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Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 27:45

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Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.

45. from the sixth hour unto the ninth hour ] From 12 to 3 o’clock in the afternoon, the hours of the Paschal sacrifice.

there was darkness over all the land ] Not the darkness of an eclipse, for it was the time of the Paschal full moon, but a miraculous darkness symbolic of that solemn hour and veiling the agonies of the Son of Man, when human soul and body alike were enduring the extremity of anguish and suffering for sin.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Now from the sixth hour – That is, from our twelve oclock. The Jews divided their day into twelve hours, beginning to count at sunrise.

There was darkness – This could not have been an eclipse of the sun, for the Passover was celebrated at the time of the full moon, when the moon is opposite to the sun. Luke says Luk 23:45 that the sun was darkened, but it was not by an eclipse. The only cause of this was the interposing power of God – furnishing testimony to the dignity of the sufferer, and causing the elements to sympathize with the pains of his dying Son. It was also especially proper to furnish this testimony when the Sun of righteousness was withdrawing his beams for a time, and the Redeemer of men was expiring. A thick darkness, shutting out the light of day, and clothing every object with the gloom of midnight, was the appropriate drapery with which the world should be clad when the Son of God expired. This darkness was noticed by one at least of the pagan writers. Phlegon, a Roman astronomer, speaking of the 14th year of the reign of Tiberius, which is supposed to be that in which our Saviour died, says that the greatest eclipse of the sun that was ever known happened then, for the day was so turned into night that the stars appeared.

Over all the land – That is, probably, over the whole land of Judea, and perhaps some of the adjacent countries. The extent of the darkness is not known.

The ninth hour – Until about three oclock in the afternoon, at which time the Saviour is supposed to have died.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Mat 27:45

There was darkness over all the land.

Good Friday and its lessons

A dark shadow belongs to the best of things.

I. The first lesson is patience and perseverance. We must be patient with others if they stumble in the darkness, if they do not at once find their way towards the truth.

II. The darkness of Good Friday is a likeness of the opposition which each one of us ought to be, and will be, called upon to face, in doing his duty.

III. The darkness of the dismal tragedy of the crucifixion reminds us of the consoling truth that failures are not perpetual failures. Good Friday was outwardly a failure; the Easter morn was its complete success. (Dean Stanley.)

A sermon suggested by an eclipse of the sun

The infidel has attempted to impugn its credibility. He has urged: Why we do not read of it in profane history?

1. That, according to the evangelical history, the darkness may not have extended beyond the limits of Judea. If this be true it would not be observed in Greece, Italy, or any other country beyond Judea.

2. The historical accounts of that period, especially of matters then occurring in Judea, are, if we except those of the New Testament, very scanty indeed.

3. The policy of both Jews and Gentiles who were opposed to Christianity, was to suppress facts that might tend to record it.

4. It is assuming what cannot be proved when it is said that this event is not named by other than Christian writers. Most of the works of that time have perished; and Tertullian, in his apology for the Christian religion, addressed to the magistates of the empire and to the Senate of Rome, appeals as having this miraculous darkness preserved in their archives.

I. This darkness as indicating the agency which then predominated. Sin was then prevailing over holiness.

II. This darkness as indicating the crime which was then perpetrated.

III. This darkness as indicating the sufferings which were then endured.

IV. This darkness as indicating the evils which were then removed.

V. This darkness as indicating the judgments that were then incurred. (W. Urwick, D. D.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 45. There was darkness over all the land] I am of opinion that does not mean all the world, but only the land of Judea. So the word is used Mt 24:30; Lu 4:25, and in other places. Several eminent critics are of this opinion: Beza defends this meaning of the word, and translates the Greek, super universam REGIONEM over the whole COUNTRY. Besides, it is evident that the evangelists speak of things that happened in Judea, the place of their residence. It is plain enough there was a darkness in Jerusalem, and over all Judea; and probably over all the people among whom Christ had for more than three years preached the everlasting Gospel; and that this darkness was supernatural is evident from this, that it happened during the passover, which was celebrated only at the full moon, a time in which it was impossible for the sun to be eclipsed. But many suppose the darkness was over the whole world, and think there is sufficient evidence of this in ancient authors. PHLEGON and THALLUS, who flourished in the beginning of the second century, are supposed to speak of this. The former says: “In the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad, there was an extraordinary eclipse of the sun: at the sixth hour, the day was turned into dark night, so that the stars in heaven were seen; and there was an earthquake in Bithynia, which overthrew many houses in the city of Nice.” This is the substance of what Phlegon is reputed to have said on this subject: – but

1. All the authors who quote him differ, and often very materially, in what they say was found in him.

2. Phlegon says nothing of Judea: what he says is, that in such an Olympiad, (some say the 102nd, others the 202nd,) there was an eclipse in Bithynia, and an earthquake at Nice.

3. Phlegon does not say that the earthquake happened at the time of the eclipse.

4. Phlegon does not intimate that this darkness was extraordinary, or that the eclipse happened at the full of the moon, or that it lasted three hours. These circumstances could not have been omitted by him, if he had known them.

5. Phlegon speaks merely of an ordinary, though perhaps total, eclipse of the sun, and cannot mean the darkness mentioned by the evangelists.

6. Phlegon speaks of an eclipse that happened in some year of the 102nd, or 202nd Olympiad; and therefore little stress can be laid on what he says as applying to this event.

The quotation from THALLUS, made by AFRICANUS, found in the Chronicle of SYNCELLUS, of the eighth century, is allowed by eminent critics to be of little importance. This speaks “of a darkness over all the world, and an earthquake which threw down many houses in Judea and in other parts of the earth.” It may be necessary to observe, that THALLUS is quoted by several of the ancient ecclesiastical writers for other matters, but never for this; and that the time in which he lived is so very uncertain, that Dr. Lardner supposes there is room to think he lived rather before than after Christ.

DIONYSIUS the Areopagite is supposed to have mentioned this event in the most decided manner: for being at Heliopolis in Egypt, with his friend Apollophanes, when our Saviour suffered, they there saw a wonderful eclipse of the sun, whereupon Dionysius said to his friend, “Either God himself suffers, or sympathizes with the sufferer.” It is enough to say of this man, that all the writings attributed to him are known to be spurious, and are proved to be forgeries of the fifth or sixth century. Whoever desires to see more on this subject, may consult Dr. Lardner, (vol. vii. p. 371, ed. 1788,) a man whose name should never be mentioned but with respect, notwithstanding the peculiarities of his religious creed; who has done more in the service of Divine revelation than most divines in Christendom; and who has raised a monument to the perpetuity of the Christian religion, which all the infidels in creation shall never be able to pull down or deface.

This miraculous darkness should have caused the enemies of Christ to understand that he was the light of the world, and that because they did not walk in it it was now taken away from them.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Mark hath the same, Mar 15:33-38. Luke saith, Luk 23:44, that it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost. John saith no more, Joh 19:30, but thathe bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. It is said, Joh 19:14, it was about the sixth hour when Pilate brought forth Christ to the Jews; how then could he be crucified at the third hour, and the darkness begin at the sixth? The different ways the Jews and the Romans had of counting hours, make us to be at a loss sometimes as to circumstances of time to reconcile some scriptures. But as to the present difficulty, it is said that the Jews, as they divided the night into four watches, so they also divided the day into four parts, each part having its denomination from the succeeding part, by which name all the intermediate time was called. Thus when the third hour (which with us is nine of the clock) was past, they called all the sixth hour till past twelve. Thus Pilate condemned Christ in the beginning of the sixth hour, and the darkness began at the end of it, that is, after twelve, for dividing the day into quadrants, the hours had their denomination from them. John also saith no more than about the sixth hour, which is true if it were some small time after.

There was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. That this darkness was caused by the eclipse of the sun at that time of the day is plain enough, but that this was no eclipse in the ordinary course of nature is evident; for;

1. Whereas all eclipses use to be in the time of the new moon, this was when the moon was at the full, the fifteenth day of the month Nisan.

2. This eclipse was not seen in one part or in another, but over all the earth that was under the same hemisphere.

3. No eclipse in a natural course can last three hours.

So that plainly this was a miraculous eclipse, not caused by the interposition of the moon, (as other eclipses), but by the mighty and extraordinary power of God, which made a heathen philosopher at a great distance cry out, Either the Divine Being now suffereth, or sympathizes with one that suffereth: he is said to have seen this eclipse in Egypt.

And about the ninth hour (that is, about three of the clock, as we reckon the hours) Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, or Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? The words are Hebrew, though Mark reports them according to the Syriac corruption of the dialect. They are Davids words, Psa 22:1. David was a type of Christ. He that was the Son of David useth Davids words, possibly spoken by David in the person of Christ. Gods forsaking any person or place, must be understood with reference not to his essential presence, for so he filleth all places, and is present with all persons; but with reference to the manifestations of his providence for our good: thus when God withholds his good providence to us, either with respect to our outward or inward man, he is said to forsake us. A total forsaking either of our bodies, or of our souls, is not consistent with the being of our outward man, or the spiritual being or life of our inward man. All forsakings therefore in this life are gradual and partial. The forsaking which Christ therefore here complains of, was not the total withdrawing of Divine favour and assistance from him; that was impossible, and incompetent with the first words testifying his relation to God, and assistance in him; but it must be understood with respect to Gods consolatory manifestations, and that is testified by his other words, related by Luke, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. Which words having said, he gave up the ghost, say Matthew, Mark, and Luke. John addeth, that he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost: words added, to confirm what he elsewhere said, that he laid down his life, none took it from him. His crying twice at this instant with a loud voice, argued his spirits not so spent, but he might have lived a few minutes longer, but he freely laid down his life. The people saying, He calleth for Elias, when he said Eli, Eli, spake them to be Jews, who to this day dream of an Elias to come and restore all things. That they no better distinguished between Eli and Elias, must be attributed either to the corruption of their dialect, he saying Eloi, Eloi, (according to the Syriac corruption of the term), or their too great distance from him. Their mocking him upon it was but consonant to their former behaviour toward him, while he was upon the cross. Their giving him the spunge with vinegar and hyssop we before gave an account of.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

Now from the sixth hour,…. Which was twelve o’clock at noon,

there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour; till three o’clock in the afternoon, the time the Jews call “between the two evenings”; and which they say c is “from the sixth hour, and onwards”. Luke says, the sun was darkened, Lu 23:45. This darkness was a preternatural eclipse of the sun; for it was at the time when the moon was in the full, as appears from its being at the time of the passover; which was on the fourteenth day of the month Nisan, the Jews beginning their months from the new moon: and moreover, it was over all the land, or earth, as the word may be rendered; and the Ethiopic version renders it, “the whole world was dark”; at least it reached to the whole Roman empire, or the greatest part of it; though some think only the land of Judea, or Palestine, is intended: but it is evident, that it is taken notice of, and recorded by Heathen historians and chronologers, as by Phlegon, and others, referred to by Eusebius d. The Roman archives are appealed unto for the truth of it by Tertullian e; and it is asserted by Suidas, that Dionysius the Areopagite, then an Heathen, saw it in Egypt; and said,

“either the, divine being suffers, or suffers with him that suffers, or the frame of the world is dissolving.”

Add to this the continuance of it, that it lasted three hours; whereas a natural eclipse of the sun is but of a short duration; see Am 8:9. The Jews g have a notion, that in the times of the Messiah

“the sun shall be darkened, , “in the middle of the day”, (as this was,) as that day was darkened when the sanctuary was destroyed.”

Yea, they speak h of a darkness that shall continue a long time: their words are these:

“the king Messiah shall be made known in all the world, and all the kings shall be stirred up to join together to make war with him; and many of the profligate Jews shall be turned to them, and shall go with them, to make war against the king Messiah; so , “all the world shall be darkened” fifteen days, and many of the people of Israel shall die in that darkness.”

This darkness that was over the earth at the time of Christ’s sufferings, was, no doubt, an addition to them; the sun, as it were, hiding its face, and refusing to afford its comforting light and heat to him; and yet might be in detestation of the heinousness of the sin the Jews were committing, and as expressive of the divine anger and resentment; for God’s purposes and decrees, and the end he had in view, did not excuse, nor extenuate their wickedness; as it shows also their wretched stupidity, not to be awakened and convinced by the amazing darkness, with other things attending it, which made no impression on them; though it did on the Roman centurion, who concluded Christ must be the Son of God. It was an emblem of the judicial blindness and darkness of the Jewish nation; and signified, that now was the hour and power of darkness, or the time for the prince of darkness, with his principalities and powers, to exert himself; and was a representation of that darkness that was now on the soul of Christ, expressed in the following verse; as well as of the eclipse of him, the sun of righteousness, of the glory of his person, both by his incarnation, and by his sufferings.

c T. Hieros Pesachim, fol. 31. 3. d In Chronicis. e Apolog. c. 21. g Zohar in Exod. fol. 4. 1. h Ib. fol. 3, 4.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

From the sixth hour ( ). Curiously enough McNeile takes this to mean the trial before Pilate (Joh 18:14). But clearly John uses Roman time, writing at the close of the century when Jewish time was no longer in vogue. It was six o’clock in the morning Roman time when the trial occurred before Pilate. The crucifixion began at the third hour (Mr 15:25) Jewish time or nine A.M. The darkness began at noon, the sixth hour Jewish time and lasted till 3 P.M. Roman time, the ninth hour Jewish time (Mark 15:33; Matt 27:45; Luke 23:44). The dense darkness for three hours could not be an eclipse of the sun and Luke (Lu 23:45) does not so say, only “the sun’s light failing.” Darkness sometimes precedes earthquakes and one came at this time or dense masses of clouds may have obscured the sun’s light. One need not be disturbed if nature showed its sympathy with the tragedy of the dying of the Creator on the Cross (Ro 8:22), groaning and travailing until now.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

Mat 27:45

. Now from the sixth hour. Although in the death of Christ the weakness of the flesh concealed for a short time the glory of the Godhead, and though the Son of God himself was disfigured by shame and contempt, and, as Paul says, was emptied, (Phi 2:7) yet the heavenly Father did not cease to distinguish him by some marks, and during his lowest humiliation prepared some indications of his future glory, in order to fortify the minds of the godly against the offense of the cross. Thus the majesty of Christ was attested by the obscuration of the sun, by the earthquake, by the splitting of the rocks, and the rending of the veil, as if heaven and earth were rendering the homage which they owed to their Creator.

