Mark 15:33

Mar_15:33

There was darkness over the whole land.

The three hours darkness

What a call must that midday midnight have been to the careless! They knew not that the Son of God was among them; nor that He was working out human redemption. The grandest hour in all history seemed likely to pass by unheeded, when suddenly night hastened from her chambers and usurped the day. Every one asked his fellow, What means this darkness? Business stood still: the plough stayed in mid-furrow and the axe paused uplifted. There was a halt in the caravan of life. Men were startled, and hushed into silence.

I. Let us view this darkness as a miracle which amazes us. Abundant reason for a miracle at this time. The unusual in lower nature is made to consort with the unusual in the dealings of natures Lord. The sun darkened at noon is a fit accompaniment of the death of Jesus.

II. Let us regard this darkness as a veil which conceals.

1. A concealment for guilty enemies.

2. A sacred concealment for the blessed Person of our Divine Lord. The angels found for their King a pavilion of thick clouds, in the which His Majesty might be sheltered in its hour of misery.

3. The Passion is a great mystery, into which we cannot pry.

4. The powers of darkness will always endeavour to conceal the cross of Christ.

III. Let us consider this darkness as a symbol which instructs. The veil falls down and conceals; but, at the same time, as an emblem it reveals.

1. It is the symbol of the wrath of God which fell on those who slew His only-begotten sent.

2. It tells us what our Lord Jesus Christ suffered.

3. It shows us what it was that Jesus was battling with-darkness.

IV. A prophetical display of sympathy.

1. All lights are dim when Christ shines not.

2. See the dependence of all creation on Christ.

3. If under a cloud, take comfort from the thought that Jesus also was once there. Feel after Him. Lean on Him. He will hold you up. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Total eclipse of the sun

A pious astronomer, in describing an eclipse which he witnessed in Norway, says: I watched the instantaneous extinction of light, and saw the glorious scene on which I had been gazing turned into darkness. All the horizon seemed to speak of terror, death, and judgment; and overhead sat, not the clear flood of light which a starry night sends down, but there hung over me dark and leaden blackness, which seemed as if it would crush me into the earth. And as I beheld it I thought, How miserable is the soul to whom Christ is eclipsed! The thought was answered by a voice; for a fierce and powerful sea bird which had been swooping around us, apparently infuriated at our intrusion on its domain, poured out a scream of despairing agony when it was surprised in the darkness. What, then, will be the fearful surprise, when the lost soul finds itself in that world where hope, withering, flees, and mercy sighs, Farewell! (Christian Age.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mar 15:33-38. When the sixth hour was come — For an explanation of this paragraph, see notes on Mat 27:45-53. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? — In these words, Jesus claims God as his God; and yet laments his Father’s withdrawing the tokens of his love, while he bare our sins.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

JESUS EXPIRES AMID THE DARKNESS

Luk 23:44-46; Joh 19:28-30; Mar 15:33-37; Mat 27:45-50. “And from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.” Infidelity has ransacked astronomy to find a total solar eclipse at this time and thus account for the darkness. If you will think of one fact you will see the utter folly of such an effort. You know it was the time of the Jewish Passover, which always took place at the full moon of our April. You know this is a time when a solar eclipse is utterly impossible, as the moon is in the east and the sun is in the west, the eclipse necessarily taking place when they are both on the same side of the earth, as the moon must come between the earth and the sun in order to produce the eclipse. Luk 23:45 : “And the sun was darkened.” This settles the matter against the hypothesis of an eclipse, as the sun is not darkened in that case, but shining as brightly as if no intervening object casts a dark shadow on the earth. The revelation sustains the conclusion that the sun himself actually refused to shine.

“He dies, the Friend of sinners dies! Lo, Salem’s daughters weep around! A solemn darkness veils the skies, A sudden trembling shakes the ground. Come, saints, and drop a tear or two For Him who groaned beneath your load: He shed a thousand drops for you —

A thousand drops of richest blood.”

Mat 27:46-49 : “About the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a great voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” Thus the darkness, prevailed from twelve to three o’clock, when our Lord expired with these words. A momentous crisis right here culminates, leading us down into the profoundest depths of the redemptive scheme.

“He made Him sin who knew no sin, in order that we may be the righteousness of God in Him.” (2Co 5:21.)

In this wonderfully terse statement of the vicarious atonement, be sure you recognize the fact that “sin” in both clauses is a noun. If you take it for a verb, you ruin the passage. In the Greek, you see on a glance that it is a noun in both instances; but not so in English, which is a loose, unmechanical language, splendid for universal use, but really unfit for a Divine revelation. Consequently, God in mercy made the intensely mechanical Greek, in order to reveal His wonderful truth to the world in such an explicit presentation that human ingenuity: can never evade its legitimate meaning. While Jesus knew no sin — i. e., was always perfectly sinless and holy, — God made Him “sin” as a substitute for a guilty world. E. V. gives it “to be sin,” as you see, italicizing “to be,” showing thereby that it is not in the original, which is true. “To be” is objectionable, too much savoring the idea that Jesus in some way had sin in Him, which is utterly incorrect and unsustained by the Scripture. I trow, this moment, when God turned His face away from Him, was the identical crisis when He laid on Him the sins of the whole world, and the above Scripture was verified.

God can not look upon sin under any circumstances; hence when He laid the sins of the whole world on His Own Son, He turned His face away from Him, when the humanity cried out as above. You see here that sin and righteousness are antithetical and coextensive, all sin being laid on Jesus and all the world receiving the righteousness of God — i. e., being justified in Him — this taking place in infancy, and explaining the fact of universal infantile salvation. This is also the sinner’s hope. As Jesus carried all of his sins on the cross, he has nothing to do but forsake all, receive the righteousness of God by faith, and become a disciple of our Lord.

“And certain ones of those standing by hearing, said, He is calling for Elijah.” As they did not understand the Hebrew word “Eli,” taking the sound, they mistook it for Elijah. “And immediately one of them, running, and taking a sponge, and filling it with vinegar, putting it on a reed, gave Him drink. And the rest said, Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah is coming to save Him.” They all knew well that Elijah never died, but was translated to heaven alive. Therefore, looking upon him as still alive, and thinking that Jesus was calling him, they did not know but he would ride down from heaven on his fiery chariot, as he had gone up from the land of Moab many centuries ago.

Luk 23:46. “Calling with a great voice, Jesus said, Father, into Thy hands I will commit My spirit. And saying these things, He expired.” Matthew and John say, “He gave up His spirit;” i. e., the human spirit left the body, going into Hades as above described, proclaimed His victory in hell, meeting the thief and all the Old Testament saints in the intermediate paradise, and returned the third morn, when He re-entered His body. As Jesus is both man and God, He has a perfect human soul and body, like Adam before he fell. O what a time the soul-sleeping heresy has with plain and unmistakable Scriptures like these, showing positively that Jesus had a human soul, which He gave up when He died, and it returned to His body in the resurrection, as they are under the necessity either to abandon their false doctrine or prove that Jesus had no soul, which you see flatly contradicts the Word of God, as here given! I hope, reader, if you have a creed of any kind you will throw it away, and take the Bible for your only guide. If your creed is true, you do not need it, as the Bible includes it; if untrue throw it away, lest it lead you to hell.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CHAPTER 15:33-41 (Mar_15:33-41)

THE DEATH OF JESUS

"And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, He calleth Elijah. And one ran, and filling a sponge full of vinegar, put it on a reed, and gave Him to drink, saying, Let be; let us see whether Elijah cometh to take Him down. And Jesus uttered a loud voice, and gave up the ghost. And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. And when the centurion, which stood by over against Him, saw that He so gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God. And there were also women beholding from afar: among whom were both Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome; who, when He was in Galilee, followed Him, and ministered unto Him; and many other women which came up with Him unto Jerusalem." Mar_15:33-41 (R.V.)

