“But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.”

-Jesus, Luke 22:53

This morning I sat down with Jesus to confess my embarrassing numbness to the significance of this sacred Friday. Am I alone?

How could it be? How could this actually have happened?

Our forefathers were bathed in the love and light of a real human, God Himself, and we responded to His love by murdering Him. Demented human power and envy proudly extinguished the Light of the World and buried Him lifeless in a dark grave.

Truly if there ever was an hour of darkness on the planet it must have been felt then. I wonder, did the distant nations feel the darkness of death in their spirits on Good Friday though they were unaware of its source?

As I read the account of Jesus betrayal and murder this morning I couldn’t help but bring my own story into it. The deconstruction of humanity and the spirit of darkness that seems to be encircling the globe today is real, and I can feel it as His reign over all the earth is once again being judged and rejected. I could not help but bring my sadness and anxiety into the reading of this story to receive Jesus ministry. When I arrived at the scene in the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus is being arrested, He said this…

“...this is your hour, and the power of darkness.”

Oh the mercy of it! The reign of darkness lasts but “an hour”.

In this we hope and rejoice: darkness only lasts an hour for those united with Jesus, the conquering Light of the World. The power of God is always coming to deliver us with haste.

Be blessed in this hope on this Good Friday.