But we inquire, in the first place, what was the design of the eclipse of the sun? For the fiction of the ancient poets in their tragedies, that the light of the sun is withdrawn from the earth whenever any shocking crime is perpetrated, was intended to express the alarming effects of the anger of God; and this invention unquestionably had its origin in the ordinary feelings of mankind. In accordance with this view, some commentators think that, at the death of Christ, God sent darkness as a Mark of detestation, as if God, by bringing darkness over the sun, hid his face from beholding the blackest of all crimes. Others say that, when the visible sun was extinguished, it pointed out the death of the Sun of righteousness. Others choose to refer it to the blinding of the nation, which followed shortly afterwards. For the Jews, by rejecting Christ, as soon as he was removed from among them, were deprived of the light of heavenly doctrine, and nothing was left to them but the darkness of despair.

I rather think that, as stupidity had shut the eyes of that people against the light, the darkness was intended to arouse them to consider the astonishing design of God in the death of Christ. For if they were not altogether hardened, an unusual change of the order of nature must have made a deep impression on their senses, so as to look forward to an approaching renewal of the world. Yet it was a terrific spectacle which was exhibited to them, that they might tremble at the judgment of God. And, indeed, it was an astonishing display of the wrath of God that he did not spare even his only begotten Son, and was not appeased in any other way than by that price of expiation.

As to the scribes and priests, and a great part of the nation, who paid no attention to the eclipse of the sun, but passed it by with closed eyes, their amazing madness ought to strike us with horror; (283) for they must have been more stupid than brute beasts, who when plainly warned of the severity of the judgment of heaven by such a miracle, did not cease to indulge in mockery. But this is the spirit of stupidity and of giddiness with which God intoxicates the reprobate, after having long contended with their malice. Meanwhile, let us learn that, when they were bewitched by the enchantments of Satan, the glory of God, however manifest, was afterwards hidden from them, or, at least, that their minds were darkened, so that, seeing they did not see, (Mat 13:14.) But as it was a general admonition, it ought also to be of advantage to us, by informing us that the sacrifice by which we are redeemed was of as much importance as if the sun had fallen from heaven, or if the whole fabric of the world had fallen to pieces; for this will excite in us deeper horror at our sins.

As to the opinion entertained by some who make this eclipse of the sun extend to every quarter of the world, I do not consider it to be probable. For though it was related by one or two authors, still the history of those times attracted so much attention, that it was impossible for so remarkable a miracle to be passed over in silence by many other authors, who have described minutely events which were not so worthy of being recorded. Besides, if the eclipse had been universal throughout the world, it would have been regarded as natural, and would more easily have escaped the notice of men. (284) But when the sun was shining elsewhere, it was a more striking miracle that Judea was covered with darkness.

(283) “ Leur foreenerie noun, doit blen estonner, et nous faire dresser les cheveux en la teste;” — “their madness ought greatly to astonish us, and to make our hair stand on end.”

(284) “ Plus aisément on l’eust laissé passer sans enquerir la signification;” —”it would more easily have been allowed to pass without inquiring into its meaning.”

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

CRITICAL NOTES

Mat. 27:45. From the sixth hour.The first three Gospels agree as to time and fact. Assuming them to follow the usual Jewish reckoning (as in Act. 2:15; Act. 3:1; Act. 10:3; Act. 10:9) this would be noon. St. John names the sixth hour as the time of our Lords final condemnation by Pilate, following apparently (though this is questioned by many interpreters) the Roman or modern mode of reckoning from midnight to noon. Looking to the facts of the case, it is probable that our Lord was taken to the high priests palace about 3 a.m. (the cockcrow of Mar. 13:35). Then came the first hearing before Annas (Joh. 18:13), then the trial before Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin, then the formal meeting that passed the sentence. This would fill up the time probably till 6 a.m., and two hours or so may be allowed for the proceedings before Pilate and Herod. After the trial was over there would naturally be an interval for the soldiers to take their early meal, and then the slow procession to Golgotha, delayed, we may well believe, by our Lords falling, once or oftener, beneath the burden of the cross; and so we come to 9 a.m. for His arrival at the place of crucifixion (Plumptre). Darkness.Not an ordinary eclipse of the sun, inasmuch as the Passover was celebrated at the time of full moon. Over all the land.The Evangelist was thinking, indefinitely and indeterminately, of the terrestrial region of which Jerusalem was the centre (Morison).

Mat. 27:47. Calleth for Elias.Calleth Elijah (R.V.). A blasphemous Jewish joke, by an awkward and godless pun upon Eli (Meyer). If we conceive to ourselves the state of matters, we may easily assume that joking and mockery were now past (see Luk. 23:48). It may be supposed that the loud cry, Eli, Eli! wakened up the consciences of the onlooking Jews, and filled them with the thought, Perhaps the turning-point may now actually have come, and Elijah may appear to bring in the day of judgment and vengeance; and, occupied thus, they may not have heard the remaining words (Lange).

Mat. 27:48. Sponge.Which, perhaps, served as a cork for the vessel containing the vinegar. Gave Him to drink.Christ drank this draught

1. Because the wine was unmixed.
2. Because now the moment of rest had come (Lange).

Mat. 27:54. The centurion.See on Mat. 8:5. He was the military superintendent of the execution (Brown). They that were with him.The quaternion of soldiers (see Joh. 19:23).

Mat. 27:55. Ministering.See Luk. 8:3.

Mat. 27:56. Mary Magdalene.A native of Magdala, a very warm-hearted disciple of Jesus, out of whom He had cast seven devils (Luk. 8:2). There is not the slightest ground in the New Testament history for the popular identification of the Magdalene with the great sinner of Luk. 7:36. It had its origin, probably, from the proximity of the two passages (Macpherson). Mary, the mother of James and Joses.James had been apparently small in stature, and hence, to distinguish him, either from some other James in the same circle, or from the various other Jameses in inter-related circles, he was often called James the little (see Mar. 15:40). Mary, their mother, need not be confounded with the sister of our Lords mother, for it is probable that in Joh. 19:25 four persons, not three, are referred to, and it is unlikely that our Lords mother and her sister would each be simply called Mary (Morison). She may have been identical with the wife of Clopas (possibly another form of Alphus) mentioned in Joh. 19:25 as standing near the cross with the mother of the Lord (Plumptre).

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Mat. 27:45-56

Articulo mortis.In the last passage we found ourselves in front of the cross of the Redeemer. In this, we are witnesses of His actual deaththat most momentous of all mundane events. The chief characteristics of the passage are something like those of the passage before. There is profound obscurity, on the one hand; there is marvellous light, on the other.

I. Very great darkness.Darkness, e.g., in the very atmosphere in which the portent occurred. A kind of pall hung over the whole of the land (Mat. 27:45). Darkness, again, with regard to the timethe exact timeof Christs death. When events are in progress of such a nature as to wholly absorb the attention and dominate the emotions of those who behold them, they lose their count of the hours. Either they are surprised to find it so late, or else they thought the time had long gone. It is possible also, that, in this case, the very atmospheric darkness just spoken of had made it impossible, by means of the then usual appliances, to determine the exact hour of the day. At any rate, it is as one not certain about it that the Evangelist speaks. He describes the time of death as being simply about the ninth hour (Mat. 27:46). Apparently both his ignorance and his accuracy will not let him say more. How much obscurity there is, once more, in the Redeemers first cry at that time. That cry itself seems to have left an eternal impression on many who heard it. Through them the very sounds of the language in which it was spokenapparently a most unusual thing and connected always with occurrences in which life and death or something as wonderful were at issue (see Mar. 5:41; Mar. 7:34; Mar. 7:37, etc.) have been bequeathed to the world (Mat. 27:46). Yet, for all that, and for all the translation here given of the words in question, how much there is in them that is dark! Why is that Holy One forsaken at all? Why forsaken of God? Most emphatic and most astounding is that Me! Scarcely less so that Thou! How far, also, does that forsaking extend? Why does not our Saviour now (cf. His language even a few hours before in the garden, ch. Mat. 26:39; Mat. 26:42; also John 17 passim), address God as His Father? Why does He, yet, so emphatically claim God as His own? (Mat. 27:46). Also, can we here be certain even as to the duration of this forsaking? Is it over now? Or still on? Does the Saviour ask Why hast Thou, or Why didst Thou forsake Me? Is He thus crying out as men do when they feel the utmost severity of a trial all but crushing them as it passes? Or, as men do when they look back on the immensity of what has passed over their heads? What, in fact, is being donewhat, in fact, is being enduredto call forth this complaint, this solitary complaint (is it not so?), from that long-suffering Heart? The answer to these questions is not given us here. We can only ask themafarin wonder and grief. Finally, what marks of obscurity there are in the effect of this cry on those who stand by. Some mistake its very direction, and think it a call on Elijah. One who is near sees in it simply an expression of the intensest bodily pain, and runs, therefore, to do what he can in the way of instant assuagement (Mat. 27:48). In others it arouses little more than curious wonder and doubt. Can there beis thereanything in that singular cry? We can but wait the result (Mat. 27:49). Thus they, at that time, understood little more than that they did not understand what they beheld. Thus we also, at this distance, so far in the story, not seeing much more!

II. Wonderful light.Wonderful light, in the midst of this very darkness and doubt. We find this, on the one hand, in the second cry of the Saviour (Mat. 27:50). What a revelation of strength, and that in the very act of departure, there is in its character! Jesus cries with a loud voice. What a revelation of authority in its language! Jesus dismisses (so some) His spirit (cf. Joh. 10:18; Heb. 9:14). Not less light is there, on the other hand, in the replies to this cry. There is one such from the neighbouring temple of God (Mat. 27:51). The jealous privacy of long generations is suddenly gone. The heavy veil which for ages past had only just permitted the annual passage of the blood-besprinkled high priest to the glory beyond it, is a means of separation no longer. Like the body of Jesus, it is rent in twain from the top to the bottom. There is another reply from the rocks of the earth (ibid.). Their solid strength is torn asunder by the power of that Voice. A third reply comes next from the homes of the dead (Mat. 27:52-53). The graves are opened, and many bodies of the saints which are sleeping there arise, and come (afterwards) into the holy city, and appear unto many. A final and most explicit reply comes from the hearts of the living. Earlier in that day numberless voices had scouted the very idea of that crucified Man being Gods Son (Mat. 27:43). Later on it had almost seemed (Mat. 27:46, supra) as though He had begun to doubt it Himself. Now it is proclaimed virtually by the very voice which had commanded His death. Csar it was, in the person of Pilate, who had really ordered that death. Csar it is now, by Pilates deputy, who confesses this truth. Truly this was the Son of God (Mat. 27:54). Thus does Rome itself do homage to that dead King of the Jews.

Even this light, however, in one sense, only increases the darkness. If it be marvellous, as indeed it is, to see such innocence delivered to death, it is at least as marvellous to see such omnipotence (is this saying too much?) submitting thereto. What amazing majesty, what more than kingly authority, what superhuman power, have been nailed to that cross! Possibly there may have been some such thoughts in the minds of those faithful ones who are described here (Mat. 27:55-56) as having seen these things afar off. We who, in one sense but not in another, stand farther off still, cannot banish them from our minds. What commanding weakness; what awe-inspiring meekness; what dying energy, we see here! Who is this that, in submitting to death, overcomes it as well? Who is this that restores life to others by the act of dismissing His own? The Evangelist does not directly inform us how to answer these questions. He simply bids us beholdin this death of Jesus of Nazarethat once the most significant and the most mysterious of all human events.

HOMILIES ON THE VERSES

Mat. 27:45-46. The cry from the depths.I. We have to speak about the darkness.Note:

1. That it was a darkness which science is unable to explain.

2. The darkness was in keeping with the cry which at this time hung over the Redeemers spirit.God was pleased to make Nature visibly sympathise with the passion of His Son.

3. Regard the darkness at the Crucifixion as a sign from God, intended not only to mark the importance of the event transpiring, but to work upon the consciences of the crucifiers before the deed was done.

II. We have now to speak about the cry.

1. What was there in this cry different from any other dying cry?We must take choice of two alternatives; one is that the cry came from a faintness of heart that was unworthy of a man, the other that it came from feeling a mystery of sin-bearing, unfathomable and Divine. That was the cup tasted, the cup for the passing away of which from Him, if it were possible, He prayed, and to the drinking of which, if the Will required it, He solemnly devoted Himself.

2. The cry had been foretold.The exclamation, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? is the first verse, and sounds the very key-note, of the 22nd Psalm. Regarding that psalm as a prophecy of Christs thoughts while on the cross, we may fairly regard this verse as indicating the thought that would then have first place and power in the great Atoners mind.

3. In this cry we have the perfect example of trust in trial.C. Stanford, D.D.

Mat. 27:46-49. Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani!We have here:

I. The most wonderful misconstruction put upon a cry of anguish.This man calleth for Elias. No man has been doomed to have his acts, and even his very words, misinterpreted like Christ. Still, we find in their mistake a common fault on the part of the world. In the deepest longings and bitterest cries of your soul, they are always liable to misunderstand you. You are in bereavement, you feel lonely, and utter a wailing lament; and they say, It is unbelief. You are cast down by misfortune. Nothing that you have set your hand to has prospered. You have lost all, and you utter a cry of despair; and they say, You are complaining against God. You are cast down by doubts, feeling your way after truth, seeking to have a reason for the hope that is in you; and they say, You are a sceptic, etc. All this may be hard to bear. Remember David, Job, and Christ, My God, My God, etc.

II. A most inadequate relief offered to a spiritual want.And straightway one of them ran, etc. If intended as an opiate, it could not touch the cause of His complaint, could not reach the seat of His suffering. Intentionally or not, it was an insult, a mockery, to offer it. This, however, is another, fault of the world. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? etc. No! Yet, when the mind-afflicted is hungering for rest, and the heart-wearied is thirsting for the Divine, the world has nothing better to offer. No narcotic can finally quiet a soul in search after God. All the opiates of earth cannot still its cry.

III. The most heartless indifference shown towards helpless suffering.The rest said, Let be, etc.

1. They were heartless in their own inactivity.

2. They were heartless in their interference. They try to prevent this soldier from administering what would give Him relief.T. Davis.