THREE hours of raging human passion, endured with Godlike patience, were succeeded by three hours of darkness, hushing mortal hatred into silence, and perhaps contributing to the penitence of the reviler at His side. It was a supernatural gloom, which an eclipse of the sun was impossible during the full moon of Passover. Shall we say that, as it shall be in the last days, nature sympathized with humanity, and the angel of the sun hid his face from his suffering Lord?

Or was it the shadow of a still more dreadful eclipse, for now the eternal Father veiled His countenance from the Son in whom He was well pleased?

In some true sense God forsook Him. And we have to seek for a meaning of this awful statement -- inadequate no doubt, for all our thoughts must come short of such a reality, but free from pervarication and evasion.

It is wholly unsatisfactory to regard the verse as merely the heading of a Psalm, (Psalm 22) cheerful for the most part, which Jesus inaudibly recited. Why was only this verse uttered aloud? How false an impression must have been produced upon the multitude, upon St. John, upon the penitent thief, if Jesus were suffering less than the extreme of spiritual anguish. Nay, we feel that never before can the verse have attained its fullest meaning, a meaning which no experience of David could more than dimly shadow forth, since we ask in our sorrows, Why have we forsaken God? but Jesus said, Why hast Thou forsaken Me?

And this unconsciousness of any reason for desertion disproves the old notion that He felt Himself a sinner, and "suffered infinite remorse, as being the chief sinner in the universe, all the sins of mankind being His." One who felt thus could neither have addressed God as "My God," nor asked why He was forsaken.

Still less does it allow us to believe that the Father perfectly identified Jesus with sin, so as to be "wroth" with Him, and even "to hate Him to the uttermost." Such notions, the offspring of theories carried to a wild and irreverent extreme, when carefully examined impute to the Deity confusion of thought, a mistaking of the Holy One for a sinner, or rather for the aggregate of sinners. But it is very different when we pass from the Divine consciousness to the hearing of God toward Christ our representative, to the outshining or eclipse of His favor. That this was overcast is manifest from the fact that Jesus everywhere else addresses Him as My Father, here only as My God. Even in the garden it was Abba Father, and the change indicates not indeed estrangement of heart, but certainly remoteness. Thus we have the sense of desertion, combined with the assurance which once breathed in the words, O God, Thou art my God.

Thus also it came to pass that He who never forfeited the most intimate communion and sunny smile of heaven, should yet give us an example at the last of that utmost struggle and sternest effort of the soul, which trusts without experience, without emotion, in the dark, because God is God, not because I am happy.

But they who would empty the death of Jesus of its sacrificial import, and leave only the attraction and inspiration of a sublime life and death, must answer the hard questions, How came God to forsake the Perfect One? Or, how came He to charge God with such desertion? His follower, twice using this very word, could boast that he was cast down yet not forsaken, and that at his first trial all men forsook him, yet the Lord stood by him (2Co_4:9; 2Ti_4:16-17). How came the disciple to be above his Master?

The only explanation is in His own word, that His life is a ransom in exchange for many (Mar_10:45). The chastisement of our peace, not the remorse of our guiltiness, was upon Him. No wonder that St. Mark, who turns aside from his narrative for no comment, no exposition, was yet careful to preserve this alone among the dying words of Christ.

And the Father heard His Son. At that cry the mysterious darkness passed away, and the soul of Jesus was relieved from its burden, so that He became conscious of physical suffering; and the mockery of the multitude was converted into awe. It seemed to them that His Eloi might indeed bring Elias, and the great and notable day, and they were willing to relieve the thirst which no stoical hardness forbade that gentlest of all sufferers to confess. Thereupon the anguish that redeemed the world was over; a loud voice told that exhaustion was not complete; and Jesus "gave up the ghost." [9]

Through the veil, that is to say His flesh, we have boldness to enter into the holy place; and now that He had opened the way, the veil of the temple was rent asunder by no mortal hand, but downward from the top. The way into the holiest was visibly thrown open, when sin was expiated, which had forfeited our right of access.

And the centurion, seeing that His death itself was abnormal and miraculous, and accompanied with miraculous signs, said, Truly this was a righteous man. But such a confession could not rest there: if He was this, He was all He claimed to be; and the mockery of His enemies had betrayed the secret of their hate; He was the Son of God.

"When the centurion saw" . . . "There were also many women beholding." Who can overlook the connection? Their gentle hearts were not to be utterly overwhelmed: as the centurion saw and drew his inference, so they beheld, and felt, however dimly, amid sorrows that benumb the mind, that still, even in such wreck and misery, God was not far from Jesus.

When the Lord said, It is finished, there was not only an end of conscious anguish, but also of contempt and insult. His body was not to see corruption, nor was a bone to be broken, nor should it remain in hostile hands.

Respect for Jewish prejudice prevented the Romans from leaving Jesus' body to molder on the cross, and the approaching Sabbath was not one to be polluted. And knowing this, Joseph of Arimathea boldly went in to Pilate and asked for it. It was only secretly and in fear that he had been a disciple, but the deadly crisis had developed what was hidden, he had opposed the crime of his nation in their council, and in the hour of seeming overthrow he chose the good part. Boldly the timid one "went in," braving the scowls of the priesthood, defiling himself moreover, and forfeiting his share in the sacred feast, in hope to win the further defilement of contact with the dead.

Pilate was careful to verify so rapid a death; but when he was certain of the fact, "he granted the corpse to Joseph," as a worthless thing. His frivolity is expressed alike in the unusual verb [10] and substantive: he "freely bestowed," he "gave away" not "the body" as when Joseph spoke of it, but "the corpse," the fallen thing, like a prostrated and uprooted tree that shall revive no more. Wonderful it is to reflect that God had entered into eternal union with what was thus given away to the only man of rank who cared to ask for it. Wonderful to think what opportunities of eternal gain men are content to lose; what priceless treasures are given away, or thrown away as worthless. Wonderful to imagine the feelings of Joseph in heaven today, as he gazes with gratitude and love upon the glorious Body which once, for a little, was consigned to his reverent care.

St. John tells us that Nicodemus brought a hundred pound weight of myrrh and aloes, and they together wrapped Him in these, in the linen which had been provided; and Joseph laid Him in his own new tomb, undesecrated by mortality.

And there Jesus rested. His friends had no such hope as would prevent them from closing the door with a great stone. His enemies set a watch, and sealed the stone. The broad moon of Passover made the night as clear as the day, and the multitude of strangers, who thronged the city and its suburbs, rendered any attempt at robbery even more hopeless than at another season.

What indeed could the trembling disciples of an executed pretender do with such an object as a dead body? What could they hope from the possession of it? But if they did not steal it, if the moral glories of Christianity are not sprung from deliberate mendacity, why was the body not produced, to abash the wild dreams of their fanaticism? It was fearfully easy to identify. The scourging, the cross, and the spear, left no slight evidence behind, and the broken bones of the malefactors completed the absolute isolation of the sacred body of the Lord.

The providence of God left no precaution unsupplied to satisfy honest and candid inquiry. It remained to be seen, would He leave Christ's soul in Hades, or suffer His Holy One (such is the epithet applied to the body of Jesus) to see corruption?

Meantime, through what is called three days and nights -- a space which touched, but only touched, the confines of a first and third day, as well as the Saturday which intervened, Jesus shared the humiliation of common men, the divorce of soul and body. He slept as sleep the dead, but His soul was where He promised that the penitent should come, refreshed in Paradise.

[9] The ingenious and plausible attempt to show that His death was caused by a physical rupture of the heart has one fatal weakness. Death came too late for this; the severest pressure was already relieved.

[10] I.e. in the New Testament, where it occurs but once besides.

