And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way hebreathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Sonof God!” (Mark 15:33-39, ESV)
When God created the world, He said, "Let there be light" and the light appeared. He is light and in Him there is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5). Yet, there was a day when God the Son hung upon a cross in darkness. The Light of the World was surrounded by darkness. The darkness was not His own, instead it was our darkness--our sins. Yet, because He bore our darkness we can now have the light of life in Him:
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life" (John 8:12).
Mark 8:31-33 - And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
While growing up my father often worked multiple jobs. He did this so that he could provide for his family, not so that we would become rich. He was keenly aware of the biblical truth that "if anyone will not work, neither let him eat" (2 Thessalonians 3:10). Although I admired his wonderful work ethic, I often feared that he worked too much. Even his days off were filled with washing cars, cutting grass, and other draining activities. (This is not to say that he did not spend time with his family, because he was-and still is-a devoted husband and father.) My point is that he took very little time for rest and relaxation. I would often ask him, "Dad, when are you going to slow down and take a break?" He would usually respond by simply saying, "I'm fine. I'm not really tired." Now I find myself much like my father. I am a husband, father, youth pastor, and security officer. On my days off (if I can really call them that) I wash cars, cut grass, and do other draining activities. My wife and I often talk about how our days seemed to be "filled to the brim." Although I know that I should take time to relax, I find it extremely difficult to take a break. This difficulty arises because I know that there are so many things (other than taking a break) that I could be doing. But isn't this the problem? No matter how much I do, I can never accomplish all that needs to be completed. There will always be another youth to counsel, another homeless person to feed, another meeting to attend, and the list rambles onward to infinity. Yet, should we feel guilty if we ever desire to break away from the day-to-day endevours? I think not. On one occasion the apostles came to Jesus to report to Him about all that they had been doing in His name, and Jesus responds in the following way: "Come away by yourselves to a lonely place and rest a while" (Mark 6:31). Mark goes on to explain why they needed to get away: "For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat." We must all realize that we need to go to "a lonely place and rest a while." This is not a purposeless rest; rather, it is a time to reconnect with our Savior. If we fail to follow our Lord's instruction and example (Mark 1:35), we must be prepared for the consequences of our disobedience. Let us not be so unwise as to neglect our Lord's command.