Mat. 27:50. Christ yielding up His spirit.The loud cry of the dying Christ is worthy of record; for crucifixion ordinarily killed by exhaustion, and this cry was evidence of abundant remaining vitality. In accordance therewith, the fact of death is expressed by a phrase, which, though used for ordinary deaths, does yet naturally express the voluntariness of Christ. He sent away His spiritas if He had bid it depart, and it obeyed. Whether the expression may be fairly pressed so far or no, the fact is the same, that Jesus died, not because He was crucified, but because He chose. He was the lord and master of death; and when He bade His armour-bearer strike, the slave struck, and the King died, not like Saul on the field of his defeat, but a victor in and by and over death.A. Maclaren, D.D.

Mat. 27:51-54. The language of the signs.

I. The earthquake.This was:

1. A sign wrought by the direct and unusual interposition of the Creator.

2. A sign to alarm men, on account of the capital crime which they had just committed.To shake the hearts, to shake the conscience, to shake up men from the dull dream of a sense-bound existence, did God shake the earth, in the moment when man had just crucified His Son.

3. A sign by which God called attention to the Divine work, which, through the medium of the human work, had just been done.

4. A sign through which God caused the earth to pay royal honour to Jesus, when Jesus died.

5. The earthquake may furnish an illustration of the power that is to work wonders in connection with the cross of Christ.

II. The rent veil.

1. The rending of the veil was, as it was intended to be, the sign which the Jews noticed first. To them, as Jews, the earthquake, in comparison, was a mere nothing; they forgot the earthquake when they thought of the veil.

2. A sign that the Jewish dispensation was now, by Gods own act, abolished.

3. A sign showing that now, by the death of Christ, there was a revelation of the mystery hid from ages.

4. A sign by which God declared that a free right of way into the Holiest was henceforth open to all.

III. The opening of the graves and the rising of the dead.Who were these that were raised? What was it precisely that happened at the moment of the Lords death? It is vain to conjecture, but at least the miracle teaches how, by the work of Calvary, Christ has power and authority to reconquer from the grasp of death the life that He once created.

IV. The effect of these foregoing signs on the centurion and his companions.The only man who dared to give Jesus His Divine title was one of the soldiers who were the first sinners for whom He had offered the prayer, Father, forgive them, etc.C. Stanford, D.D.

Mat. 27:52-53. The resurrection of many bodies of the saints which slept.The fact is expressive of:

I. The supernaturalness of Christs death.Untold millions of men have died. Thousands have died the death of crucifixion, and tens of thousands of noble and Godlike men have died as martyrs for the truth. But there is not a single death found in all history attended by such marvels as those connected with the death of Christ. No wonder that the centurion and those that stood watching with him exclaimed, Truly this was the Son of God. His death had a power over the graves of the departed. It also penetrated Hades. The goodly army of the patriarchs that saw His day in the distance and rejoiced, the illustrious line of the prophets who pointed Him out to their contemporaries, and the holy priests who typified Him in their sacerdotal functions, would all in the spirit world feel the moral vibrations of His cross. But this opening of the graves and attracting the spirits of the holy dead is but a single specimen of the supernatural power of His death. The moral wonders it has wrought are far greater than the material ones which attended His crucifixion.

II. The conditions of the holy dead.

1. Rest. Slept. No terror in sleep. Nothing injurious in sleep. No permanency in sleep.

2. Deep interest in Christ.

3. Not permanent.There was an alteration now in their condition. A resurrection day to come.

III. The secrecy of the heavenly world.The fact that we have no record of any communications made by those saints that arose and went to Jerusalem concerning the celestial world in which they had been living, is very remarkable. This strange omission suggests the fact that the particulars of heaven are to be kept secret from men on earth. This truth is supported by the fact that other tenants of the celestial world who have visited this earth have maintained the same silence. Why this secrecy about heaven? Two reasons may be suggested:

1. Impossibility.Heaven, both as a place and a feeling, may be altogether so different to mens experiences of places and emotions on earth, that for the want of comparison human language would be utterly incompetent to convey any information.

2. Impropriety.A graphic representation of the minute details of heaven to men on earth would not only have been an inconvenience, but an injury. Heaven has in mercy concealed from us all the coming periods of our life, that we may, by attending rightly to the present, be prepared for all the future.D. Thomas, D.D.

Mat. 27:52-56. Effects of the atoning death of Jesus.

I. Upon the realm of the dead; beginning of the resurrection.

II. Upon the Gentile world; beginning of confessions (Mat. 27:54).

III. Upon the world of the oppressed classes, viz., of women. Free communion with Christ in spirit, suffering, and victory.J. P. Lange, D.D.

Mat. 27:56. Mary of Magdala.She was:

I. A great sufferer healed by Christ (Luk. 8:2).

II. A grateful ministrant to Christ (Luk. 8:2-3; Mar. 15:41).

III. A faithful adherent to Christ (Mar. 15:40; Joh. 19:25).

IV. A sincere mourner for Christ (cf. Mat. 27:61; Mar. 15:47; Joh. 20:1-2; Joh. 20:11-18).

V. An honoured messenger of Christ (Joh. 20:17-18; Mar. 16:10).T. S. Dickson, M.A.

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

DARKNESS AND DEJECTION

TEXT: 27:4550

45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? 47 And some of them that stood there, when they heard it, said, This man calleth Elijah. 48 And straightway one of them ran, took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink. 49 And the rest said, Let be; let us see whether Elijah cometh to save him.

THE SADDEST MOMENT IN HISTORY

50 And Jesus cried again with a loud voice, and yielded up his spirit.

THOUGHT QUESTIONS

What do you think caused this great darkness? Why do you decide this way?

How much territory do you think the darkness covered? How would you decide this?

Do you see any relationship, on the one hand, between the darkness on the day Jesus died and His cry of abandonment by the Father, and, on the other hand, the outer darkness and separation from the presence of the Lord to be suffered by the damned? If so, what connection is there?

What sacrifice was sacrificed every day at the ninth hour? Do you see any connection between this and Jesus death?

Why do you suppose Jesus cried out the words, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Did He just make up these words? Why would Jesus repeat them at this terrible moment?

If Jesus were somehow deity, how could He cry out to God? If He were deity, is He merely talking to Himself? If He is a man talking to God, then is He not merely human? How do you solve this puzzle?

Since Jesus spoke in Aramaic, someone shouted, He calls for Elijah. On what rational basis could this confusion arise?

Why did Jesus drink the wine offered Him now, when He had refused the wine mingled with gall earlier? What is the difference?

When someone offered Jesus a drink, others tried to hinder him. Why would anyone object to giving the thirsty man a drink on that occasion?

Can we, who so placidly read the account of Jesus crucifixion, really understand what that simple word crucified meant to Jesus who endured it?

PARAPHRASE AND HARMONY

About noon an unnatural darkness similar to a solar eclipse came over the whole country and lasted until three oclock in the afternoon. About three, Jesus shouted, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? (This means: My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?)
Some of the bystanders who heard it commented, Hey! this man is calling Elijah!
After this, since Jesus knew that His task had now been completed, in order that the Scripture might receive complete fulfillment, He said, I am thirsty.
Now there was a jug full of a diluted sour wine drink, so someone immediately ran to it, took a sponge and soaked it with the wine, put it on a hyssop stick and held it up to Jesus mouth to drink. But the others said, Wait, lets see if Elijah comes to save him! whereupon the first man retorted, Let me do this, lets see if Elijah is coming to take him down!
When Jesus had drunk the sour drink, He gave a mighty shout, It is finished! Father, I intrust my spirit into your hands!
With these words He bowed His head, yielded up His spirit and breathed His last.

SUMMARY

Three hours of darkness marked the last half of Jesus crucifixion, at the end of which He quoted the appropriate words of Psa. 22:1. Here, too, His words were twisted into an appeal to Elijah. Thirsty, Jesus asked for a drink. They gave Him the cheap, soldiers beverage. Refreshed, He triumphantly announced the successful completion of His mission, calmly committed His soul to the Father and surrendered His life.

NOTES

The darkest day in world history

Mat. 27:45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. Jesus had now been on the cross almost three hours, from roughly nine oclock until noon when the ominous darkness began (Mar. 15:25). Although Lukes language suggests a natural solar eclipse (Luk. 23:44 f.; eklipntos), this is excluded by two physical factors:

Passovers usual full moon (Exo. 12:18; Lev. 23:5). Every Jewish month begins with a new moon. Passover occurs two weeks after the new moon, or at the time of a full moon. But a full moon demands a specific relation of the moon and sun to the earth whereby the moon can reflect the suns light without obstruction. On the contrary, a solar eclipse is created by the moons obstructing the suns light. The relative positions of sun, moon and earth during an eclipse are more like their conjunction around the time of a new moon. Hence, a natural eclipse could only have occurred two weeks before this Passover when Jesus died.

Even though a solar eclipse may take four hours from the first moment that the moon begins to cover the sun until it reveals it completely again, the usual duration of a total eclipse lasts rarely longer than 9 minutes, hence far shorter than the three hours indicated by the Gospel writers for this unnatural darkness.

Because the sun could be darkened by ways other than by a natural eclipse, Lukes language, therefore, may be justified by supernatural power: God could easily have produced a strange darkening resembling an eclipse. God was not entirely absent; rather, by His withdrawing the worlds light, He manifested His presence and concern. But evidence of His presence did not stop here (Mat. 27:51 ff.).

Did the darkness extend over the entire earth or only of some significant area of Judea or Palestine? The cause of the darkness determines its extent. Since the suns light failed (Luk. 23:45), it would normally affect all the earths entire daylight hemisphere. Thus, it is clear that all the land (psan tn gn) may well mean that more than just the entire region surrounding Jerusalem was enveloped in darkness. (Cf. Mar. 15:33 = Luk. 23:44.) Neither is impossible with God. But the former seems better supported.

What meaning should be given to this phenomenon?

Neither in prophecy nor in Jewish traditional expectations was the darkness a sign directly or specifically connected with the death of the Messiah (Edersheim, Life, II, 605).

It was not Nature protesting against the wickedness of Jesus execution nor mourning His wretchedness. This view fails to explain why Nature waited three hours to act. Further, it animistically gives personality to what are but elements in the natural world, the impersonal creative expressions of Gods word. Even so, God could utilize these natural elements as a superhuman, audiovisual means to protest violently against the death of their Creator. (Cf. Mat. 27:51-53.) It is as if heaven and earth were in convulsion, mourning Him who created them. In the timing of these phenomena coincidental with the death of Christ, there is a hint that all creation depends on Him, for He sustains it by His mighty word and that earths destiny ultimately rises or falls with Him (Heb. 1:3; Col. 1:17; 2Pe. 3:5-7).

In apocalyptic language the turning of the sun into darkness is a popular symbol for a radical change in world affairs, because these changes often involve great judgments of God (Isa. 5:30; Isa. 13:10; Isa. 50:3; Isa. 60:2; Joe. 2:10; Joe. 2:31; Joe. 3:14 f.; Amo. 5:18; Amo. 5:20; Amo. 8:9 f.; Rev. 6:12 ff.; cf. 2Pe. 2:17). Though these and such poetic allusions as Jer. 15:9 or Job. 9:7 are not pertinent to the Messiahs death nor to be taken literally, nevertheless, a people embued with these concepts, by an association of ideas would be prone to think first of Gods judgment as the ultimate cause of this literal effect in nature.

Did God screen the last tormented hours of His Sons life from the curious stares of jeering crowds? Was it also relief from the sun during its hottest brilliance?

Was this a miraculous heavenly sign Jesus enemies had demanded? (Cf. Exo. 10:21 ff.) Although this could have happened by natural causes, the marvelous coincidence with Jesus suffering points to a supernatural origin. In context with the other-worldly events on that day (Mat. 27:51-53), the darkness may have been only a prelude aiming to capture the attention of the most calloused, stirring them to reflection on the odd coincidence between the death of that Galilean Prophet and these signs from heaven. Who indeed was He for whom these portents speak?

Because Jesus cry of abandonment came in close connection with the end of the darkness (Mat. 27:45 f.), the darkness is suggestive of the outer darkness and utter separation from the presence of the Lord to be suffered by those who do not let Jesus suffering be the price of their redemption. (Cf. Mat. 8:12; Mat. 22:13; Mat. 25:30; 2Pe. 2:17; Jud. 1:13; 2Th. 1:9.)

Because the crowd seems to be considerably less vociferous at the end of the phenomenal black-out, the terror of the darkness must have quieted the bitter enthusiasm of a majority of the mockers. Mostly His friends and the soldiers remain. Luk. 23:48 may mean that many simply did not dare leave in the darkness.

. . . Stricken, smitten by God and afflicted . . . (Isa. 53:4)

Mat. 27:46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? The Lord had been hanging on the cross nearly six hours from midmorning until midafternoon, around three oclock. (Cf. Mar. 15:25; Mar. 15:33.)

Matthew quotes Jesus verbatim in Aramaic, then translated the meaning into Greek for his non-Aramaic readers. In what sense did God forsake Jesus? His choice of words, Psa. 22:1, is not coincidental, but intentional and highly revealing.

It can be validly argued that David simply prophesied Jesus suffering on the cross; as does Lenski (Matthew, 1118): For it is not due to the fact that David wrote this line that Christ made it his cry on the cross, but because Christ would thus cry out on the cross David wrote it as a prophet. However, other equally reverent views are also possible.

It is not the cry of personal guilt nor because God did not approve of Jesus obedient life and ministry. Otherwise, why justify Him so completely by the convincing stamp of approval given in the resurrection?

Nor is this an abandonment of Jesus humanity by His deity, the splitting of His divine-human personality. (Cf. Php. 2:5-11.) His unique unity of mind, purpose and nature with the Father is not now interrupted (Joh. 10:30). Only He who has fully experienced the comradeship of equality with God can know what it means to suffer its loss by being so completely forsaken by Him. Jesus does not sense a loss of part of Himself, but of the fellowship of God.

Rather, the source of this unaccustomed inaccessibility to the divine Throne lies in His very humanness, for it is as Gods creature, as Man, that He cries out. (Cf. Joh. 8:29.) Incarnation means He completely shared in our humanity (Heb. 2:14; Heb. 4:15). Is it a human cry crushed out of ANY GODLY MAN who struggles with the torment over the injustice of his suffering, life and death, evil and good? Otherwise why express Himself in the precise words of the Psalmists complaint (Psa. 22:1)? He really felt the intensely depressing loneliness all of us feel at such an hour, and this cry gives appropriate words to His pain. Jesus knew in that moment what we go through: He has been there (Heb. 5:7-9; 1Pe. 2:21)! But there is much more.