William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.

15:33 At noon (literally the sixth hour) darkness came over the whole land until three o’clock (literally the ninth hour). The whole land probably means all of Judah. The darkness was both literal and symbolic—it revealed the sinister nature of what was happening and was a taste of the judgment that Jesus predicted would come upon Israel (see 13:1-31; 14:58; 15:29).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Mar 15:33-36 . Darkness without and within (Mat 27:45-49 , Luk 23:44-46 ).

Mar 15:33 . γενομένης , ἐγένετο : another awkwardness of style variously amended in Mt. and Lk. σκότος : on this darkness vide on Mt. Furrer ( Wanderungen , pp. 175 6) suggests as its cause a storm of hot wind from the south-east, such as sometimes comes in the last weeks of spring. “The heavens are overcast with a deep gray, the sun loses his brightness, and at last disappears. Over the darkened land rages the storm, so that the country, in the morning like a flower-carpet, in the evening appears a waste.… On the saddest day in human history swept such a storm at noon over Jerusalem, adding to the terrors of the crucifixion.”

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

By this word, land, he meaneth Palestine: so that the strangeness of the wonder, is so much the more set forth in that, that at the feast of the Passover, and in the full moon, when the Sun shined over all the rest of the world and at midday that corner of the world, wherein so wicked an act was committed, was overcovered with most gross darkness.

How angry God was against our sin, which he punished in our surety, his son, it appeareth by this horrible darkness.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Here we have an account of Christ's dying, how his enemies abused him, and God honoured him at his death.

I. There was a thick darkness over the whole land (some think over the whole earth), for three hours, from noon till three of the clock. Now the scripture was fulfilled (Amo 8:9), I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day; and Jer 15:9, Her sun is gone down while it is yet day. The Jews have often demanded of Christ a sign from heaven; and now they had one, but such a one as signified the blinding of their eyes. It was a sign of the darkness that was come, and coming, upon the Jewish church and nation. They were doing their utmost to extinguish the Sun of righteousness, which was now setting, and the rising again of which they would never own; and what then might be expected among them but a worse than Egyptian darkness? This intimated to them, that the things which belonged to their peace, were now hid from their eyes, and that the day of the Lord was at hand, which should be to them a day of darkness and gloominess, Joe 2:1, Joe 2:2. It was the power of darkness that they were now under, the works of darkness that they were now doing; and such as this should their doom justly be, who loved darkness rather than light.

II. Toward the close of this darkness, our Lord Jesus, in the agony of his soul, cried out, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Mar 15:34. The darkness signified the present cloud which the human soul of Christ was under, when he was making it an offering for sin. Mr. Fox, in his Acts and Monuments (vol. 3, p. 160), tells of one Dr. Hunter, a martyr in queen Mary's time, who, being fastened to the stake, to be burnt, put up this short prayer, Son of God, shine upon me; and immediately the sun in the firmament shone out of the dark cloud, so full in his face, that he was forced to look another way, which was very comfortable to him. But our Lord Jesus, on the contrary, was denied the light of the sun, when he was in his sufferings, to signifying the withdrawing of the light of God's countenance. And this he complained of more than any thing; he did not complain of his disciples' forsaking him, but of his Father's, 1. Because this wounded his spirit; and that is a thing hard to bear (Pro 18:14); brought the waters into his soul, Psa 69:1-3. 2. Because in this especially he was made sin for us; our iniquities had deserved indignation and wrath upon the soul (Rom 2:8), and therefore, Christ, being made a sacrifice, underwent as much of it as he was capable of; and it could not but bear hard indeed upon him who had lain in the bosom of the Father from eternity, and was always his light. These symptoms of divine wrath, which Christ was under in his sufferings, were like that fire from heaven which had been sent sometimes, in extraordinary cases, to consume the sacrifices (as Lev 9:24; Ch2 7:1; Kg1 18:38); and it was always a token of God's acceptance. The fire that should have fallen upon the sinner, if God had not been pacified, fell upon the sacrifice, as a token that he was so; therefore it now fell upon Christ, and extorted him from this loud and bitter cry. When Paul was to be offered as a sacrifice for the service of saints, he could joy and rejoice (Phi 2:17); but it is another thing to be offered as a sacrifice for the sin of sinners. Now, at the sixth hour, and so to the ninth, the sun was darkened by an extraordinary eclipse; and if it be true, as some astronomers compute, that in the evening of this day on which Christ died there was an eclipse of the moon, that was natural and expected, in which seven digits of the moon were darkened, and it continued from five o'clock till seven, it is remarkable, and yet further significant of the darkness of the time that then was. When the sun shall be darkened, the moon also shall not give her light.

III. Christ's prayer was bantered by them that stood by (Mar 15:35, Mar 15:36); because he cried, Eli, Eli, or (as Mark has it, according to the Syriac dialect) Eloi, Eloi, they said, He calls for Elias, though they knew very well what he said, and what it signified, My God, My God. Thus did they represent him as praying to saints, either because he had abandoned God, or God had abandoned him; and hereby they would make him more and more odious to the people. One of them filled a sponge with vinegar, and reached it up to him upon a reed; "Let him cool his mouth with that, it is a drink good enough for him," Mar 15:36. This was intended for a further affront and abuse to him; and whoever it was that checked him who did it, did but add to the reproach; "Let him alone; he has called for Elias: let us see whether Elias will come take him down; and if not, we may conclude that he also hath abandoned him."

IV. Christ did again cry with a loud voice, and so gave up the ghost, Mar 15:37. He was now commending his soul into his Father's hand; and though God is not moved with any bodily exercise, yet this loud voice signified the great strength and ardency of affection wherewith he did it; to teach us, in every thing wherein we have to do with God, to put forth our utmost vigour, and to perform all the duties of religion, particularly that of self-resignation, with our whole heart and whole soul; and then, though speech fails, that we cannot cry with a loud voice, as Christ did, yet if God be the strength of the heart, that will not fail. Christ was really and truly dead, for he gave up the ghost; his human soul departed to the world of spirits, and left his body a breathless clod of clay.

V. Just at that instant that Christ died upon mount Calvary, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom, Mar 15:38. This bespoke a great deal, 1. Of the terror of the unbelieving Jews; for it was a presage of the utter destruction of their church and nation, which followed not long after; it was like the cutting asunder of the staff of beauty (for this veil was exceedingly splendid and glorious, Exo 26:31), and that was done at the same time when they gave for his price thirty pieces of silver (Zac 11:10, Zac 11:12), to break the covenant which he had made with that people. Now it was time to cry, Ichabod, The glory is departed from Israel. Some think that the story which Josephus relates, of the temple door opening of its own accord, with that voice, Let us depart hence, some years before the destruction of Jerusalem, is the same with this; but that is not probable: however, this had the same signification, according to that (Hos 5:14), I will tear, and go away. 2. It bespeaks a great deal of comfort to all believing Christians, for it signifies the consecrating and laying open to us of a new and living way into the holiest by the blood of Jesus.

VI. The centurion who commanded the detachment which had the oversight of the execution was convinced, and confessed that this Jesus was the Son of God, Mar 15:39. One thing that satisfied him, was, that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost: that one who was ready to give up the ghost, should be able to cry out so, was very surprising. Of all the sad spectacles of this kind he never observed the like; and that one who had strength to cry so loud, should yet immediately give up the ghost, this also made him wonder; and he said, to the honour of Christ, and the shame of those that abused him, Truly this man was the Son of God. But what reason had he to say so? I answer, 1. He had reason to say that he suffered unjustly, and had a great deal of wrong done him. Note, He suffered for saying that he was the Son of God; and it was true, he did say so, so that if he suffered unjustly, as it was plain by all the circumstances of his suffering that he did, then what he said was true, and he was indeed the Son of God. 2. He had reason to say that he was a favourite of heaven, and one for whom the almighty power was particularly engaged, seeing how Heaven did him honour at his death, and frowned upon his persecutors. "Surely," thinks he, "this must be some divine person, highly beloved of God." This he expresses by such words as denote his eternal generation as God, and his special designation to the office of Mediator, though he meant not so. Our Lord Jesus, even in the depth of his sufferings and humiliation, was the Son of God, and was declared to be so with power.

