Saturday, July 22, 2006

Darkness at noon

Not the Arthur Koestler anti-Stalin novel, but St Matthew's Gospel 27:45 "Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour".

Attempts have been made to explain how this could be. Suggestions have been made that this was an eclipse of the sun; though this is impossible because the crucifixion took place at Passover, a time of a full moon.

Here in Bournemouth we have been enjoying a hot and sunny July - the rain the other day was but a brief respite. Today at noon the sky went black. We had an eclipse of the sun here a few years ago, the last one in my lifetime. The sky was never so black then as it was today.

The darkness at noon did not herald the graves giving up their dead, but a tremendous thunder storm. The road outside my window is under water. The other night I watched an item on the news where a fireman in California was hosing down a forest fire. Comparing his hose with the one that I had used earlier on the garden, I wished for one of similar force. Today the garden has been watered by what I call a hosepipe.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

As many things in the Bible, this refers to God's interaction with our sad little world. Miracles do happen; this was one of them, very appropriate.

Did you say you've seen 'The Passion of The Christ'?

Terry Hamblin said...

Yes. My major criticism was the creeping in of catholic tradition for which there is no Biblical warrant, but undoubtedly a very moving film.

Steven Carr said...

There was a thunderstorm all over the entire world?