Did darkness fall over the earth at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion?

Mark tells us that as Jesus hung dying on the cross, “darkness fell over the whole land” from 12pm to 3pm.

The claim that this happened has been dismissed by many critics of the Bible who have tried – unsuccessfully – to deny the supernatural nature of Jesus’ death.

But as Lee Strobel discovered, a source outside the Bible also testifies to the darkness on the day of Jesus’ death. Thallus was a non-Christian historian who wrote a history of the Mediterranean world in 52AD – not many years after the death and resurrection of Jesus – and in his third book he mentions the darkness. Thallus explained it away by saying it was an eclipse, but this is impossible.

Jesus was crucified during the Jewish Passover, and this always takes place at the time of the full moon. At that time of the month, the earth, sun, and moon, are almost in a straight line, in this order: Sun – Earth – Moon.

However, for a daytime eclipse to take place, the order needs to be as follows: Sun – Moon – Earth.

The darkness at the time of Jesus’ death cannot be explained away as an eclipse.

The only reasonable explanation for the darkness at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion is that it was supernatural, and this is not surprising if it was the Creator of the Universe hanging there. I remember hearing many years ago that the darkness was, “as it were, as if all of creation was mourning the death of its Maker.”

This sense is captured in the words of the old African American spiritual:

“Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Oh-oh-oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?”

It was more than a man Who hung on the cross that day. As the ancient creed says, He was “Very God of very God” and all of creation knew it.

Today’s Bible reading: Mark 15:22-24