VII. There were some of his friends, the good women especially, that attended him (Mar 15:40, Mar 15:41); There were women looking on afar off: the men durst not be seen at all, the mob was so very outrageous; Currenti cede furori - Give way to the raging torrent, they thought, was good counsel now. The women durst not come near, but stood at a distance, overwhelmed with grief. Some of these women are here named. Mary Magdalene was one; she had been his patient, and owed all her comfort to his power and goodness, which rescued her out of the possession of seven devils, in gratitude for which she thought she could never do enough for him. Mary also was there, the mother of James the little, Jacobus parvus, so the word is; probably, he was so called because he was, like Zaccheus, little of stature. This Mary was the wife of Cleophas or Alpheus, sister to the virgin Mary. These women had followed Christ from Galilee, though they were not required to attend the feast, as the males were; but it is probably that they came, in expectation that his temporal kingdom would now shortly be set up, and big with hopes of preferment for themselves, and their relations under him. It is plain that the mother of Zebedee's children was so (Mat 20:21); and now to see him upon a cross, whom they thought to have seen upon a throne, could not but be a great disappointment to them. Note, Those that follow Christ, in expectation of great things in this world by him, and by the profession of his religion, may probably live to see themselves sadly disappointed.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

33. And when the sixth hour was come] i. e. 12 o’clock. The most mysterious period of the Passion was rapidly drawing near, when the Lord of life was about to yield up His spirit and taste of death. At this hour nature herself began to evince her sympathy with Him Whom man rejected. The clearness of the Syrian noontide was obscured, and darkness deepened over the guilty city. It is impossible to explain the origin of this darkness. The Passover moon was then at the full, so that it could not have been an eclipse. Probably it was some supernatural derangement of the terrestrial atmosphere. The Pharisees had often asked for a “sign from heaven.” Now one was granted them.

until the ninth hour] i. e. till 3 o’clock. A veil hides from us the incidents of these three hours, and all the details of what our Lord, shrouded in the supernatural gloom, underwent “for us men and for our salvation.”

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And one ran and filled a sponge full of vinegar,.... Christ at the same time saying, I thirst; see Joh 19:28;

and put it on a reed; an hyssop stalk, Joh 19:29;

and gave him to drink; and so fulfilled a prophecy in Psa 69:21;

saying, or "they said", as the Syriac version reads it; not he that fetched the sponge, but the others that were with him, and which agrees with Mat 27:27;

let alone; as forbidding him to go near him, and offer him any thing to drink:

let us see whether Elias will come and take him down; from the cross; See Gill on Mat 27:49.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

27 And with him they crucify two thieves; the one on his right hand, and the other on his left.

28 And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors.

29 And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ah, thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days,

30 Save thyself, and come down from the cross.

31 Likewise also the chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes, He saved others; himself he cannot save.

32 Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him reviled him.

33 And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.

Ver. 33. Darkness over the whole land] Portending doubtless those dreadful calamities that were coming upon this perverse people, according to Isa 5:30; Isa 8:22; Lam 3:1-2; but clearly showing God’s heavy displeasure against his Son, our surety, which made him also cry out with a loud voice in the next verse, as one so far forsaken, as not afforded the common benefit of sunlight.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And when the sixth hour was come. This would be midday, twelve o"clock; and the darkness continued until the ninth hour, that is, three o"clock. This supernatural darkness came when the day is wont to be at its brightest. The moon was now at the full, so that it could not have been caused by what we call an eclipse, for when it is full moon the moon cannot intervene between the earth and the sun. This darkness was doubtless produced by the immediate interference of God. An account of it is given by Phlegon of Tralles, a freedman of the Emperor Adrian. Eusebius, in his records of the year A.D. 33, quotes at length from Phlegon, who says that, in the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad, there was a great and remarkable eclipse of the sun, above any that had happened before. At the sixth hour the day was turned into the darkness of night, so that stars were seen in the heaven; and there was a great earthquake in Bithynia, which overthrew many houses in the city of Nicaea. Phlegon attributes the darkness which he describes to an eclipse, which was natural enough for him to do. The knowledge of astronomy was then very imperfect. Phlegon also mentions an earthquake. This brings his account into very close correspondence with the sacred narrative. There was darkness ever the whole land (ef olhn th). "Land" is a better rendering than "earth." We are not informed precisely how far the darkness extended. Dionysius says that he saw this phenomenon at Heliopolis, in Egypt, and he is reported to have exclaimed, "Either the God of nature, the Creator, is suffering, or the universe dissolving." St. Cyprian says, "The sun was constrained to withdraw his rays, and close his eyes, that he might not be compelled to look upon this crime of the Jews. To the same purpose St. Chrysostom, "The creature could net bear the wrong done to its Creator. Therefore the sun withdrew his rays, that he might not behold the deeds of the wicked.

Vers. 33-41. The death of Jesus.

Jesus had, in the course of his ministry, raised the dead to life. Three such instances are recorded in the Gospels; and it is intimated that there were other cases which have not been circumstantially related. And now the time came for himself to die, to accomplish at Jerusalem the decease he had foreseen and foretold. That he might have avoided this fate is obvious; and he had himself declared that no man took his life from him. The time, however, had arrived for him to lay down that life of himself, in submitting to be, "by wicked hands, crucified and slain.

I The evangelist relates CIRCUMSTANCES PRECEDING CHRIST"S DEATH.

1. The darkness which brooded over the city, and over the whole land, for the space of three hours (from 12 until 3 p.m.), was apparently supernatural, and has usually been regarded as a manifest token of Nature"s sympathy with her Lord. It was an appropriate accompaniment to the sad and awful event that was transpiring.

2. The utterance of desertion and of woe. The dying Savior"s cry has ever been regarded as affording a glance into the innermost, the sacred, the unfathomable mysteries of his soul. Explain it we cannot; disregard it we dare not. Surely, this cannot be regarded as a mere exclamation of distress! Surely, it cannot have been wrung from the Redeemer by the severity of bodily pain and anguish! It has been well said that the sufferings of his soul were the soul of his sufferings. The only explanation of the cry, "My God, why hast thou forsaken me?" is that furnished by the mental agonies which the world"s Redeemer was enduring, which clouded his sense of the Father"s favor. On the one hand, we cannot suppose this language to have been a mere cry of distress; on the other hand, we cannot conceive that the Father had withdrawn his favor from his well-beloved Son, who wan now proving himself to be obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. The fact is that the burden of the world"s sins and sorrows pressed like a dense cloud upon his soul, and obscured from his view the shining of the Father"s face.

3. The ministry of pity. Although at the commencement of the crucifixion Jesus had refused the stupefying draught which had been offered him, now that he had hung six hours upon the cross he was consumed with an intolerable thirst. The expression of his distressing sensation seems to have followed upon the cry of desertion. A bystander, doubtless in pity, offered him a sponge filled with the sour wine which was the soldiers" ordinary drink, and it would seem that he did not now refuse the alleviation offered. It is not easy to understand who could have so misapprehended his cry as to suppose the dying Sufferer to invoke the ministry of Elijah; though it is easy to believe that some would jeeringly propose to wait for the prophetic intervention.