His cry reveals a psychological abandonment by God that was morally necessary to render Jesus victory more glorious and meaningful to man. As Man at His weakest, stripped of any help unavailable to any other man, He defeated Satan and all he could hurl at Him in this last supreme effort (2Co. 13:4; see notes on Mat. 4:2 f.). All who are tempted must see that in Jesus of Nazareth Gods adversary has been met and defeated by One who, though deserted to die, remained completely able to parry his every temptation with unconquerable determination and courage! By His having to undergo all the fury and hate of Gods enemy as do we, He became the more amply qualified to be our Lord and Savior. But so much more conclusively He also condemned yielding to sin and wiped out every whining justification on the ground of the weakness of our human condition or that we feel abandoned by God to our fate. He has been there and won! His classic victory has shown us all how.

The awful accumulation of sin of the entire human race was being borne by Him who considered intolerable the slightest suggestion of sin. This takes us into the very essence of atonement. Far more than any other, THIS Man must feel the awesome loneliness and isolation of the sinner, not through any fault of His own, but because He deliberately chose to become the sin-bearer of the entire human race (Isa. 53:6; Mat. 20:28; Rom. 5:6 ff.; 2Co. 5:15; 2Co. 5:21; Gal. 2:20; Gal. 3:13; 1Ti. 2:6; Tit. 2:14; Heb. 9:12; Heb. 9:26; Heb. 9:28; Heb. 10:10; 1Pe. 1:19). In this cry for the hearing of the whole human race of which He is the only completely voluntary member, He shouts the true meaning of unrepented sin and its consequences: a holy God cannot look upon evil (Hab. 1:13). Nothing could remove the sin Jesus bore, except His own death. His God-forsaken humanness gives real meaning to His sacrifice. Until this was completed, perhaps the Father was forced by His own character and love for Jesus to turn His gaze from His own dear Son. The only Man who deserved to live is facing the wrath of God, the curse and sentence of death, the wages of sin. He underwent the ultimate horror of separation from God that we might not have to (Heb. 13:5)! He bore our curse and our burdens alone (Isa. 53:4-6; Isa. 53:10). His grief, pain, loneliness and desolation were real. And should He NOT cry out? Was this not the very definition of hell: to be segregated from the light of the Fathers face, tormented by Satans worst and responsible for the accumulated sin of all of Adams race?

His cry, My God, expresses no conflict with the divine purpose, but a first-hand experience of the price demanded by His total cooperation with the divine plan. Even near the extreme limit of His strength and oppressed by His sense of being forsaken, His My God breathes the same unwavering confidence and obedient spirit of His earlier Not my will but yours be done. He is determined not to surrender His godly trust. This God is not deity of others, but His God. Whatever theological impact His sense of abandonment by God has, His life ended like His suffering began, in prayer, Father . . . (Luk. 23:34; Luk. 23:46), conscious of His communion with God. (Cf. Joh. 16:32.)

For the sensitive Hebrew, this significant choice of words would communicate His application of the entire Psalms 22 to His own life situation. Hebrews entitled literary works by their opening line. Genesis is entitled Bereshith = In the beginning . . .; Exodus becomes Veeleh shmoth. These are the names . . .; Leviticus is Vayyikra, And he called . . ., etc. Psalms 113 is called Hallel from its opening word. A dying Christian, unable to finish the phrase, Nearer My God to Thee . . . would communicate to those at his bedside that he was thinking of that great hymn. In a similar way, Jesus, whose whole soul was permeated with Scripture, may have been expressing Himself in the words of Psalms 22 precisely because of the appropriateness of the Psalmists words to communicate His immediate situation. The attentive believer could discern how truly and completely Jesus was experiencing even the loneliness of abandonment by God Himself. And yet, in the presence of despair and tragedy, He shouted with poignant power to uncomprehending disciples everywhere that in Gods Word lie power, hope and security. Man can live confident of every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, but he can also die that way!

Just as He withstood Satans original temptations by unshaken dependence on Gods Word, so He beat Satan down at the final challenge in the same way. If in the shadow of the cross, He sang the Scripture (Mat. 26:30), should it be thought strange that this godly Man should rivet His attention on the purpose of God by hurling at His own unrelieved pain and the injustice of His suffering the words of God expressed in this Psalm? Like Jesus suffering, the Psalm begins in despondency and depression. But the final word sings of invincible faith in the glorious victory of God: . . . dominion belongs to the Lord and He rules over the nations (Psa. 22:31)! To express the greatest moments of our lives is there any language like that of Scripture whereby we identify with something eternal, objective and grander than our poor feeble words can conceive? How much more so for the Son of God who thought those words first?!

This cry, according to Matthews text, begins in Hebrew, Eli, and concludes in Aramaic, whereas Mark, according to the best manuscripts, reports Jesus words all in Aramaic. (Cf. A Testual Commentary, 70, 120.)

At the ninth hour every day the second daily sacrifice was offered in the Temple. (Cf. Act. 3:1; Num. 28:1-8; Num. 29:6; 1Ch. 16:40; 2Ch. 2:4; 2Ch. 13:11; Ezr. 3:3; Ezr. 9:4 f.; Psa. 141:2; Dan. 8:11-13; Dan. 9:21; Dan. 11:31; Dan. 12:11.)

Mat. 27:47 And some of them that stood there, when they heard it, said, This man calleth Elijah. Who said this? Definitely Jews, because a Roman soldier could hardly be expected to know of the Jewish scribes erroneous expectation that this undying prophet would return to earth (Mat. 17:10; cf. 2Ki. 2:11; Mal. 4:5 f.). Several motives for their reaction are possible:

Perhaps because His mouth and throat were dry, as shown by His later request for a drink, and His breathing difficult as His chest muscles strained, the hubbub and noise combined with the similar-sounding words to hinder many from hearing the words clearly.

Perhaps because the words are Aramaic, some Hellenistic Jew who understood little Hebrew or Aramaic could mistake the word Eli for a prayer to Elijah (Elei) not understanding the rest of the sentence. But the bilingual Jews present could have corrected the misconception based on mere linguistic error.

More likely it was the malicious irony of prejudice. What bilingual Aramaic-speaking Jew would have mistaken this citation of Psa. 22:1 for an invocation of the prophet Elijah? It is plausible that those who heard the original cry understood it all too well. But their unbelieving bias against Jesus made a crude pun of it by turning Eli into Elias thus devising but another form of heartless ridicule. They had insisted that God save Him. Now, when God would not rescue Him, they ridicule as if Jesus had turned to Elijah. If Elijah was scheduled to come before the Messiah, Jesus Himself could not be the Messiah. By implication, He is ridiculed as appealing to the forerunner of the very Christ He claims to be (cf. Mat. 11:11; Mat. 11:14; Mat. 17:10-13).

My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth . . . (Psa. 22:15).

They gave me vinegar for my thirst (Psa. 69:21).

Mat. 27:48 And straightway one of them ran, and took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink. This sentence of Matthew does not appear to fit the context of the preceding verse. What does the reaction of the man, who ran straightway to prepare Jesus a drink, have to do with His cry of abandonment (Mat. 27:46) or the conclusion that He was appealing to Elijah (Mat. 27:47)? Johns account removes this obscurity: straightway after crying out His sense of abandonment. Jesus also said, I thirst (Joh. 19:28 f.).

The fact that straightway one of them ran sounds like instant military obedience to orders (from the centurion?). Crucifixion was normally an ordeal that lasted a day or two, depending on the endurance of its victims. Because terrible thirst also characterized this torture, that a sponge and vessel of vinegar were present argue that this was the normal way the soldiers gave drink to the executed. Drinking from a cup would be difficult for the crucified to manage, hence the other method: a sponge filled with vinegar fastened to a reed. The commonness of the method appears to argue, therefore, that giving Him a drink was not unusual but a normal kindness offered any dying man. John reported what kind of stick it was, i.e. hyssop. Since the crosses need not have been tall to accomplish their purpose, the soldiers could almost reach Him to give Him a drink (Luk. 23:36). So, a short hyssop stick to reach the lips of the crucified.

As its name implies, the vinegar drink was sour (xos) in taste. But the soldiers who brought it for their own lunch called it posca, the regular diluted sour wine of the military. It relieved thirst more effectively than water and, because it was cheaper than regular wine, it was a favorite beverage of the lower ranks of society and of those in moderate circumstances (Arndt-Gingrich, 577; cf. Rth. 2:14). Although He had turned down drugged wine before. Jesus accepted this wine because of His severe thirst and since this wine was not anesthetic. Instead, it gave Him the needed clarity of mind and voice for the last effort of His life. Just as Jesus would not begin His suffering drugged by myrrhed wine, so now He would not leave it so weak He could not talk. He would go out with power. The drink provided the energy for what He must do next.

Could a Hebrew reader miss the connection between this and Psa. 22:15 or Psa. 69:21?

Mat. 27:49 And the rest said, Let be; let us see whether Elijah cometh to save him. Despite the uncanny midday darkness just concluding, these skeptics continue to scoff at the possibility of a spectacular intervention of the supernatural to rescue Jesus (to take him down from the cross, Mar. 15:36).

Mat. 27:50 And Jesus cried again with a loud voice, and yielded up his spirit. Again (= Mat. 27:46) The drink cleared His throat and refreshed Him sufficiently so that, summoning what remained of His dying energy and with a voice still strong with life, He could shout triumphantly the victory cry of the completed mission: It is finished (Joh. 19:30)! Who would NOT shout, if He was sure his entire life work on earth was perfectly completed, the aim and purpose of Scriptures fulfilled, the redemption of man realized and Gods will done?!

Articulate to the very last, He appropriately yielded up his spirit in the unshaken confidence and prayer of a loyal Son in full, familiar fellowship with God, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit (Luk. 23:46; cf. Psa. 31:5)! He lay down His life calmly, without reluctance, sure.

That He yielded up his spirit is fact, but what this means our limited experience of death may not permit us to know.

It seems to be a quibble to say that none of the Gospel writers say, He died, but used, rather, the euphemism, He yielded up his spirit (apheken t pnema) whereby Jesus death per s is thought to be His own voluntary act. However, when the identical idiom is used to describe the death of other people, would it mean they too laid down their lives, i.e. died as an act of their will (LXX of Gen. 35:18; 1Es. 4:21; cf. Act. 7:59)? Further, the Epistles do not consider He died a misleading expression, but utilize it almost exclusively. Consequently, it is questionable whether the Gospel writers intended that this euphemism bear the theological sense of He caused Himself to die.

The question is complicated by the fact that this expression may be no more than an apt euphemism for He expired or He breathed His last (expneusen, Mar. 15:37 = Luk. 23:46). Does this expression mean that death was taking charge of His body, so He committed Himself, i.e. His personality, His mind, will, emotions, conscience and imagination, to God? (Cf. 1Pe. 4:19.)

It would seem, therefore, that this prayer alone, not His death itself, was His own deliberate act. It is His prayer which expresses in what sense He yielded up his spirit when He simply surrendered His life, His real self, back to God the Giver. (Cf. Act. 7:59; Ecc. 12:7.) It cannot mean that, unwilling to wait until natural causes took their course, He willed Himself to die in a self-chosen moment by a death bordering on suicide. Although these supernatural options were potentially available for the unique Son of God, His experience of death would be less like our own, if He saved Himself from a prolonged natural death, unless we could do the same. His laying down His life to take it up again refers not merely or specifically to this instant of death,although, of course, it includes itbut, rather, to that absolute freedom of choice whereby He submitted voluntarily to His entire passion. (Cf. Joh. 10:17 f; Joh. 19:30.) To think that Jesus died of natural causes does not detract from the grandeur or voluntary character of His death, because the Son of God could have foreseen these natural causes and prepared for them in harmony with every phase of His atonement. So, although the moral and juridical results of His death are vastly different from ours, the Scriptures do not describe its cause on any basis other than its physical similarity to ours. (Cf. Heb. 2:9-17; Heb. 5:7 ff.)

Jesus died after only a few hours on the cross. Pilate was surprised that He were already dead, since, as implied by the Jews request for the summary execution of those crucified (Joh. 19:31), sometimes several days passed before death overtook the crucified. Therefore, Jesus relatively rapid death may be attributed principally to the terrible scourging from which many men died before getting to the cross. Exhaustion played an important part, because, if Jesus discomfort on the cross was augmented by His inability to breathe except by repositioning His body, His ability to do this was limited to His physical strength already weakened by scourging, hunger and fatigue, ending in suffocation. It is certain that the spear would and did not kill Him, because when that happened, He had already died (Joh. 19:33 f.). Some suggest that heart failure or rupture would explain both His death and the issuing of blood and water. However, medical authorities are not agreed on the exact cause of His death. The fact that He died is authenticated by His executioners, so we need not go further. To investigate the physical cause is a matter of medical interest, not a dogma of faith.

Do the poetic expressions of Psa. 22:14; Psa. 69:20 help define the solution? Other expressions from these Psalms are taken literally, why not these? Perhaps only in the sense that what was true of the Psalmist could be infinitely more appropriate of the Christ. The Psalmist spoke more truth than he understood. (Cf. 1Pe. 1:10 ff.; Luk. 10:24.) Even so, such exegesis involves a figurative application to the Psalmist, but literal one to Christ. The bare, literal fulfillment is not all that God wants man to see. In this sense it is not shallow sentimentalism to think that Jesus died of a broken heart, because the literal fact points to the higher reality: it hurt Him deeply to bear the guilt and penalties of our sin! Our sinfulness killed Him. Beyond His chosen mortality, is it impossible that the psychological burden He bore literally crushed the life out of Him? Until we understand the psychosomatic equation of our own being, we shall not begin to be able to analyze what happened when Jesus died. Here is where analysis must give way to humble gratitude and worship.

FACT QUESTIONS

At what hour did the unusual darkness occur? How long did it last?

What is the only saying of Jesus quoted by Matthew verbatim?

What did Jesus mean to communicate by this? To whom was it addressed?

What, if anything, does Psalms 22 have to do with the crucifixion? Give details.

How did someone give Jesus a drink?

What did they offer Him to drink? Why offer Him this?

What objection was made to this kindness and why? What is the meaning of Let be?

About what time did Jesus die?

Explain what is meant by He yielded up His spirit.

10.

What sacrifice was killed at the Temple at the ninth hour? What else occurred normally at that same time in the Temple?

