The Mystery of the Cross

There is great mystery surrounding the cross of Christ. For three hours, from noon to three, while Jesus hung on the cross everything went literally black. Total darkness fell over the land. The curtain came down. Luke said, “It was as if the sun stopped shining.” Matthew, Mark and Luke each describe this three hour period with one sentence, “Darkness came over the land.” John covered this time with silence. Then he picks up by saying, “Later, knowing that all things had been accomplished….” John 19:28. Jesus subsequently said, “It is finished.” John 19:30. But what was accomplished? What was finished? And why the darkness?

We who are Gentiles two thousand years later, may not be steeped in the knowledge of the sacrificial system of the Old Testament. We might not know about the many burnt offerings, sin offerings and guilt offerings, all bloody sacrifices required of the Jewish people for various situations, day after day year after year. We might not know that Leviticus 17:11 teaches that a blood sacrifice is necessary for atonement (forgiveness of sin) because the life of the flesh is in the blood. We also may not know about the high holiest day of the year for Jewish people, the Day of Atonement.

The Day of Atonement is described in Leviticus 16. There is so much to say about this unique day with its many sacrifices, fasts and rituals, but we will have to save that for another time. Here are just a few important points. The Day of Atonement, also called Yom Kippur, was the most solemn, holy day of the year in ancient Israel, and still is today among observant Jews. The Day of Atonement was the only day of the year the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies, the most sacred space of the Temple. He first had to become ritually cleansed and purified. He then entered the Holy of Holies with great respect and trepidation under the covering of a blood sacrifice. The centerpiece of the day was the sin offering. This one sacrifice required two perfect male goats. The first goat was sacrificed on the altar. The High Priest drained his blood, entered the Holy of Holies and sprinkled the blood on the Mercy Seat which covered the Ark of the Covenant. This blood sacrifice of the slaughtered goat paid the price of the sin of the Jewish people for that year. It made atonement for their sin.

He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. I Peter 2:24

The High Priest went back out to the people and placed his hands on the head of the second goat, the scapegoat, confessing the sins of the people and transferring their sins to the animal. The scapegoat was then released into the wilderness, removing the sin from the people for a year. He was the propitiation for their sin. Their sin was removed.

As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. Psalm 103:12

I believe during the three hours of darkness while Jesus was on the cross He accomplished the fulfillment of the Day of Atonement. He was slain as a blood sacrifice for the sins of the world. His blood paid the price required by God because of our sin. Somehow God transferred all our sins, all of the unspeakably heinous sins of the world, onto His precious scapegoat. But instead of setting him free in the wilderness, He turned on Him and poured out His wrath until that wrath was fully satisfied.

Darkness provided a cloak of privacy for this divine transaction between the Father and the Son. In Scripture, darkness also represents separation from God, hell. Jesus went through hell during that time on the cross. After three interminable hours, Jesus cried out, “It is finished.” In Greek, “Telios”. We might miss the significance of this statement. Telios was the official term of a first century Roman banker. The banker stamped telios on a certificate of debt when it was paid in full. Finished, complete, the debt is paid in full. Telios.

This Good Friday when you hear the words of Jesus, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?” Know that this is not just figure speech. He didn’t just feel forsaken, He was forsaken by His heavenly Father. He suffered the agony of being abandoned by God. He took the unmitigated wrath of God so that you and I will never have to know the full weight of the consequences of our sin. The mystery of the cross is that Jesus died a substitutionary death for those who put their trust in Him. Our sin is forgiven and removed. Finished. Completed. Accomplished.

Dear Lord Jesus,
We can never plumb the depths of the mystery of the cross. But we are eternally grateful and thank You for what we can understand. Thank You for Your love for each of us that compelled You to go to the cross. Thank You that you endured the judgment all the way through and finished the work. Thank You that You were abandoned by God so that we never will be. In Jesus’ name,
Amen