4. The dying cry. Mark gives no words; but from the other Gospels we learn that, immediately before his expiring, Jesus uttered aloud two ever-memorable sayings: viz. "It is finished!" and "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit!" It is clear, therefore, that the cry was not an inarticulate utterance of pare. There was an expression of his conviction that his ministry of humiliation was ended, that the purpose of his incarnation was completed, that nothing more remained for him to do on earth. And in addition to this utterance, which was ministerial, was another, which was personal. As he had said My God," so now he says Father," an address which proved his possession of the assurance of his Father"s undiminished and undimmed approval. The hour of agony and dissolution was thus an hour of triumph: Christ"s work was completed, his obedience was perfected, his acceptance was assured, his victory was achieved.

II The evangelist records THE FACT OF CHRIST"S DEATH. How simply is it related! gave up his spirit." In one word is recorded, without exaggeration, without a word to heighten the effect, without a comment of any kind, the most stupendous, pathetic, and momentous event which this world has witnessed. The Being who was "the Life" bowed his head in death. He who, whilst his hour was not yet come, had eluded his foes, now submitted to the felon"s doom. The Lord of immortality, who was to hold the keys of death and of the unseen world, saw and tasted dissolution, though not corruption. He knew, though the spectators, friends and foes alike, were ignorant of the fact, that his death was destined to be the life of the world. He had foretold that, when lifted up from the earth, he should draw all men unto himself; that the grain of wheat should fall into the earth and die, and should bring forth much fruit. And the events which have followed have verified the Savior"s words. Even those who have no disposition to regard Christ"s character and work as supernatural cannot be blind to the fact that the cross has proved a tree whose fruits have been for the satisfaction, and whose leaves have been for the healing, of the nations. But, to us Christians, the death of Christ was the redemption of our souls. "Oh, never, never canst thou know What then for thee the Savior bore, The pangs of that mysterious woe Which wrung his bosom"s inmost core. "Yes, man for man perchance may brave The horrors of the yawning grave; And friend for friend, or son for sire, Undaunted and unmoved expire, From love, or piety, or pride; But who can die as Jesus died?

III The evangelist puts upon record CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES FOLLOWING UPON CHRIST"S DEATH.

1. One incident occurs which is typical of the influence of our Savior"s death upon the elder, the Jewish, dispensation: the rending of the temple veil. This curtain screened off the holiest place, which was representative of the Divine indwelling, and at the same time of the necessity of a mediatorial scheme by which God can admit men to his fellowship and favor. And when this veil was rent, it was signified that by the death of Jesus, the true High Priest, the way was made open into the presence of a holy God. The distinction between Jews and Gentiles was abolished, and a Divine mediation was declared available for all mankind.

2. The witness of the centurion was an earnest of the world"s witness to the crucified Redeemer. It was the manner of Jesus" death the demeanour and the language of the innocent, uncomplaining, forgiving Sufferer, the darkness and the general awe which together produced upon the mind of this Roman officer the impression that this was, not merely no criminal, but no ordinary mortal; that he had been superintending the crucifixion of a Son the Son of God. It is significant that, in his death, our Lord effected the conversion of a sinful fellow-sufferer, and the enlightenment, to say the least, of one so little likely to be prepossessed in his favor as this Roman officer.

3. Mention is made of the gaze of some of those who had been, and still were, the faithful friends of Jesus. The mother of the Lord had been led away from the painful scene by the disciple to whose care she had been entrusted by her dying Son. But Mary of Magdala, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and Salome the wife of Zebedee, are mentioned as, with others, lingering at some distance from the cross, and yet within sight of it, to behold the end. Whilst their services could be of use to him, they had attended his steps and supplied his wants; and now that they could do no more for their beloved and revered Master, they remained near his dying form, to watch with him, to sympathize with him to the last, to hear his dying words, to keep him in sight until the lifeless body should be disposed of, and hidden from them in the earth. Sweet is the thought that, when his disciples forsook Jesus and fled, when he had to endure the anguish caused by the treachery of one, the denial of a second, and the desertion of others, there were devout and attached women who would not leave the sacred spot, or take their eyes from off the hallowed form. Even by human devotion and love Jesus was not utterly forsaken, was not left utterly alone. Some there were who had proved his kindness, tested his wisdom, profited by his authority during his ministry, whose hearts changed not towards him in the hour of his darkness, anguish, and woe. Memorable is the ministry of those holy and affectionate women, who are recorded to have been "last at the cross, and earliest at the tomb.

APPLICATION. Christ"s death is:

1. To sinners the means of salvation. The Lord paid on the cross the ransom-price of the souls of sinful men; he bore our sins; he redeemed us with his precious blood. Here is pardon, healing, and life, for those who receive the good tidings with sincere faith.

2. To suppliants the assurance of the gracious answer of Heaven to their prayers. "If God spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, will he not with him also freely give us all things?

3. To struggling souls the inspiration of resistance and endurance, the earnest and pledge of victory. "Our old nature is crucified with him;" "Reckon ye yourselves dead unto sin.

4. To Christian teachers and preachers the theme of their ministry. In this Paul is an example to us all, who exclaimed, "We preach Christ crucified;" "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Darkness around the cross.

When we remember who he was who was dying amidst the mockery of the world he came to save, we are no longer incredulous about this statement. The "Light of the world" was in darkness, the Savior was refusing to save himself, the King of glory was wearing thorns as his crown, and had ascended the cross as his throne. The event referred to in our text is one of many examples of the deep and secret connection existing between the kingdoms of nature and of grace. We believe that the Invisible created the visible, and still acts upon it, producing now and again transmutations of its energies, though never making a break in their continuity, and that when Christ Jesus came forth from the invisible world there was manifested in him a peculiar communication between these two realms. In him was seen the connection which had so often been indicated in the Divine economy, e.g. a curse had accompanied man"s spiritual fall. Promises of temporal good were associated with moral worth. Images drawn from the "desert" and the "trees" and "rivers" by the prophets found their justification in the truth uttered afterwards by St. Paul, "The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now," etc. The darkening of the sun was the testimony of Nature to her dying Lord; a hint that creation is dependent on him, that Nature is supported by unseen spiritual powers, and that the fate of the earth is involved in the kingdom of God. It is no meaningless portent described here, but an event which had its teaching both immediate and remote. Consider

I THE EFFECTS OF THIS DARKNESS ON THOSE AROUND THE CROSS.

1. This supernatural gloom would increase the solemnity of the event. As the darkness grew denser, silence would fall on the gibing tongues and every noisy laugh would be stilled; and as the gloom deepened into unearthly night over the busy streets, the open fields, and the sacred temple, many would ask themselves, What meaneth this?" Carelessness and flippant scepticism are always out of place in view of the cross. If the narrative be mythical, it should at least be rejected intelligently and seriously; for, if it be true, it involves stupendous issues to us all.

2. It hid his agony.from the onlookers. Faithful friends and, above all, the loving mother stood there till they could bear no more; and God would not suffer them to be tried above bearing, so darkness shrouded the Sufferer. And the foes of our Lord were shut out from a scene too sacred for them to witness. Beyond what was necessary, the well-beloved Son should not be exposed to their brutal jeers.

3. It was an admonition to our Lords foes. They were readers of Old Testament Scriptures, and knew well how their fathers had been dealt with. They remembered that in the day of their national deliverance darkness had fallen on Jehovah"s foes, and had proved the precursor of heavier plagues, and therefore we do not wonder that some went home "beating their breasts," and saying, "What next?" Would that they had turned even then!

II THE SUGGESTIONS OF THIS DARKNESS TO THE WORLD.

1. It indicated the going out of the worlds Light. Jesus had plainly declared, "I am the Light of the world;" "Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you." To some, at least, such words would come back with new meaning and power. To reject Christ is to shut off light from the soul, and become ready for the outer darkness. A Christless world was set forth when the sun was darkened.