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

(45) From the sixth hour.The first three Gospels agree as to time and fact. Assuming them to follow the usual Jewish reckoning (as in Act. 2:15; Act. 3:1; Act. 10:3; Act. 10:9) this would be noon, the fixing to the cross having been at the third hour, 9 A.M. (Mar. 15:25), and the darkness lasting till 3 P.M. St. John names the sixth hour as the time of our Lords final condemnation by Pilate, following apparently (see Note there and on Joh. 4:6) the Roman or modern mode of reckoning from midnight to noon. Looking to the facts of the case, it is probable that our Lord was taken to the high priests palace about 3 A.M. (the cock-crow of Mar. 13:35). Then came the first hearing before Annas (Joh. 18:13), then the trial before Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin, then the formal meeting that passed the sentence. This would fill up the time probably till 6 A.M., and three hours may be allowed for the trials before Pilate and Herod. After the trial was over there would naturally be an interval for the soldiers to take their early meal, and then the slow procession to Golgotha, delayed, we may well believe, by our Lords falling, once or oftener, beneath the burden of the cross, and so we come to 9 A.M. for His arrival at the place of crucifixion.

Darkness over all the land.Better so than the earth of the Authorised version of Luk. 23:44. The degree and nature of the darkness are not defined. The moon was at its full, and therefore there could be no eclipse. St. John does not name it, nor is it recorded by Josephus, Tacitus, or any contemporary writer. On the other hand, its appearance in records in many respects so independent of each other as those of the three Gospels places it, even as the common grounds of historical probability, on a sufficiently firm basis, and early Christian writers, such as Tertullian (Apol. c. 21) and Origen (100 Cels. ii. 33), appeal to it as attested by heathen writers. The narrative does not necessarily involve more than the indescribable yet most oppressive gloom which seems to shroud the whole sky as in mourning (comp. Amo. 8:9-10), and which being a not uncommon phenomenon of earthquakes, may have been connected with that described in Mat. 27:51. It is an indirect confirmation of the statement that about this time there is an obvious change in the conduct of the crowd. There is a pause and lull. The gibes and taunts cease, and the life of the Crucified One ends in a silence broken only by His own bitter cry.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

141. THE DARKNESS, vv. THE RELENTING, vv. AND THE DEATH, Mat 27:45-50 .

From the sixth hour to the ninth there was a wonderful darkness over the land. And already a relenting in men’s hearts follows so solemn a token of divine displeasure. One of the thieves who had reviled Jesus repents and confesses the Messiah. When Jesus thirsts he is relieved; and the multitude stands in suspense to see whether a divine interposition will not in fact save him. The centurion confesses him the Son of God.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

45. From the sixth The Jews reckon twelve hours from sunrise to sunset. The sixth hour was, therefore, noon; and the ninth hour was three o’clock. Darkness over all the land This was no eclipse, for astronomy allows none at this time. Neither was it what is sometimes called the sympathy of nature over the scene; for that is too poetical for the plain reality of the facts before us. But it was a token of divine displeasure, calculated to dismay the hearts of these wicked men, and awaken in them some misgiving as to the being they were crucifying.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour, and about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is, “My God, my God, why did you forsake me?” ’

As we have seen above, in Scripture darkness represents a number of things. It is regularly the picture of judgment, the wrath of God and the withdrawal of God’s face. It is a symbol of the shadow of death. And yet it is also paradoxically the place where God is found, and it is out of darkness that He regularly establishes His covenant, including the covenant with Abraham (Genesis 15), the covenant of the Passover (Exodus 10-12), and the covenant of Sinai (Deu 4:11). But above all darkness at noonday is a symbol of God’s rejection of Israel (Amo 8:9). It would, however, issue in a new dawn (Amo 9:11-15).

As suggested above the darkness may have been caused by volcanic action, or powerful wind stirring up dust and sand, or even an unusual storm, but above all it signified divine activity and judgment on sin.

“My God, my God, why did you forsake me?” The cry of Jesus is beyond understanding. As it has been well expressed, ‘God forsaken of God, who can understand it?’ But it certainly indicated a forsakenness of soul that we, who are far too used to being separate from God, cannot hope to comprehend. The actual words in the Aramaic/Hebrew appear differently in different manuscripts, mainly because the language was unknown to the copyists. But it is probable that here we are to see them as expressed in Jesus’ and Matthew’s native Aramaic. They are cited from Psa 22:1. There is no reason to doubt that Jesus had sought solace in that Psalm as He went through His anguish, but He did not use it lightly. He used it because it expressed what He saw to be at the very heart of His experience, and the evangelists cited it because they also saw it as going to the heart of His experience. It is the only cry from the cross recorded by Matthew and Mark. We may see it here in two different ways, either as the final cry of His desolation at its crisis point before coming through to victory, ‘why have you forsaken Me so that I am still forsaken?’, or as the cry of triumph as at last the desolation is over, having in mind what He has been through, ‘why did you forsake Me, even though it is now over?’ The use of the Psalm possibly suggests the first. But if so it would soon be followed, as also in the Psalm, by victory and vindication (‘it is finished’). It is a question that in the end cannot be answered. But either way it indicates the dreadfulness of the experience of soul that He had undergone, an experience of forsakenness that was foreign to all that He was. And the wonder of it is that it was for us. ‘He was forsaken, that we might never be forsaken’. On the other hand the fact that He is citing a Psalm is a reminder that we should not necessarily interpret every word literally as though He had thought each word out. We must neither water it down, nor theologise it. It rather conveniently expressed how He felt as a result of the darkness that had enveloped His soul. (He would know that the Psalmist was not forsaken, he only felt as though he was forsaken). We may, however, reasonably relate it to the fact that ‘He was made sin for us, who previously knew no sin’ (2Co 5:21). He had thus undergone what to Him was a sense of unbearable anguish and loss, as, burdened by the weight of the wrath of God against sin, sin had separated Him from His Father’s manifested presence, a presence He had known throughout His mortal life.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Divine Vindication. Jesus Is The Son of God (27:45-54).

By now Jesus had been on the cross about three hours, and around noon an extraordinary event took place. For over the whole land there came gross darkness (compare Mat 4:15-16). As it was the time of the full moon it could not have been an eclipse. A sirocco would probably have lasted longer. It would appear therefore that some phenomenon had resulted in extraordinary cloud cover, which was the precursor to a powerful earthquake. Possibly it was due to volcanic action of which we know nothing, or perhaps the natural phenomena underlying the earthquake caused temporary high winds which stirred up the dust like a sirocco.

It is difficult to think here that Matthew (and God) would not have in mind Amo 8:9, ‘and it will come about in that day, says the Lord YHWH, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in clear day’. That was to be a day when judgment came on Israel. Their feasts would become feasts of mourning (Amo 8:10), and there would be a famine of hearing the word of the Lord (Amo 8:11), while it would also be a time of ‘mourning like that for an only son’ (Amo 8:10). In other words Israel as such would be rejected. This very much ties in with Jesus’ vision of a new Israel arising from the ashes of the old through His death as the only son of the preceding parable (Mat 21:43).

The darkening of the sun also regularly indicates eschatological and supernatural activity (Mat 24:29; compare Act 2:20 based on Joe 2:31. See also Isa 13:10; Joe 3:15; and often (see below), for the darkness as indications of God’s activity). But in some ways more importantly great darkness came on Abraham prior to God revealing Himself to his soul, and manifesting Himself in the making of a covenant (Gen 15:12; Gen 15:17). Furthermore the period of thick darkness in Exo 10:21-29 issued in the slaughter of the firstborn, the sacrifice of the Passover and the deliverance of Israel, a very similar result to here, while the cloud descended on the mountain when God made His covenant with Israel, and He manifested Himself there in thick darkness (Deu 4:11). Thus in Exo 20:21 God was in the thick darkness (compare Deu 5:22-23). Darkness is therefore very much connected with the making of covenants between God and man.

Previously in Matthew its spiritual significance is also made clear. It is symbolic of God’s withdrawing His face from Israel (Mat 4:16), and therefore from Jesus Who is bearing the sin of Israel (Mat 27:46). It would appear therefore that the cry of Jesus that rent the Heavens was primarily signalling the end of a period of such darkness of soul that it was indescribable as Jesus experienced separation from His Father, and God paradoxically brought in the new covenant. This was the time when the Power of Darkness was allowed to do its worst (Luk 22:53; Col 1:13). But God passed a veil over its significance for Jesus and so should we, for we can never comprehend its depths. Suffice to say that in His human nature even Jesus Himself did not fully comprehend what He was going through. The cup that He had to drink was fuller and deeper than He had ever realised. ‘None of the ransomed ever knew, how deep were the waters crossed, or how dark was the night which the Lord passed through, ere He found the sheep that were lost’.

Darkness had also constantly been in Scripture the picture of devastation and despair and the wrath of God (Deu 28:29; 1Sa 2:9; Isa 8:22; Isa 9:19; Isa 13:10; Isa 24:11; Isa 45:7; Isa 60:2; Eze 32:7-8; Joe 2:2; Joe 2:10; Joe 2:31; Amo 5:18; Amo 5:20; Amo 8:9; Zep 1:15). In Job it is constantly paralleled with the shadow of death (Job 10:21-22; Job 12:22; Job 34:22; Psa 23:4; Psa 107:10; Psa 107:14; compare Mat 15:22; Mat 17:13). But paradoxically it is also the place where God is found in the mystery of His Being ( 2Sa 22:10 ; 2Sa 22:12; 1Ki 8:12; Psa 18:9; Psa 18:11; Psa 97:2). And now here was the darkness which summed up all darkness, a darkness in which the powers of Hell were defeated (Col 1:13; Col 2:15), and the judgmental power of the Law was broken (Col 2:14). God was there (Psa 139:12), even though in the darkness of His own soul Jesus did not, for at least a brief few moments, know it. So the darkness may be seen as revealing the mysterious activity of God at work in a way beyond man’s understanding, the covenant making activity of God, the visitation on earth of the wrath of God, and the desolation of a soul in the face of death and darkness and the powers of death and darkness.

For three hours there was total darkness and outwardly all was still as Jesus, alone, battled in His soul. The land was covered with a huge silence. Within that darkness the battle for the soul of the world was taking place. It is significant that we are told nothing of what happened in those three hours. And then there was a cry, as, in the travail of His soul, light broke through see especially Isa 53:11 in Isaiah scrolls a and b at Qumran, and LXX, ‘from the travail of His soul He will see light and will be satisfied’), and Jesus, as a result of that darkness being overcome, then questions why He had been forsaken, and finally yields up His spirit in triumph. Then all Heaven breaks loose and the powers of Heaven are revealed. The veil in the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom, the earth quaked and great rocks were shattered, and the tombs were opened, and once Jesus had risen from the dead men who had long been dead arose from their tombs and appeared to many in Jerusalem. God was signalling Jesus’ victory. Truly He was the Son of God.

The passage can be split into three sub-passages, first the period of darkness and the cry of His soul to God; secondly the actions of God as a result of His death as the veil is rent in two, the rocks are torn asunder and the graves are opened; and thirdly the final effect on His executioners as they realise that they have executed the Son of God.

Analysis.

a Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour, and about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is, “My God, my God, why did you forsake me?” (Mat 27:45-46).

b And some of those who were stood there, when they heard it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.” And immediately one of them ran, and took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink. And the rest said, “Let be, let us see whether Elijah is coming to save him” (Mat 27:47-49).

c And Jesus cried again with a loud voice, and yielded up his spirit (Mat 27:50).

d And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom (Mat 27:51 a).

c And the earth quaked, and the rocks were torn asunder (Mat 27:51 b).

b And the tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming forth out of the tombs after his resurrection they entered into the holy city and appeared to many (Mat 27:52-53).

a Now the centurion, and those who were with him watching Jesus, when they saw the earthquake, and the things that were done, feared exceedingly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God” (Mat 27:54).

Note that in ‘a’ there was the darkness, and the cry of Jesus that spoke of His being forsaken by God, and in the parallel there was the earthquake and the cry of the centurion which revealed that Jesus was truly the Son of God. In ‘b’ there is the question of whether God will send Elijah to save Him, and in the parallel God sends a number of men from the dead to testify to Him. In ‘c’ Jesus cries with a loud voice and His body yields up His spirit, and in the parallel the earth cries out with a loud voice, and the rocks are torn apart. Centrally in ‘d’ the veil of the Temple is torn in two and the way into the Holiest is opened up.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

The Testimony of the Centurion Regarding Jesus’ Deity ( Mar 15:33-41 , Luk 23:44-49 , Joh 19:28-30 ) Mat 27:45-56 records the testimony of the centurion regarding Jesus’ deity.

The Supernatural Events that Accompanied the Death of Jesus The Synoptic Gospels record a number of supernatural events that accompanied the death of Jesus. All three record the tearing of the veil of the Temple. Matthew and Luke record the unique account of darkness covering the earth. Matthew alone describes the earth quake and rocks splitting, and the resurrection of the saints, who enter the Holy City to testify of the resurrection from the dead. These events testified of the deity of Jesus Christ, as those who were guarding Jesus declared that He was truly the Son of God in fear and trembling.

Jewish literature in this period of history records similar events. For example, Josephus records celestial events, shining lights and other supernatural events that served as omens of the pending destruction of Jerusalem ( Wars 6.5.3). The Babylonian Talmud records supernatural events that occurred during the forty years prior to the destruction of Jerusalem ( Yoma 39b).

Mat 27:46 Comments After three hours of darkness, the Son of God spoke, crying out from the Cross with the same power that created the heavens and the earth. His words penetrated the darkness and brought it to an end, restoring light upon the world.

Jesus did not say, “My Father,” as God had now become His Judge on the Cross. Thus, He says, “My God, My God.” Throughout His earthly ministry, Jesus referred to God as His Father. This is the first time that Jesus calls His Father “God.” It was at this time that God forsook His Son for a moment as Jesus felt the weight of the sins of mankind upon Him. Thus, Jesus testifies to the world by this statement that He was being judged for the sins of mankind as God forsook Him. Note these insightful words from Frances J. Roberts regarding this verse.

“I (Jesus) suffered in all ways as ye suffer, but ye shall never suffer as I suffered; for I experienced one awful moment of separation from the Father; but I have promised that I will never forsake thee, and I will never leave thee.” [717]

[717] Frances J. Roberts, Come Away My Beloved (Ojai, California: King’s Farspan, Inc., 1973), 170.

Finally, as Jesus was giving up His spirit, He again addresses His Father, saying, “And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.” (Luk 23:46)

Mat 27:47 Comments The Hebrew words (My God) and (Elijah) are very close in pronunciation and spelling. Thus, the bystanders could have easily heard the word “Elijah” by mistake. The name Elijah means, “the Lord is God” ( Strong).

