What is the meaning of Luke 23:45? The sun was darkened • “From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land” (Matthew 27:45) confirms the same event and anchors it in real time: noon to 3 p.m. • This was no eclipse—Passover fell at full moon—so the darkness was a supernatural act, echoing Amos 8:9: “I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight.” • Joel 2:31 speaks of “the sun turned to darkness before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes,” pointing forward to judgment and salvation; Calvary stands at the center of both. • Creation itself responded to the Creator’s suffering. Romans 8:22 reminds us that all creation groans; here it mourns as the Son bears sin. • The darkness underscores the weight of divine wrath placed on Christ (Isaiah 53:5-6). As He became the atoning sacrifice, the Father allowed the physical world to mirror the spiritual reality. the veil of the temple was torn down the middle • Matthew 27:51 and Mark 15:38 add that the veil was torn “from top to bottom,” highlighting God’s initiative—no human hand could begin at the top of a sixty-foot curtain. • This inner veil barred entry to the Most Holy Place (Exodus 26:31-33). Only the high priest could pass once a year with sacrificial blood (Leviticus 16:2, 34). • Hebrews 10:19-20 explains the meaning: “We have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, His flesh.” Christ’s torn body opens permanent access to God. • The immediate, physical rending shows the old covenant’s sacrificial system fulfilled (Hebrews 9:11-12). No further animal blood is needed; the Lamb’s work is complete (John 19:30). • Ephesians 2:13-14 celebrates that “He Himself is our peace,” removing the barrier not only between God and man but also between Jew and Gentile, creating one new people. • The priesthood of all believers now stands secure (1 Peter 2:9). With the veil gone, every redeemed heart becomes a temple indwelt by the Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). summary Luke 23:45 records two simultaneous miracles. The midday darkness proclaims the gravity of sin judged in Christ and the cosmic significance of His sacrifice. The torn veil declares that His death has flung heaven’s door wide open, ending the old order and inaugurating direct, confident access to the Father for all who trust in the Son. |
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