2. It suggested the ignorance of the Gentiles and the malignity of the Jews. The soldiers were brutal, yet knew not what they did. Pilate, in political scheming, had lost all sense of righteousness and truth, and so in ignorance delivered Jesus to be crucified. "Darkness covered the earth, and gross darkness the people." On the other hand, the Jews had in themselves the fulfillment of the words, "The god of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not.

3. It reminded the Church of the mystery of the Atonement. The death of the Lord Jesus had a Godward as well as a worldward aspect. It was to attract human love, but at the same time to reveal Divine love. When the darkness passed away, and the sun shone upon the cross, the returning light was like the bow of promise after the Flood a sign of peace between man and God, and a pledge of "the rainbow round about the throne," in the land where all give thanks to God and to the Lamb that was slain. A.R.

Vers. 33-41. The crucifixions: the Divine words.

Seven words are counted by them who now treasure his sayings, as spoken by Jesus on the cross. Each evangelist contributes his portion towards the little perfect stock.

I The first was A WORD OF PRAYER FOR FORGIVENESS, itself a forgiveness. "I forgive them: do thou, O Father, forgive." It was a word of excuse for them who did it ignorantly and in unbelief. "They see only a malefactor: open their eyes that they may see and know." If the prayer may be offered for them who, with wicked hands, crucified the Lord of glory, because they did it ignorantly, learn we that such a prayer may be offered, and surely will be heard, for all ignorant, blinded ones who, in sinning against the Lord, are sinners against their own souls In proportion as we sin wifully, having knowledge of the truth and of what we do, we put ourselves further and further away from the possibility of forgiveness. How true is it that men to-day sin, not knowing what they do! This prayer covers all sin, for no one knows truly and fully what he does when he sins against Christ.

II The second word is A WORD OF PROMISE IN RESPONSE TO PRAYER AND CONFESSION. The time was brief; the last moments of the twelfth hour were hurrying past. In the heart of one of the malefactors some early teaching remained to quicken the conscience into life; and the punishment of crime was working its right effect. "We indeed justly... we receive the due reward of our deeds." The word which passed the sacred lips, unmoistened with the stupefying wine, were words of life and healing and promise in response to the prayer, "Jesus, remember me when thou comest in thy kingdom." What faith is here! Faith in the kingdom, in the coming, in the readiness to hear! "Jesus" may not have had the same meaning to him it has to us. The reply to a dying, penitent thief has been a fountain of life to many. "Verily I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise.

III A third, word was A WORD OF TENDER, FILIAL LOVE. The languid, bloodshot, half-closed eyes turned, and "Jesus... saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved." The fountain of love was not stayed; the holy heart was well-nigh breaking, yet it beat truly in all filial affection. From out of his great suffering he thinks of her, and thinks with fervent love. "Hail, thou that art highly favored I" He is still her Son, henceforth to be represented in the "son" who is now to regard her as "mother." But he makes provision for her future. Ere those lips which spoke so often to the disciple" whom he loved" were closed, he uttered one last word to him, revealing the deep thought of the Sufferer"s heart, and committing to him a sacred charge he would entrust only to one "whom he loved thy mother." It is all beautifully human; but as all human deeds, when they are true and beautiful, approach the Divine, so was this beautifully Divine. It was enough. A wish from that heart and those dried lips was sacred. "From that hour the disciple took her unto his own home took her with the sword piercing through her soul.

IV A fourth word is FROM THE VERY ABYSS OF SUFFERING perhaps from a greater depth than any word arose that ever escaped from the lips of man. Darkness was over the land; darkness was over the pure Sufferer"s soul. The words present the deepest of mysteries; we cannot open it. Was it, as has been suggested, the effect of the combination of profound mental anguish with the well-nigh intolerable pangs of dissolution, rendered all the more natural and inevitable in the case of One whose feelings were so deep, tender, and real; whose moral consciousness was so pure, and whose love was so intense? Had his abiding conviction of fellowship with God for the moment given way under the pressure ofextreme bodily and mental suffering? Was it a mere passing feeling, as though he were no longer sustained by the power of the Divine life? Surely more than this. Ah! who can know? It is only as we descend to these depths that we can understand how dark, how colds how sad they are. Mere words can never convey an idea of suffering. The bitterness of this cup he only knows who drinks it. What is the forsaking by the God to whom he still clings God, my God and "why" is he forsaken, remain for us depths into whose darkness we may peer but cannot fathom.

V A fifth word is FROM THE POOR REVERED FRAME. Fainting from loss of blood, from acute pain, from unrelieved suffering. "I thirst." Truly he may say, "My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws." The former cry ascended to heaven; this sinks upon the earth. A moistened sponge on a hyssop rod brought him temporary relief and brought him strength sufficient to utter

VI A sixth word, uttered with "a loud" (was it a triumphant?) "voice," declaring, "It is finished." Yea, all is finished, notwithstanding the efforts of wicked men to prevent it. They unconsciously wrought out that which the Divine "hand and counsel foreordained to come to pass." "It is finished;" yea, Jesus" work is finished. The great end is reached. The last supreme act., or consummation of the continuous act of that life which was" one offering of himself," is now in process of completion. So far as relates to the toil, and service, and sacrifice, and suffering of earth, all is finished; and the last act of the conscious life, the last breath of the living frame, the last word of the lips of truth, seal the whole past.

VII And in a seventh word, with one supreme effort to that Father from whom he seemed momentarily separated, he yields up himself up his spirit." Now are the words fulfilled, "I lay down my life, that I may take it again. No one taketh it away from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received from my Father. G.

Vers. 33-39. Death of Jesus.

I THERE MAY FOR A TIME BE AN ECLIPSE FOR THE FAITHFUL. "No light!" There is an extremity of trial in these words. No hope! The very sun of life seems extinguished, and all worth of existence vanished. Reason can find no foothold in this darkness.

II YET THERE IS NO ABSOLUTE DARKNESS. Out of it comes the cry of faith. The first words of a long-remembered psalm break from the lips of Jesus; a psalm that rises out of the minor into the major key, from the darkness into the blaze of prophetic vision. Doubtless in that moment the soul of Jesus passed swiftly through the whole scale of that psalmist"s experience, and rose into joy upon the wings of thanksgiving.

III MAY THE TERMINUS OF LIFE AND OF SERVICE BE IDENTICAL! We may breathe this prayer before the cross of Christ. Our work finishes, what need have we to tarry? Pericles, in his oration over those who fell for Athens" good, says that, devoting their lives which had been usefully passed in peace on the field, their happiness and their life ended at the same moment. As Christians, our ideal is service, terminable only with life, "Too busy with the crowded hour to fear to live or die." May we "Obey the voice at eve obey"d at prime; Lowly faithful, banish fear, Right onward drive unarm"d; The port, well worth the cruise, is near, And every wave is charm"d.

IV FINIS CORONAT OPUS. "Many signs showed that he who died upon the cross was the Son of God." "Regard the end." It reflects its light upon the whole course from its beginning. What deep conviction of sin, of righteousness, of judgment; of the frailty of man, the power and wisdom and the love of God, roots itself in the cross of Jesus! It is an end which is a beginning. J.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Matt. xxvii, 45; Luke xxiii, 44.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

The last hours and the death of Jesus:

v. 33. And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.

v. 34. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?

v. 35. And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, He calleth Elias.

v. 36. And one ran and filled a sponge full of vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave Him to drink, saying, Let alone; let us see whether Elias will come to take Him down.

v. 37. And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost.