Mat 27:50 Scripture Reference – Note:

Luk 23:46, “And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.”

Mat 27:51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;

Mat 27:51 “And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom” Comments – Josephus describes the temple of Herod with great accuracy. In this book, he gives the dimensions of the curtain, which hung before the Holy of Holies. It was fifty-five cubits tall and sixteen cubits wide.

“But then this house, as it was divided into two parts, the inner part was lower than the appearance of the outer, and had golden doors of fifty-five cubits altitude, and sixteen in breadth; but before these doors there was a veil of equal largeness with the doors. It was a Babylonian curtain, embroidered with blue, and fine linen, and scarlet, and purple, and of a contexture that was truly wonderful.” ( Wars 5.5.4)

This miraculous ripping of the veil beginning at the top of the curtain until the bottom was a sign that God ripped the curtain, for man could not perform such a feat. God has opened the Holy of Holies obtaining eternal redemption for us, something which man could not do.

Mat 27:51 “and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent” Comments – It is interesting to note that there was an earthquake at Jesus’ death (Mat 27:51) as well as at His resurrection (Mat 28:2), when he descended into Hell and when He ascended out of it.

Mat 28:2, “And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.”

Mat 27:51 Comments – Heb 10:19-20 shows us that we now can have boldness to enter into the Holy of Holies.

Heb 10:19-20, “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;”

See parallel passages in:

Mar 15:38, “And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.”

Luk 23:45, “And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.”

Mat 27:53 Comments On eleven occasions Matthew uses the proper name “Jerusalem.” However, he uses the phrase “the holy city” on two occasions in his Gospel (Mat 4:5; Mat 27:53) and both of these passages are characterized by supernatural events. In the wilderness temptation, Satan appears to Jesus and takes Him to the holy city (Mat 4:5). Also, at Jesus’ resurrection, many saints of God who were asleep also rise from the dead and enter the holy city to testify of eternal life through faith in the Son of God (Mat 27:53).

Mat 27:52-53 Comments The Resurrection of the Saints – Why did the saints resurrection from the grave? Perhaps to show that there will be an eternal resurrection for us, as believers, also.

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

The last hours of suffering:

v. 45. Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.

v. 46. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?

v. 47. Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias.

v. 48. And straightway one of them ran, and took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave Him to drink.

v. 49. The rest said, Let be; let us see whether Elias will come to save Him.

It was now high noon and the brightest time of the day. But suddenly the sun’s rays were cut off, not by the obstructing circle of the moon, for it was now the time of full moon, when an eclipse of the sun is impossible (this would also not last for three full hours), but by a miracle of God. It was an extraordinary phenomenon, associated with the death of Jesus In the most intimate and mysterious manner. According to some accounts, this darkness was chronicled even by secular historians, together with the earthquake that followed. Over the whole world this darkness extended, shrouding all things in its mysterious obscurity, as on the Black Good Friday of early American history. In these three hours the Son of God was obliged to taste and endure the full force, the full horror of the divine wrath over the sins of mankind. Here the Vicar of mankind was in prison and judgment. Forsaken, rejected by God: that is the torture of hell. What deep humiliation for the eternal Son of God to enter into the depths of everlasting death and torment! But by His enduring the torments of hell we have been liberated, for in the midst of this most terrible Passion He remained obedient to God and thus conquered wrath, hell, and damnation for us. When He uttered His cry of extreme pain and terror, in the Aramaic tongue, some of the bystanders again took occasion to mock Him. Jesus had quoted the words of the prophet, Psa 22:1, using the dialect to which He was accustomed. But they, either deliberately or foolishly, misunderstood or pretended to misunderstand Him to be calling for the help of Elijah. And while one of them, upon His second cry for something to quench His thirst, had enough feeling of compassion to reach up a sponge filled with vinegar to His lips, the others jeeringly sought to restrain him by bidding him wait until they might see whether Elijah would actually come to help Jesus. All this taunting mockery was a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, Psa 69:22. Not one word of the Lord regarding the Passion of the Savior fell to the ground.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

Mat 27:45. Now from the sixth hour, &c. During the last three hours that our Lord hung on the cross, a darkness covered the face of the earth, to the great terror and amazement of the people present at his execution. This extraordinary alteration in the face of nature was peculiarly proper, while the Sun of Righteousness was in some sense withdrawing his beams from the land of Israel, and from the world; not only because it was a miraculous testimony borne by God himself to his innocence, but also because it was a fit emblem of his departure and its effects, at least till his light shone out anew with additional splendour, in the ministry of his Apostles. The Jews had been accustomed to the figurative language of the eclipse of the luminaries, as significative of some extraordinary revolution or calamity, and could hardly avoid recollecting the words of Amo 8:9-10 on this occasion. The heathens likewise had been taught to look on these circumstances as indications of the perpetration of some heinous and enormous crime; and how enormous was that now committed by the Jews! The darkness which now covered Judea, together with the neighbouring countries, beginning about noon, and continuing till Jesus expired, was not an ordinary eclipse of the sun, for that can never happen, except when the moon is about the change; whereas now it was full moon; not to mention that total darknesses, occasioned by eclipses of the sun, never continue above twelve or fifteen minutes. Wherefore it must have been produced by the divine power, in a manner that we are not able to explain. Accordingly, Luke, after relating that there was a darkness over all the earth, adds, and the sun was darkened, Luk 23:44-45. Farther, the Christian writers, in their most ancient apologies tothe heathens, affirm, that as it was full moon at the passover, when Christ was crucified, no such eclipse could happen by the course of nature. They observe also, that it was taken notice of as a prodigy by the heathens themselves. To this purpose we have still remaining the words of Phlegon the astronomer, and freed-man of Adrian, cited by Origen from his book, at the time when it was in the hands of the public;that heathen author, in treating of the 4th year of the 202nd Olympiad, which was the 19th of Tiberius, and supposed to be the year in which our Lord was crucified, tells us, “That the greatest eclipse of the sun that ever was known, happened then; for the day was so turned into night, that the stars in the heavens were seen.” See Orig. contr. Cels. p. 83. If Phlegon, as Christians generally suppose, is speaking of the darkness which accompanied our Lord’s crucifixion, it was not circumscribed within the land of Judea, but must have been universal. This many learned men have believed, particularlyHuet, Grotius, Gusset, Reland, and Alphen. Another ancient writer asserts, “that walking in Heliopolis, a town of Egypt, with a studious friend, he observed this wonderful darkness, and said, that it certainly portended something extraordinary: that either the God of nature was suffering, or nature itself was about to be dissolved.” Josephus, it is true, takes no notice of this wonderful phoenomenon; but the reason may be, that he was unwilling to mention any circumstance favourable to Christianity, of which he was no friend; and the Jews would, no doubt, disguise this event as much as they could, and perhaps might persuade him and others who heard the report of it at some distance of time or place, that it was only a dark cloud, or a thick mist, which the followers of Jesus had exaggerated, because it happened when their Master died. Such representations are exceedingly natural to hearts corrupted by infidelity. See Macknight, Doddridge, and Calmet’s Dissertation on the subject.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Mat 27:45 ] counting from the third (nine o’clock in the morning), the hour at which He had been nailed to the cross, Mar 15:25 . Respecting the difficulty of reconciling the statements of Matthew and Mark as to the hour in question with what is mentioned by John at Mat 19:14 , and the preference that must necessarily be given to the latter, see on John , Joh 19:14 .

] An ordinary eclipse of the sun was not possible during full moon (Origen); for which reason the eclipse of the 202d Olympiad, recorded by Phlegon in Syncellus, Chronogr . I. p. 614, ed. Bonn, and already referred to by Eusebius, is equally out of the question (Wieseler, chronol. Synops . p. 387 f.). But as little must we suppose that the reference is to that darkness in the air which precedes an ordinary earthquake (Paulus, Kuinoel, de Wette, Schleiermacher, L. J. p. 448, Weisse), for it is not an earthquake in the ordinary sense that is described in Mat 27:51 ff.; in fact, Mark and Luke, though recording the darkness and the rending of the veil, say nothing about the earthquake. The darkness upon this occasion was of an unusual, a supernatural character, being as it were the voice of God making itself heard through nature, the gloom over which made it appear as though the whole earth were bewailing the ignominious death which the Son of God was dying. The prodigies, to all appearance similar, that are alleged to have accompanied the death of certain heroes of antiquity (see Wetstein), and those solar obscurations alluded to in Rabbinical literature, were different in kind from that now before us (ordinary eclipses of the sun, such as that which took place after the death of Caesar, Serv. ad. Virg. G. I. 466), and, even apart from this, would not justify us in relegating what is matter of history, John’s omission of it notwithstanding, to the region of myth (in opposition to Strauss, Keim, Scholten), especially when we consider that the death in this instance was not that of a mere human hero, that there were those still living who could corroborate the evangelic narrative, and that the darkness here in question was associated with the extremely peculiar of the rending of the veil of the temple.

] Keeping in view the supernatural character of the event as well as the usage elsewhere with regard to the somewhat indefinite phraseology or (Luk 21:35 ; Luk 23:44 ; Rom 4:17 ; Rom 10:18 ; Rev 13:3 ), it is clear that the only rendering in keeping with the tone of the narrative is: over the whole earth ( , , Theophylact, comp. Chrysostom, Euthymius Zigabenus), not merely: over the whole land (Origen, Erasmus, Luther, Maldonatus, Kuinoel, Paulus, Olshausen, Ebrard, Lange, Steinmeyer) though at the same time we are not called upon to construe the words in accordance with the laws of physical geography; they are simply to be regarded as expressing the popular idea of the matter.

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

DISCOURSE: 1411
THE SUPERNATURAL DARKNESS

Mat 27:45. Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.

IT might well be expected that the crucifixion of the Son of God should be accompanied with circumstances of a peculiar nature; sufficient, when properly understood, to remove the offence of his cross, and to distinguish him from all others who should suffer the same kind of death. The whole creation is at Gods command, and ready, in any manner that he sees fit, to display his power. The sun in particular has been made his instrument for that end. In the days of Joshua, it suspended its course for the space of a whole day [Note: Jos 10:12-13.]. In the days of Hezekiah, it reversed its natural course, and went backwards ten degrees on the sun-dial of Ahaz [Note: 2Ki 20:11.]. And now, at the death of Christ, when risen to its meridian height, it veiled its face in darkness [Note: The sixth hour corresponded with our noon.]. How far the darkness extended, whether over the whole earth, as some think, or over the land of Juda only, as our translators thought, we do not take upon us to determine; though we incline to the latter: but, whether more or less, it could not proceed from a natural cause. It could not be an eclipse, because the moon at that time was at the full: and even if it had been an eclipse, it could not have been total for more than a quarter of an hour; whereas this continued for the space of three hours. It was manifestly a miraculous darkness, produced by the almighty power of God, and that too for ends worthy of a divine interposition. It was,

An attestation to our Saviours character

[It was ordained of God, that every species of testimony should be given to his Son, in confirmation of his claims as the true Messiah. The particular kinds of testimony were, many hundreds of years before, made the subject of prophecy: and they were almost all of such a nature, as to be independent of his own followers, and consequently incapable of being brought to effect by any concerted plan of theirs. The miracle now exhibited was of that kind: for the whole creation could not have produced such a change in the face of nature: and as it could not be counterfeited, so neither could it be denied: it carried its own evidence along with it.
That this darkness was foretold, we cannot doubt [Note: Amo 8:9.]. The prophet Joel most indisputably refers to it [Note: Joe 2:30-32.]: for an inspired Apostle quotes his very words, and declares, that those words related to events which were to happen at that precise period, for the express purpose of attesting the Messiahship of Christ [Note: Act 2:16; Act 2:19-21.].

Behold then a proof which cannot reasonably be doubted. True it is, that the Jewish historian does not record the fact: but we well know how averse he was to mention any thing that tended to the honour of Christianity, and therefore can account easily for his omission of so extraordinary an interposition of the Deity in confirmation of our religion. But the fact itself is undeniable: and if the three days darkness in Egypt was a convincing testimony from God to the mission of Moses, so was this to the Messiahship of Christ.]

II.

An emblem of his sufferings

[Darkness is often used in Scripture as a figurative representation of affliction [Note: Isa 5:30; Isa 8:22. Eze 32:7-8.] But it was peculiarly proper as an emblem on this occasion. Our blessed Lord was under the hidings of his Fathers face, and in the depths of dereliction cried, My God, my God! why hast thou forsaken me? His sufferings were such as no finite imagination can conceive. The torments which men inflicted on his body were small, in comparison of those which he now endured in his soul. All the hosts of hell were, as it were, let loose upon him; as He himself says, This is your hour, and the power of darkness [Note: Luk 22:53.]. Above all, the wrath of God was now poured out upon him, as the Surety and Substitute of a guilty world; according to that declaration of the prophet, It pleased the Lord to bruise him [Note: Isa 53:10.]. Under such circumstances, what in the compass of created nature could so fitly represent his sufferings as the event before us [Note: Compare Mic 3:6-7. with Psa 22:1-2. where the image as applied to the false prophets corresponds with the fact as exemplified in our Lord.]? Hear the description given of those sufferings by the prophet David [Note: Psa 88:3; Psa 88:6-7; Psa 88:14; Psa 88:16.] and no wonder the sun went down over him, and the day was dark, when he had no answer from his God.]

III.

A prognostic of the judgments that should come upon his enemies

[These were spoken of by Moses and all the prophets; and that too under the image which we are considering [Note: Isa 13:9-11. Jer 15:1-3; Jer 15:9.] The prophet Amos, in a fore-cited passage, connects the calamities which they should endure with the very event which prefigured them [Note: Amo 8:9-10.]. Our blessed Lord also foretold them in language not dissimilar [Note: Mar 13:24-26; Mar 13:30.]. And how awfully have these predictions been verified! Surely from the foundation of the world there has never been an instance of any nation suffering such various, accumulated, and continued calamities as they. The darkness of their minds too, no less than the wretchedness of their condition, shews to what an extent the wrath of God is upon them: for a veil is upon their hearts, thicker than even that which obscured the meridian sun. O that at last the veil might be taken away, and that the light of Gods countenance might be once more lifted up upon them!]

Though this subject may appear unconnected with practice, it may be justly improved,
1.

