkness became greater.

Some called upon God to intervene. But when He did did not act as they thought He should, they thought He was absent.

Many related the darkness of earth to the darkness that came on the earth at the time of Jesus’ Crucifixion. Some observed that even Jesus felt forsaken by God, pointing to Jesus’ cry from the cross.

“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me”
Matthew 27:46

Some even believed God looked away from Jesus because He refused to look upon sin. However, nowhere does scripture say God looked away or distanced Himself from Jesus.

So what is the answer to this puzzling turn of events? Jesus taught in parables, often telling stories and then saying in essence, “You see, it’s like this.”

In the case of Jesus’ Suffering, He was The Parable.

When He spoke from the cross, in a world that had become dark, Jesus spoke as one weighed down with sin. He spoke for all humanity.

Isaiah 59:2 says,
“Your sins have hidden His (God’s) Face from you.”

God was still there, just as the sun was still present. But just as the sun could not be seen through the darkness, God’s Face could not be seen through the dark veil of sin.

The miracle of an eclipse of the sun or an eclipse of the soul is not that the darkness came. It is that The Light came and eliminated the darkness!

“When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said,

‘I am The Light of the world.

‘Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have The Light of Life.'”
John 8:12

The Miracle of The Eclipse —
“The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it!”
John 1:5