Meanwhile it had become high noon. Suddenly, without warning, darkness came upon the whole earth, not the darkness of a solar eclipse, for it was now the time of the full moon, nor of dense clouds, nor of a desert wind-storm. The sun was blotted out, it lost its light; it was a miracle of God. The entire universe was suffering with the Son of God; the sun was hiding his face in shame, on account of the spectacle of men murdering their Creator. The significance of these three hours, during which the face of the Savior was mercifully hidden from the curious gaze of a blasphemous multitude, is shown in the Savior’s cry at the end of these three terrible hours. Out of a heart breaking with grief and shame over the fathomless abyss of sin the cry of anguish is wrung forth: "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" This depth of humiliation on the part of the Redeemer is beyond human comprehension. Those three hours of darkness cover the mystery of unfathomable depravity on the part of the entire human race, and of inexpressible love on the part of the Savior. He had been forsaken by God; He had been given into the power of death and hell. God had withdrawn from Him the mercy of His presence; He had suffered the pain of being condemned to all eternity for the sin of the world. Jesus here felt the full force, the full terror of the divine wrath which has been kindled on account of the million-fold trespasses of mankind. He drained the cup of the curse of God to the last dregs; He had suffered the eternal damnation of hell. The eternal Son of God in the eternal depths of hell! But all this was done for our salvation. The punishment of hell lay upon Him, in order that we might go free. For note that He clung to His Lord, His heavenly Father, in the midst of all this terror. He was still His God, His highest good, to whom He offered full obedience and thus conquered’ wrath, hell, and damnation.

Jesus had called out the last words in the Aramaic tongue, just as the evangelist has recorded the words. Some of those that were standing nearby, whether of the soldiers or of the Jews, deliberately misunderstood His words and gleefully explained them to the rest as though the Lord had called upon the Prophet Elijah to help Him in this last extremity. And when Jesus thereupon cried out in His thirst and one of the bystanders, more soft-hearted than the rest, hurried over with a sponge-full of vinegar on a reed to give Him some alleviation of His burning suffering, he could not refrain from joining in the jeering, whether Elijah would come and help Him down from the cross. But now the end was at hand. Jesus gave a loud cry, a shout of triumph and joy, in which He also commended His soul into the keeping of His Father, and then He quietly breathed forth His spirit, He gave up His soul, His life. It was a true death; it was a complete severance of soul and body. But He was not overcome by His sufferings, He did not die of exhaustion. His dying was an act of His own free will. Voluntarily, in His own power, He placed His soul into the hands of His Father. He had power to lay it down, Joh 10:18. And, as the Stronger One, in dying, He conquered death. He gave Himself for us as a sacrifice, He accomplished a perfect reconciliation for the sins of all people. Through death He destroyed the devil that had the power of death, and delivered them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage, Heb 2:14-15.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

J. W. McGarvey's The Fourfold Gospel [CXXXIII. C. Three Hours' Darkness].

CXXXIII. THE CRUCIFIXION. Subdivision C. DARKNESS THREE HOURS. AFTER FOUR MORE SAYINGS, \line JESUS EXPIRES. STRANGE EVENTS ATTENDING HIS DEATH. aMATT. XXVII. 45-56; bMARK XV. 33-41; cLUKE XXIII. 44-49; dJOHN XIX. 28-30.

c44 And it was now about the sixth hour, b33 And a45 Now bwhen the sixth hour was come, there was ca darkness came aover all bthe whole land afrom the sixth hour buntil the ninth hour. c45 the sun's light failing [The darkness lasted from noon until three o'clock. It could not have been an eclipse, for the moon was always full on the first day of the passover. Whether the darkness was over the whole world, or simply all of Palestine, is uncertain, as, according to the usage of Bible language, the words would be the same]: b34 And at aabout the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli bEloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, athat is, [729] bbeing interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? [We can imagine what it would mean to a righteous man to feel that he was forsaken of God. But the more we feel and enjoy the love of another, the greater our sense of loss at being deprived of it. Considering, therefore, the near and dear relationship between the Son and Father, it is evident that we can never know or fathom the depth of anguish which this cry expressed. Suffice it to say, that this was without doubt the most excruciating of all Christ's sufferings, and it, too, was a suffering in our stead. The words of the cry are found at Psa_22:1. Eli is Hebrew, Eloi Aramaic or Syro-Chaldaic for "My God." The former would be used by Jesus if he quoted the Scripture, the latter if he spoke the language of the people.] 35 And some of them that stood by, { athis man when they heard it, said, bBehold, he athis man calleth Elijah. d28 After this Jesus, knowing that all things are now finished, that the scripture might be accomplished, saith, I thirst. 29 There was set there a vessel full of vinegar: a48 And straightway one of them ran, and took a sponge, and filled it with band filling a sponge full of vinegar, aand put it on a reed, and gave him to drink. dso they put a sponge full of the vinegar upon hyssop, and brought it to his mouth. bsaying, a49 And the rest said, Let be; let us see whether Elijah cometh bto take him down. ato save him. [Jesus had now been upon the cross for six hours, and fever and loss of blood and the strain upon the muscles of his chest had rendered his articulation difficult and indistinct. For this reason some of those who stood by, though perfectly familiar with the language, misunderstood him and thought that he called upon Elijah. Immediately afterwards Jesus speaks of his thirst, and vinegar is given to him to remove the dryness from his throat. Those who give the vinegar and those who stand by, unite in saying "Let be." This phrase has no reference to the vinegar; it is a general expression, meaning, "Let us do nothing to prevent him from calling upon Elijah, or to prevent Elijah from [730] coming."] b37 And d30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, aJesus cried again with buttered a loud voice, dhe said, It is finished [He had come, had ministered, had suffered, and had conquered. There now remained but the simple act of taking possession of the citadel of the grave, and the overthrowing of death. By his righteousness Jesus had triumphed in man's behalf and the mighty task was accomplished]: c46 And Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit [ Psa_31:5]: and having said this, dhe bowed his head, and gave up ayielded up bthe ghost. ahis spirit. [None of the Evangelists speaks of Jesus as dying; for he yielded up his spirit voluntarily-- Joh_10:18.] 51 And behold, the veil of the temple was rent in two cin the midst. bfrom the top to the bottom. [The veil was the heavy curtain which hung between the holy and the most holy places in the sanctuary. By shutting out from the most holy place all persons except the high priest, who alone was permitted to pass through it, and this only once in the year, it signified that the way into the holiest--that is, into heaven--was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was standing ( Heb_9:7, Heb_9:8). But the moment that Jesus died, thus making the way manifest, the veil was appropriately rent in twain from top to bottom, disclosing the most holy place to the priests who were at that time offering the evening incense in the holy place.] aand the earth did quake; and the rocks were rent; 52 and the tombs were opened; and many bodies of the saints that had fallen asleep were raised; 53 and coming forth out of the tombs after his resurrection they entered into the holy city and appeared unto many. [The earthquake, the rending of the rocks, and the consequent opening of the graves, occurred at the moment Jesus died, while the resurrection and visible appearance in the city of the bodies of the saints occurred "after his resurrection," for Jesus himself was the "first-born from the dead" ( Col_1:18). Matthew chooses to mention the last event here because of its association with the rending of [731] the rocks, which opened the rock-hewn sepulchres in which the saints had slept. There has been much speculation as to what became of these risen saints. We have no positive information, but the natural presumption is, that they ascended to heaven. These resurrections were symbolic, showing that the resurrection of Christ is the resurrection of the race-- 1Co_15:22.] b39 And when the centurion, who stood by awatching Jesus, bover against him, saw that he so gave up the ghost, asaw the earthquake, and the things that were cwhat was done, he glorified God, saying, bhe said, cCertainly this was a righteous man. a54 Now the centurion, and they that were with him feared exceedingly, saying, Truly this bman was the Son of God. [The conduct of Jesus upon the cross and the disturbances of nature which accompanied his death convinced the centurion that Jesus was a righteous man. But knowing that Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, and this claim was the real cause for which the Jews were crucifying him, he concludes, since he concedes that Jesus is righteous, that he is also all that he professed to be--the Son of God. There is no just reason for minimizing his confession, as though he had said, "A son of the gods;" for he said nothing of that kind, and those err as to the use of Scriptural language who think so. Like the centurions of Capernaum ( Mat_8:10) and Cæsarea ( Act_10:1, Act_10:2), this Roman surpassed in faith those who had better opportunities. But in this faith he was not alone.] c48 And all the multitudes that came together to this sight, when they beheld the things that were done, returned smiting their breasts. [The people who had acted under the influence of the priests now yielded to superior influences and began to experience that change of sentiment which led so many to repent and confess Christ at Pentecost.] 49 And all his acquaintance, a55 And many women balso awere there beholding cthe women that awho had followed cwith aJesus from Galilee, ministering unto him: cstood afar off, abeholding from afar, cseeing these things. bamong [732] whom i were both Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome; athe mother of the sons of Zebedee. b41 who, when he was in Galilee, followed him, and ministered unto him; and many other women that came up with him unto Jerusalem. [John has already mentioned this group of women (see Act_16:29). The synoptists, who make mention of the women toward the close of the crucifixion, do not mention the mother of Jesus as any longer among them. It is likely that she had withdrawn with John, being unable longer to endure the sight. As to the ministering of these women, see p. 297, 298.]