For the humbling of the impenitent

[How awful does the insensibility of man appear, when we see even the material creation more affected, as it were, at the death of Christ, than they! It is a fact, that many who have heard of the death of Christ times without number, and who profess to believe that he died for their sins, have yet never once mourned for those sins which nailed him to the accursed tree. Were they to hear of the slightest accident that had befallen their friend or relative, or any trifling loss which they themselves had sustained, they would be affected with it: but the crucifixion of the Lord of Glory is heard of by them without any emotion, even though they themselves were the guilty causes of his death. But let such ungrateful people know, that if ever they be brought to a just sense of their sins, they will look on Him whom they have pierced, and mourn, and be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born [Note: Zec 12:10.]. The Lord hasten this penitential season to every one of us [Note: Jer 13:15-16.]! ]

For the comforting of the afflicted

[It is not uncommon to find persons deeply distressed on account of the hidings of Gods face. And we acknowledge that they have cause to be distressed; because it is the most afflictive of all events, and because it never takes place but for the correction of some evil in them. Our blessed Lord, though he had no sin of his own, had evil enough upon him, even the sins of the whole world: and Job, though in some sense he was a perfect man, had much to learn, and much to attain. Yet let not any one despond, as though the cheerful light of the sun should no more appear: but let those who walk in darkness and have no light, learn to trust in the Lord, and to stay themselves upon their God [Note: Isa 50:10.]: and then their light shall rise in obscurity, and their darkness be as the noon-day.]

For the encouraging of all

[Reviving are those words of the Apostle John, The darkness is past, and the true light now shineth [Note: 1Jn 2:8.]. All that was obscure in the death of Christ is now made plain; and, blessed be God! the whole mystery of Redemption is now exhibited before our eyes. Yes, on us the Sun of Righteousness has arisen with healing in his wings. But as we know not how long the light shall continue with us, let us walk in the light whilst we have it, lest darkness come upon us [Note: Joh 12:35.]. If any thing in the dispensations either of providence or of grace be dark to us at the present, let us contentedly say, What I know not now, I shall know hereafter; and let us wait in patience for that world, where our sun shall no more go down, neither shall our moon withdraw itself; but the Lord will be our everlasting light, and the days of our mourning shall be ended [Note: Isa 60:20.].]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

XXIX

THE THREE HOURS OF DARKNESS AND FOUR MORE SAYINGS

Harmony, pages 212-214 and Mat 27:45-56 ; Mar 15:33-41 ; Luk 23:44-49 ; Joh 19:28-30 .

The last chapter closed as we were discussing Christ’s third voice from the cross, saying to the penitential thief, “To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise.” And the discussion closed with this question: Where is Paradise? Upon this subject two views prevail: One is that between death and the final resurrection the souls of disembodied saints go to an intermediate place; the other view is that there is no intermediate place. And it is the second view that the author firmly holds. In Dr. J. R. Graves’ book The Middle Life he takes the position that Paradise is a half-way station; that Hades is divided into two compartments, one called Paradise, in which the saints lodge, and the other called Tartarus, in which the souls of the wicked lodge. That neither the wicked nor the righteous immediately upon death go to their heaven or hell, is the “intermediate place” theory. It is also connected with an additional theory that when Christ died his soul went to that intermediate place, and while there preached to the spirits that were imprisoned there. The author does not subscribe to that at all.

In determining where Paradise is, we consult, not the Greek classics (as Dr. Graves does), but the New Testament usage. This usage makes Paradise the antitype of the earthly garden of Eden, which has its tree of life. The antitype of that is the true Paradise. We have these instances of the use of the word in the New Testament: In Luk 18 the first use of it. It is not mentioned again in the Gospels, but we come to it in 2Co 12 . There Paul tells us how he knew such an one about fourteen years ago, whether in the body or out of the body, he could not tell, but he knew such an one caught up to the third heaven and into the Paradise of God. There is nothing in that passage to make Paradise an intermediate place. Both the other two instances are in Revelation. In the letter to the churches Jesus says to one of them, “To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” Then by turning to the last chapter of Revelation you find where that tree of life is: it is in the midst of the Paradise of God. But where is that? The chapter commences: “I saw a pure river of water of life, coming out from the throne of (Sod and of the Lamb, and on either side of it was the tree of life.” Then in the same last chapter, it says, “Blessed are they that wash their robes . . . that they may have the right to the tree of life,” or, as it is expressed in an earlier passage in Revelation, “These are they who have washed their robes and made them white . . . that they may have a right to the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”

These are the instances of the usage of the word in the New Testament, abundantly settling where Paradise is. There are other passages you may use in making it certain. For instance, in the letter to the Hebrews, Paul tells us where are the spirits of the Just made perfect. He says, “You are come unto Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the first-born who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of Just men made perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator of a new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better than that of Abel.” So that wherever God is, and the heavenly Jerusalem, and the true Mount Zion is, and where the angels are, there are the disembodied spirits of the saints and this is no half-way house.

Look at it by this kind of proof: Who will deny that after the resurrection of Christ he ascended into the highest heavens? That is abundantly taught. Stephen, when he was dying, saw him there. And Paul says, “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.” Where the Lord is, there Paul’s soul would go, as soon as he died. He says in 2Co 5:1 , “We know that if the earthly house of our tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” So, I do not believe that there is any stopping place for any saint or sinner immediately upon the death of the body, but his soul goes to its final place. We can get at it in this way: when Lazarus died the poor man was carried by angels to Abraham’s bosom. Where is Abraham? Jesus says, “Many shall come from the east and from the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.” This is no half-way place. So Paradise is a place. Jesus also said, “I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go to prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. . . . In my Father’s house are many mansions, etc.”

We are now on page 212 of the Harmony. It is the sixth hour, which is twelve o’clock. There was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. That darkness lasted three hours. And the word “land” means the whole of this earth. It does not mean a little section of it, either. Every one of the three Gospel writers uses a particular word which means the whole of the earth. It could not be over all the earth and be an eclipse; for an eclipse is not seen at the same time from all points of the compass. Then, again, no total eclipse ever lasted three hours. I witnessed a total eclipse once, and there were a few minutes when the shadow of the moon covered the sun completely, but in a very few minutes a little rim of light was shown, and it kept slightly passing. More and more of the sun appeared until directly all the darkness was gone. I have a full discussion of these three hours of darkness in my sermon on “The Three Hours of Darkness.”

For three hours that darkness lasted; and there was death silence. About the ninth hour, which would be three o’clock, the silence was broken, and we have the fourth voice of Jesus: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Physical death is the separation of the soul from the body, and spiritual death is the separation of the soul from God. So just before that darkness passed away, closing the ninth hour, Christ died the spiritual death. Right on the very verge of that deeper darkness came another voice. His words were, “I thirst.” This shows that his soul was undergoing the pangs of hell, Just as the rich man lifted up his eyes in hell, being in torment, and said, “I pray thee, Father Abraham, send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.” This anguish was not from loss of blood, as in the case of a bleeding soldier. Any old soldier and I am one can testify that the fiercest pang which comes to the wounded is thirst. The flow of the blood from the open wound causes extreme anguish of thirst in a most harrowing sense. On battlefields, where the wounded fall in the range fire of both armies, a wounded man cannot get away, and nobody can go to him, and all through the night the wounded cry out, “Water, water, water!” After I myself was shot down on the battlefield it was two miles to where any water could be obtained, I had to be carried that distance, and the thirst was unspeakable. How much more the anguish of Christ enduring the torment of hell for a lost world!

The next voice is inarticulate, and that means that he had no joined words. We say a woman shrieks: that is inarticulate; but if she clothes her feelings in words, that is articulate. The record says, “And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, It is finished.” So there is a cry from Jesus which had no words. “It is finished,” that is, the work of expiation of sin, toward God; and the work of deliverance from the power of Satan is accomplished. All of the animals that were slaughtered upon the Jewish altars as types are found there in the Antitype, “It is finished.” The Old Testament is finished ; the old ceremonial, sacrificial law is nailed to the cross of Christ. Paul says, “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances against us, he nailed them to his cross.” On the cross he triumphed over Satan. “It is finished.” Because it is finished, Paul also says, “Let no man judge if you should eat anything that would be unclean according to the Mosaic law; that is nailed to the cross.” The Mosaic law forbade the eating of swine. But now you can eat swine if you want to. [It is far better, however, to eat fruits and vegetables than flesh foods of any kind. Editor.] “Let no man judge you in meat or drink.” And then he mentions the weekly sabbath, Saturday, and the lunar sabbath. The whole sabbatic cycle is nailed to the cross of Christ. If the Jew, then, after the death of Christ comes and says you must be circumcised according to the ordinances of Moses, you tell him that the handwriting of the ordinances of the Mosaic law were blotted out and nailed to the cross of Jesus Christ. You do not have to be circumcised in order to become a Christian. If he tells you that you should offer up sacrifices of lambs, or goats, or bullocks, you tell him, “No, that is nailed to the cross of Christ.” “Sacrifice and offerings thou wouldst not, but a body thou hast prepared for me”; and “through the eternal Spirit he made one offering once for all.”

“It is finished.” Whenever you preach on that and tell exactly what was finished, you have finished a great sermon. Expiation for sin was made; the penal demands of the law were satisfied; the vicarious Substitute for sinners died in their behalf; and the claims of the law on the sinner that believes in Jesus Christ were fully met. Therefore, no man can “lay any charge to God’s elect.” The debt, all of it, has been Paid.

His last voice on the cross was, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit,” that is, as soon as he died, his spirit went immediately to the Father, and not to that half-way place you have heard about. There can be no more important thing than this: Where was Christ’s soul between the death of his body and the resurrection of it, and why did he go to that place? Christ’s soul was-with the Father immediately upon his death. As quick as lightning his soul was with God. Now, why did he go there? The answer to this question will come in after the completion of our study on the resurrection. Remember we want to know why Christ’s soul, just as soon as he died, went to heaven.

He went to heaven as High Priest to offer on the mercy seat, in the holy of holies, his blood which was shed upon the earth on the altar on earth in order that on the basis of that blood he might make atonement for his people.

That is one reason. In Lev 16 we have the whole thing presented to us in type. The goat that was offered was slain, and just as soon as it was slain the high priest caught the blood in the basin he had, just as it flowed from the riven heart of the sacrifice. He then hastened with it, without delay, behind the veil into the holy of holies, and sprinkled it upon the mercy seat to make atonement, based upon the sacrifice made upon the altar. There was no moment of delay.

Now, when the true Lamb of God came and was slain, he being both High Priest and Sacrifice, he must immediately go into the presence of God in the true holy of holies, and sprinkle that blood upon the mercy seat. Therefore, Paul says, “When you come to the heavenly Jerusalem, Mount Zion, to God, and to angels, and to the spirits of the just made perfect, you also come to the blood of sprinkling,” there in the holy of holies, where Christ sprinkled that blood.

How long did Christ’s spirit stay up there? Three days the interval between his death and his resurrection. Why did he come back? He came back first to assume his resurrection body. He came back after his body. Second, in that risen body he received the homage of all the angels: “And when God bringeth again into the world his only begotten Son, he said, Let all the angels of God worship him.” He is the Son of God by the resurrection, as Psa 2 declares: “Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.” Paul quotes that to show that it is applied to the resurrection body of Jesus Christ. The angels worshiped Jesus in his eternal divinity, and they recognized him in his humanity. But there was a special reason why every angel of God should be called upon to worship the glorified Jesus Jesus in his risen and glorified body. So that is certainly one reason why he returned.

Another reason was to further instruct his people to clarify and confirm their faith, which he did. And the fourth reason was that he might, with all authority in heaven and on earth, commission them to do their work. I will show in subsequent discussions that he did that when he came back. If you do not know why Jesus came to the earth; if you do not know why he died; if you do not know where his spirit was between his death and resurrection, and why that spirit went to that place; if you do not know when he returned, why he returned, and how long he stayed after he returned; when he ascended into heaven; what he is doing in heaven in his risen body, and how long he will stay up there in his risen body, then you have not yet got at the gospel, and you do not know how to preach.

Still another reason why Jesus came back was to breathe on his apostles, that is, to inspire them, which means “to breathe,” to give inspiration to them, and to commission them. How long did he stay? Forty days. In that forty days he finished his instruction upon every point. Then when he went back he did not go as a disembodied soul. He went reunited, soul and body. And why? To be made King of kings and Lord of lords.

Another reason: As the High Priest of his people to ever live and make intercession for them in heaven; to receive from the Father the Holy Spirit, that he might send him down upon the earth to baptize his church. In other words, the old Temple was ended, its veil was rent in twain from top to bottom, and the new Temple, his church, set up, and as the old Temple had been anointed, the new Temple was to be anointed. All of which I discuss particularly in Acts of this INTERPRETATION.

How long will he stay up there? He will stay as long as his vicar, the Holy Spirit, works on earth; until all of his enemies have been put under his feet; until the times of the restitution of all things; until after the millennium, when Satan is loosed, and the man of sin is revealed, who is to be destroyed by the breath of the Lord when he comes. He will stay up there until he comes; until the salvation of the last of his people, and no more people are to be saved. As we learn from 2 Peter, he will stay up there until he comes to raise the dead, be married to his people, to raise the wicked dead, to judge the world in righteousness, and then to turn the kingdom over to the Father. You must know that Christ died with a view of taking the place of the sinner, in his stead, the iniquities of the sinner being put on him. He who knew no sin is made sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. By his death he comes in the sinner’s place to satisfy the penal claims of the law, and to propitiate God. That is the Godward side of his death. What is the devilward side of his death? The devilward side is fully presented in the sermon on “The Three Hours of Darkness.” He died that by his death he might destroy the devil that he might overcome him.

So we have gotten to the last voice, and Jesus is dead. The very moment that he died the whole earth shook; it quaked; there was an earthquake; the rocks were rent, the graves were opened, and the veil of the Temple was rent in twain from top to bottom. We are told by some writers that this veil of the Temple was seventy feet long, thirty feet wide, and four inches thick, closely woven, hard woven. Two yoke of oxen could not tear it, and yet the very minute that Christ died, commencing at the top, it split wide open, clear to the bottom, thus signifying that the way into the most holy is open for everybody.

So you see that is the one reason why he went to heaven between his death and his resurrection to open up a new and living way for his saints to follow him where he has forerun has already passed.

