Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” – Matthew 27:45-46
The clearest revelation of hell is at the cross. Hell has six dimensions and Christ experienced all of them on the cross…
1. Jesus was in conscious suffering.
Hell is a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth (Luke 13:28), and Jesus entered into all of its pain—scourging, nailing, mocking—on the cross.
2. Jesus was in blackest darkness.
“From the sixth hour [noon] there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour [3:00 p.m.]” (Mat. 27:45). The sudden darkness tells us that Jesus was entering into the heart of His atoning work as our sin-bearer, drinking the cup of God’s wrath.
3. Jesus was surrounded by demonic powers.
“He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him” (Col. 2:15). Demonic powers were present at the cross, adding their venom to the human hatred poured out on Christ.
4. Jesus was bearing sin.
1 Peter 2:24 says, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree.” To be our sin-bearer, Christ received in Himself the hell that our sins deserve.
5. Jesus was under judgment.
Jesus endured hell, because hell is the punishment for sin. God’s wrath was poured out on Him; He became the propitiation for our sins (Rom. 3:25).
6. Jesus was separated from the knowledge of God’s love.
The love that the Son had enjoyed with His Father for all eternity was now beyond His reach. 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9 says, “those who do not obey the gospel… will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.”
Hell is as real as the cross. Jesus entered all of hell’s dimensions on the cross, and He endured them so that you would never know what hell is like.
Take in the wonder of what Jesus did on the cross!