[FFG 729-733]

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Connecting Statement:

At noon darkness covers the whole land until three o'clock, when Jesus cries out with a loud voice and dies. When Jesus dies, the temple curtain rips from the top to the bottom.

the sixth hour

This refers to noon or 12 p.m.

darkness came over the whole land

Here the author describes it becoming dark outside as if the darkness were a wave that moved over the land. AT: "the whole land became dark" (See: Metaphor)

At the ninth hour

This refers to three o'clock in the afternoon. AT: "At three o'clock in the afternoon" or "In the middle of the afternoon"

Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani

These are Aramaic words that should be copied as is into your language with similar sounds. (See: Copy or Borrow Words)

is interpreted

"means"

Some of those standing by heard his words and said

It can be stated clearly that they misunderstood what Jesus said. AT: "When some of those standing there heard his words, they misunderstood and said" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

translationWords

Jesus

God

forsake

Elijah

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

33–41. THE LAST THREE HOURS AND THE DEATH

Mat 27:45-56. Luk 23:44-49. Joh 19:29-30

33. καὶ γενομένης ([3450][3451][3452][3453][3454][3455]) rather than γεν. δέ ([3456][3457][3458][3459][3460]) See on Mar 1:14.

[3450] Codex Sinaiticus. 4th cent. Discovered by Tischendorf in 1859 at the Monastery of St Katharine on Mount Sinai. Now at St Petersburg. The whole Gospel, ending at Mar 16:8. Photographic facsimile, 1911.

[3451] Codex Vaticanus. 4th cent., but perhaps a little later than א. In the Vatican Library almost since its foundation by Pope Nicolas V., and one of its greatest treasures. The whole Gospel, ending at Mar 16:8. Photographic facsimile, 1889.

[3452] Codex Bezae. 6th cent. Has a Latin translation (d) side by side with the Greek text, and the two do not quite always agree. Presented by Beza to the University Library of Cambridge in 1581. Remarkable for its frequent divergences from other texts. Contains Mark, except Mar 16:15-20, which has been added by a later hand. Photographic facsimile, 1899.

[3453] Codex Regius. 8th cent. An important witness. At Paris. Contains Mar 1:1 to Mar 10:15; Mar 10:30 to Mar 15:1; Mar 15:20 to Mar 16:20, but the shorter ending is inserted between Mar 16:8 and Mar 16:9, showing that the scribe preferred it to the longer one.

[3454] Codex Sangallensis. 9th or 10th cent. Contains the Gospels nearly complete, with an interlinear Latin translation. The text of Mark is specially good, agreeing often with CL. At St Gall.

[3455] Codex Athous Laurae. 8th cent. Like N and Σ, it is written in silver letters on purple vellum. Contains Mar 9:5 to Mar 16:20, and, as in L, the shorter ending is inserted between Mar 16:8 and Mar 16:9. As in Δ, the text of Mark is specially good.

[3456] Codex Alexandrinus. 5th cent. Brought by Cyril Lucar, Patriarch of Constantinople, from Alexandria, and afterwards presented by him to King Charles I. in 1628. In the British Museum. The whole Gospel. Photographic facsimile, 1879.

[3457] Codex Ephraemi. 5th cent. A palimpsest: the original writing has been partially rubbed out, and the works of Ephraem the Syrian have been written over it; but a great deal of the original writing has been recovered; of Mark we have Mar 1:17 to Mar 6:31, Mar 8:5 to Mar 12:29, Mar 13:19 to Mar 16:20. In the National Library at Paris.

[3458] Codex Monacensis. 10th cent. Contains Mar 6:47 to Mar 16:20. Many verses in 14, 15, 16 are defective.

[3459] Codex Oxoniensis. 9th cent. Contains Mark, except Mar 3:35 to Mar 6:20.

[3460] Codex Petropolitanus. 9th cent. Gospels almost complete. Mar 16:18-20 is in a later hand.

33. The divergence in the records here and at Mar 15:36 need not surprise us. Eyewitnesses in a time of excitement seldom agree exactly as to what they saw and heard, and exact agreement is a reason for suspecting collusion. Reports of what was said and done at the execution of John of Leyden at Münster in Jan. 1536, written by eyewitnesses immediately afterwards, differ widely as to what took place.

ὥρας ἕκτης. All three Synoptists say that the darkness began at the sixth hour and lasted till the ninth; and “over the whole land” (A.V., R.V.) is doubtless the meaning of ἐφʼ ὅλην τὴν γῆν. As in the case of Egypt (see Driver on Exo 10:23), the darkness was local, and it may be ascribed to natural causes. At the Paschal full moon an eclipse would be impossible, and we need not suppose that Luk 23:45 means this. An eclipse is given as the cause in the Acta Pilati, but Origen points out the impossibility. Extraordinary darkness at noonday, extending for miles, is not a very rare phenomenon, and there is no sound reason for doubting the fact on this occasion, although some critics suggest that Amo 8:9, quoted by Irenaeus (IV. xxxiii. 12) as a prediction of it, caused the midday darkness to be imagined. The Gospel of Peter enlarges upon the completeness of the darkness. Granting the fact, it was inevitable that Christians should believe that in this case Nature was expressing sympathy with the sufferings of the Redeemer, or pronouncing the infliction of them to be a work of darkness, or predicting the fate of those who had tried to extinguish the Light of the World (Origen), or refusing to look upon a crucified Lord and aid by its light those who blasphemed Him (Jerome). We have no right to condemn such beliefs as certainly untrue. “If He thunder by law, the thunder is yet His voice.” See on Amo 8:9 and Godet on Luk 23:44-45. Syr-Sin. omits ἐφʼ ὅλην τ. γῆν.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

33-37.] Supernatural darkness. Last words, and death of Jesus. Mat 27:45-50. Luk 23:44-46. Joh 19:28-30. Our account is nearly verbally the same with Matt.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

33. Καὶ γενομένης ὥρας ἕκτης, σκότος ἐγένετο—And the sixth hour having come, darkness came. This darkness was not an eclipse, since it was full moon, but like the earthquake and the rending of the vail of the temple, a supernatural manifestation of the sympathy of nature with these events in the spiritual realm. All the Synoptists relate this darkness.

Καὶ γενομένης, instead of γενομένης δὲ, Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. א BDGLMS Δ 1, 28, 33, 69, mss. Lat. Vet. Vulg. Memph. Pesh.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.