Let’s not rush too quickly past that moment when darkness covered the land, as the Light of the Word was slowly snuffed out. Oh, the agony of giving up his Spirit! Oh the love, as he did it.

In this True Story of Easter Series, we’re looking at several of the scenes of Easter, and today we’re considering the three-hour period of time when God threw a blanket of darkness over the scene, as his Son hung on the cross. I can’t think of a better guest to have this conversation with than Asheritah Ciuciu. She has such wisdom, and tender compassion for you, as we contemplate that dark, Good Friday when it looked like evil won.

Asheritah is an author, speaker, and host of the Prayers of Rest podcast. She’s the author of many books, including her new Prayers of Rest devotional, which helps you pray through fifty different Psalms—two of which, we’ll talk about here, on this episode.

Guest: Asheritah CiuCiu

Bible Passage: Matthew 27:45-54

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Mentioned Resources:

• • Asheritah’s soon-to-be-released book, Prayers of Rest
  • Psalm 22
  • Psalm 31:1-5
  • Asheritah’s podcast, Prayers of Rest
  • Asheritah’s Lent Devotional, Uncovering the Love of Jesus
  • Moody Bible Commentary

Music: Cade Popkin Music 

Asheritah Ciuciu

Asheritah Ciuciu is a bestselling author, national speaker, and host of the Prayers of REST podcast. A Romanian missionary kid, she’s passionate about helping people around the world enjoy Jesus through creative spiritual habits. Asheritah is married to her high school sweetheart and together they raise their three spunky kids in NE Ohio. Discover your creative devotional type at OneThingAlone.com.

Asheritah will be giving away a free copy of her new book, Prayers of Rest, which offers you a devotional guide to praying through fifty Psalms. For a chance to win, tag a friend on any of my social media posts about this episode, or tag me (@shannonpopkin) when you share this post, or any of my social media posts.

Find Asheritah:

• Website
• Podcast, Prayers of Rest
• Instagram
• Facebook

The True Story in the Dark

Here are some of the things Asheritah and I talked about:

• Why is there darkness, as Jesus hangs on the cross? What are we meant to see?
• As we consider the scene—with a crucifixion at the edge of town, and people passing by, and Jesus bleeding as he hangs on a cross—what is astonishing about Jesus?
• What was Jesus quoting when he said, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” How does this give us insight into his thoughts?
• How are Jesus’s last words and last breaths astonishing?
• What does it symbolize when the curtain of the temple was torn?
• What difference does it make that this story is true?

LIVE the Story

How can we live like this story is true? Here are several ways:

• Sometimes our suffering is so great that we have no words, only groans, to express the pain. In those times, we can do as Jesus did, and turn to the Psalms for guidance and comfort and truth.
• We do ourselves no service when we rush past the darkness, distress, heartache and hurt. Jesus is inviting us to be honest with him about these dark emotions, to bring them to him, so that he can do a work in our hearts.
• Our Jesus is not weak on the cross. He didn’t fade into the darkness. In his very last words, he was quoting the Psalms, telling God, “In you, I take refuge. I commit my spirit to you.” Jesus’s strength was seen in his powerful yielding, and this is the same strength he gives to us.
• Because this story is true, we can look at this moment in history as the time that our sins were covered over. Jesus is the perfect lamb of God, who took our sins upon himself, died for them, and gives us his spotless righteousness in exchange.
• Because Jesus endured and processes hard emotions, changes the way we encounter hard emotions. When we don’t have the words to pray, we can borrow the words of the psalms, resting in his loving presence, even if we don’t know how things are going to play out.
• We don’t have to run from or cover over hard emotions. Like Jesus, we can share them with the Father.
• If your loved one is treating this story as fiction, and mocking as those soldiers did at the foot of the cross, be the one who loves like Jesus—who laid his life down, and trust in the power of the Holy Spirit to bring new life.

Don’t Miss the Retelling!

We’re mixing things up this week. Don’t miss our bonus episode this week, Sharing the True Story of Easter, with guest Karlena del la Cruz from Storyrunners. And we’ll be back next Wednesday, for our last episode in the True Story of Easter series for a conversation with Erika VanHaitsma about the True Story of the Empty Tomb. It’s an amazing conversation, full of hope! You won’t want to miss it.