It’s Dark (Lent 39, 2025)

Today is Good Friday on the Lenten calendar.  There’s a darkness that’s unmistakable in our midst.  Even today.  Anger, violence, hatred—all things evil. Do you sense it? 

“It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.” When He had said this, He breathed His last. (Luke 23:44-46)

It seemed like darkness had won.
That’s why the two men on the Road to Emmaus were triple D:
despondent, dejected, and depressed. 

That was Friday lingering into Saturday, but on Sunday’s Road to Emmaus, the two men encounter the Risen Lord, and He blows their minds.  They saw He had risen, and darkness had not won.  Most definitely, darkness had been conquered.

So, while it had been so dark outside in their world, they weren’t going to let Jesus go on walking the Road to Emmaus without inviting Him in—after all, it’s too dark!  Now that He’s disappeared from their eyesight, Luke 24:33 “They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem.” 

Even though it’s dark outside, the true Light has come, and they’re compelled to tell others the good news!

Principle: Darkness doesn’t win. Good Friday’s death doesn’t end the story. Sunday is coming!

Questions for further thought:

Why might the two men on the Road to Emmaus want to return at once?  Do you think they ran all the way back?  Talked to each other?  What made them not fear the darkness anymore?

Do you find our current political climate dark and disturbing?  How does the Gospel address it?

How does knowledge that on the Lenten calendar Sunday is soon coming make all the difference in the world?  To know that darkness doesn’t win.  To know that no matter how bad the current news may be, our eternal hope has dawned.

Prayer:  Lord God, awaken our hearts to the reality of the work You did on the Cross and through the sacrifice of Your Son. May we know that the answer to the world’s darkness is Your eternal light in our Risen Lord. Thank You for His faithfulness and forgiveness that we could never earn.  In His Name, Amen.
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Lent began Ash Wednesday, March 5, 2025, and will continue until Resurrection Sunday, Easter (April 20, 2025). I hope your eyes have been opened. I know mine have been in writing this series, “The Way it Had to Be.”

The author gratefully acknowledges Grok XI for assisting with this year’s pictures.
Technology can be amazing.

If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2025 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals continue to minister, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:

“Seeing His Love with New Eyes” was the topic for 2024 and it explored looking at God’s love beyond the superficial and trite notions of love. They are archived beginning February 14, 2024.

Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.

A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God  which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014. 

Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations.  We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17. 

ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.

Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ.  It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.

Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.

Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.

Our Lent 2020 devotional series offered prayer points surrounding “Be Thou My Vision” and were aimed at helping us to see God for who He is. The full set of devotionals are archived beginning February 26, 2020.

The theme for 2021 Lent Devotionals was how to live between two worlds while waiting for Christ’s return. Into the gap between the City of Man and its fixation upon sin and the City of God with its demand for holiness, two words minister peace: But God. Praise God for His intervention! They are archived beginning February 17, 2021.

Revelation in 40 devotionals for 2022 offered 40 vignettes, scenes, concepts, and thoughts to inspire us to read the Book of Revelation as it is written and to go deeper. They are archived beginning March 2, 2022.

“Created to Display His Image” explored what it truly means to be made in God’s Image and the profound significance of that fact. They are archived beginning February 22, 2023.