The rending of the veil of the Temple signifies that the old Temple is now empty. They can go on if they want to, but they do not offer sacrifices any longer, and if they did God would not recognize them; and in future years it will be destroyed utterly. In A.D. 70 it was destroyed, and there has been none since, and no Jew today ever offers a lamb or a sheep upon any altar. There is an abrogation utterly of the Old Testament economy, i.e., all of the ceremonial part of it.

Among the things that Jesus came back to earth for was to provide a new sabbath for his people. The Mosaic sabbath commemorated the creation the Christian sabbath commemorates redemption, and as God on the seventh day rested from his work of creation, Christ on the first day of the week rested from the work of redemption. His body came out of the grave, and from that time on it was the day upon which his people met to celebrate his resurrection the first day of the week. He himself met them several times upon the first day of the week, during those forty days. On the first day of the week he poured out the Holy Spirit. He ordered that collections be taken that money be laid aside for collection on the first day of the week. We learn that the Lord’s Supper was observed at Troas on the first day of the week; that John was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, which is the first day of the week. So he comes to provide a new sabbath for his people. But we will discuss all this later.

While the graves were opened in that earthquake, the bodies lay exposed. Many of the saints whose bodies were lying there came to life, that is, after the resurrection. They lay there exposed three days, but after his resurrection, after he became “the first fruits of them that slept,” these bodies came to life and went into the city and were recognized. Then Jerusalem waked up and looked right into the face of their dead that had been buried but a short time before. Here is what the record says: “And the tombs were opened; and many bodies of the saints that had fallen asleep were raised; and coming forth out of the tombs after his resurrection, they entered into the holy city and appeared unto many.”

These voices, that darkness) that earthquake, that veilrending, that grave-opening, made a profound impression upon those who were there. The centurion, the captain of the hundred, who was conducting a section of the army the officer in charge) whose business it was to see that he was crucified said) “Truly this was the Son of God.” That is the impression it made upon his mind. No such things happened on the death of any other human being; therefore, one of the great French infidels said that Socrates died like a philosopher, but Jesus Christ died like a god. The effect upon the women is thus described and here are the very women who organized that first Ladies’ Aid Society: “And there were also women beholding from afar, among them were both Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and 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.” How were the people affected? “And all the multitudes that came together to this sight, when they beheld the things that were done, returned smiting their breasts.”

Now he is dead, and the next event to notice is, Why he did not hang on the cross longer? This is the explanation, Harmony page 215: “The Jews, therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath (for the day of that sabbath was a high day) asked of Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.” A sabbath did not necessarily mean the seventh day. Any high day could be a sabbath, and the Jews wanted those who were crucified to die soon. A crucified man might linger several days. So Pilate, out of deference to the Jewish law, commanded their legs to be broken, so as to bring about an earlier death. Now, when they came to break the legs of Jesus, to their surprise, he was already dead. There was nothing in the mere physical anguish in the crucifixion to bring about the death of Jesus Christ. He died under the hand of God. He died by the stroke of the sword of the law: “Awake, O sword, against the Shepherd: let him be smitten and let the flock be scattered.” He died of a broken heart, evidenced by the fact that when the soldiers, to make sure that he was dead, ran a spear in his side, behold, water gushed out, an indication, physicians say, of death from heartbreaking. N ow, while he is hanging there, Joseph of Arimathaea, a member of the Sanhedrin, and Nicodemus, another member of the Sanhedrin, who came to Christ by night, obtained permission to take his body down and bury it. They had become disciples. It is a very precious thought to me that that same Nicodemus who came to Jesus by night, and was so puzzled about regeneration, has at last been born again, and become a disciple of Jesus Christ. They had not consented to what the others did in condemning Jesus, so they take him down and wrap his body with spices in a fine linen shroud and put him in a new tomb, belonging to Joseph of Arimathaea; in which no other one has ever lain, and shut him up in a big stone vault. This stone was hewn out like the vaults you see in New Orleans, and some in Waco. It was not a burial by the piling of dirt on him, but it was the placing of him in a rock vault.

QUESTIONS 1. What was the third voice from the cross?

2. What two views prevail on the location of Paradise and to which one does the author hold?

3. What other theory closely connected with “intermediate place” theory?

4. What are the uses of the word “Paradise” in the New Testament?

5. Where is Paradise and how do you prove it from these scriptures and others cited?

6. How long was the darkness over all the land at the crucifixion, and what is the meaning of the word “land” in this connection?

7. How do you prove that this darkness was not an eclipse of the sun?

8. Has the earth ever known such another period of darkness?

9. When and what was the fourth voice from the cross and what was its meaning?

10. What is meant by death, both physical and spiritual?

11. What was the fifth voice and its meaning? Illustrate.

12. What was the sixth voice and what its significance?

13. What was the seventh voice and what its meaning and broad application?

14. What was the last voice from the cross and what was its significance?

15. Briefly, why did Christ’s spirit go immediately to heaven when he died and of what was this act of Christ the antitype?

16. What does Paul say about this?

17. How long was Jesus up there and why did he return?

18. How long did he stay here after his return, and what was he doing while here?

19. Why then did he go back to the right hand of the Father?

20. How long will he stay there and for what will he come back?

21. What great supernatural events attended the death of Christ?

22. Describe the veil of the Temple which was rent in twain at his death and what is the special significance of this great event?

23. Explain the opening of the graves and the coming forth of the saints.

24. Who were present at the crucifixion and what was the effect on each class?

25. Why did not Christ hang on the cross longer, what caused his early death and what the proof?

26. Who took Jesus down from the cross, where did they bury him and what the manner of his burial?

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible

45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.

Ver. 45. Darkness over all the land ] The sun hid his head in a mantle of black, as ashamed to behold those base indignities done to the Son of righteousness by the sons of men a This darkness some think was universal; not only over all the land of Judea, but over the whole earth (and so the text, , may be rendered). Tiberius, say they, was sensible of it at Rome; Dionysius writes to Polycarpus that they had it in Egypt. And another great astronomer, Ptolemy (if I mistake not), was so amazed at it that he pronounced either nature now determineth, or the God of nature suffereth.

Unto the ninth hour ] In this three hours’ darkness he was set upon by all the powers of darkness with utmost might and malice. But he foiled and spoiled them all, and made an open show of them (as the Roman conquerors used to do), triumphing over them on his cross, as on his chariot of state,Col 2:15Col 2:15 , attended by his vanquished enemies with their hands bound behind them, Eph 4:8 .

a Sol non fert aspectum illum miserandum, quem sine rubore et fronte Iudaei irrident. Aretius.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

45 50. ] SUPERNATURAL DARKNESS. LAST WORDS, AND DEATH OF JESUS. Mar 15:33-37 . Luk 23:44-46 . Joh 19:28-30 . The three accounts are here and there very closely allied; Matthew and Mark almost verbally. Luke only, however, contains the words which the Lord uttered before he expired , omits the incident which takes up our Mat 27:46-49 , and inserts here the rending of the veil. John is entirely distinct .

45 ]. According to Mar 15:25 , it was the third hour when they crucified Him. If so, He had been on the cross three hours, which in April would answer to about the same space of time in our day i.e. from 9 12 A.M. On the difficulty presented by John’s declaration ch. Mat 19:14 , see notes there and on Mark.

] This was no eclipse of the sun , for it was full moon at the time nor any partial obscuration of the sun such as sometimes takes place before an earthquake for it is clear that no earthquake in the ordinary sense of the word is here intended. Those whose belief leads them to reflect WHO was then suffering, will have no difficulty in accounting for these signs of sympathy in Nature, nor in seeing their applicability. The consent, in the same words, of all three Evangelists, must silence all question as to the universal belief of this darkness as a fact ; and the early Fathers (Julius Africanus, in Routh, Reliq. Sacr. ii. p. 297 f.: Tertull. Apol. c. 21, vol. i. p. 401: Origen c. Cels. ii. 33, vol. i. p. 414: Euseb. in Chronicon. Cf. Wordsw. h. l.) appeal to profane testimony for its truth. The omission of it in John’s Gospel is of no more weight than the numerous other instances of such omission. See Amo 8:9-10 .

] Whether these words are to be taken in all their strictness is doubtful. Of course, the whole globe cannot be meant as it would be night naturally over half of it . The question is, are we to understand that part of it over which there was day? I believe we are ; but see no strong objection to any limitation, provided the fact itself , as happening at Jerusalem, is distinctly recognized . This last is matter of testimony , and the three Evangelists are pledged to its truth : the present words cannot stand on the same ground, not being matter of testimony properly so called.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

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

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

Mat 27:45 . : three hours, according to Mark (Mat 27:25 , cf. Mat 27:33 ), after the crucifixion the darkness came on. This is the first reference in Matthew to a time of day. The definiteness of the statement in this respect seems to vouch for the historicity of the fact stated. Those who find in it legend or myth point to the Egyptian darkness, and prophetic texts such as Amo 8:9 , Joe 2:31 , etc. (none of which, however, are cited by the evangelist), as explaining the rise of the story. The cause of this darkness is unknown ( vide notes on Mark). It could not, of course, be an eclipse of the sun at full moon. Origen saw this and explained the phenomenon by the hypothesis of dense masses of cloud hiding the sun. Others (Paulus, De Wette, etc.) have suggested a darkening such as is wont to precede an earthquake. To the evangelist the event probably appeared supernatural. . . , Origen and many after him restrict the reference to Palestine. The fragment of the Gospel of Peter limits it to Judaea ( . ). In the thought of the evangelist the expression had probably a wider though indefinite range of meaning, the whole earth (Weiss) or the whole Roman world (Grotius). . : the end as exactly indicated as the beginning, another sign of historicity. The fact stated probably interested the evangelist as an emblem of the spiritual eclipse next to be related.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mat 27:45-54

45Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour. 46About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” 47And some of those who were standing there, when they heard it, began saying, “This man is calling for Elijah.” 48Immediately one of them ran, and taking a sponge, he filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink. 49But the rest of them said, ” Let us see whether Elijah will come to save Him.” 50And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. 51And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split. 52The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; 53and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many. 54Now the centurion, and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, became very frightened and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

Mat 27:45 “from the sixth hour. . .until the ninth hour” This refers to Roman time (i.e., noon to 3 p.m.). It is often difficult to know, especially in John’s gospel, if the time designations are referring to Roman time, which begins at dawn, or Jewish time which begins at evening. Here it is obvious.

“darkness” Darkness was one of the plagues on Egypt which turned into a covenant curse if God’s commands were not kept (cf. Exo 10:21 ff; Deu 28:29; Joe 2:10; and Amo 8:9). Theologically, it was a symbol of God’s turning away from His Son as He bore the sins of the world. This personal spiritual separation, as well as the burden of all the sins of all mankind, was what Jesus feared most.

Mat 27:46 “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani”Jesus combines Hebrew and Aramaic words from Psa 22:1. Matthew and Mark (Mar 15:34) use slightly different words. Matthew translates them for his readers, who spoke only Aramaic. From Mat 27:47 it is obvious Jesus’ words were misunderstood by the crowd gathered to watch the crucifixion.

“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me” These are the first words of Psalms 22. By quoting them Jesus wants to bring to His hearers’minds the complete Psalm. Jesus was experiencing separation from God, the last great experience of sinful mankind (cf. Gal 3:13; 2Co 5:21). However, the Psalm also expresses faith in YHWH’s faithfulness!

Mat 27:47 “This man is calling for Elijah” Elijah was to be the precursor of the Messiah (cf. Mal 4:5). It is probable that Jesus’ Aramaic “Eloi” (cf. Mar 15:34) or possibly “Eliya” sounded like the name of the prophet.

Mat 27:48

NASB, NKJV,

NRSV”sour wine”

TEV”cheap wine”

NJB”vinegar”

This was the cheap wine that the soldiers drank. Offering this wine was not an act of compassion on the part of the soldiers, but a way to prolong the agony of the crucifixion. Jesus took some because His mouth was so dry that He could not speak (cf. Psa 22:15). This may have fulfilled Psa 69:21

Mat 27:49 At this point there is another added phrase from Joh 19:34. It is absent in the ancient Greek uncial manuscripts A, D, K, and the Greek texts of Origen, Jerome, and Augustine, but present in , B, C, and L. It is hard to decide on the originality of this passage because (1) it seems to be an assimilation from John; (2) it seems to be out of chronological order; yet (3) it is present in several good manuscripts. Was Jesus pierced before He died? The UBS4 gives the shorter text a “B” rating (almost certain). In the context of Matthew, Jesus had not died yet!

Mat 27:50 “Jesus cried out again with a loud voice” Compare Joh 19:30; Psa 22:15; Luk 23:46; Psa 31:5.

Mat 27:51 “the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom” This was the veil which separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies, called the inner veil (cf. Exo 26:31-35). This act by God indicated that the way was now open for all to come to God! It was torn from the top, which symbolized God’s act of removing barriers to His presence and making Himself accessible to all people.

Mat 27:52 “the tombs were opened” This was caused by the earthquake (cf. Mat 27:54). Exactly when the people came back to life is uncertain. This resuscitation seems linked to Jesus’ resurrection (cf. Mat 27:53). But the text seems to place the event at Jesus’ death. There is ambiguity here as to who, when, where and why. This information is unique to Matthew.

“saints” See Special Topic below.

SPECIAL TOPIC: SAINTS

“who had fallen asleep” Sleep is an OT euphemism for death (i.e., used mostly in Kings and Chronicles). This is not a proof-text for the theory of “soul sleep.” The Scripture must be interpreted in light of the meaning of the words to the first hearers/readers!

Mat 27:54

NASB, NKJV”Truly this was the Son of God!”

NRSV”Truly the man was God’s Son!”

TEV”He really was the Son of God!”

NJB”In truth this was a son of God!”

There is no article with “son.” This soldier was surely impressed by all that happened. He asserts Jesus was “a son of God.” However, in the parallel in Luk 23:47 he is proclaiming Jesus as ” righteous” or “innocent.” The irony is that this Roman soldier saw what the Jewish leaders did not (cf. Mat 27:19; Joh 1:11).

This is literally “this man was a son of God.” The image of God in mankind has been restored! Intimate fellowship is again possible. However the absence of the article does not automatically mean it is not definite (cf. Mat 4:3; Mat 4:6; Mat 14:33; Mat 27:43; and Luk 4:3; Luk 4:9). This was a hardened Roman soldier. He had seen many men die (cf. Mat 27:54). This may be “the focal passage” of Mark because this Gospel was specifically written to Romans. Mark’s Gospel has many Latin words and very few OT quotes. Also Jewish customs and Aramaic phrases are translated and explained. Here is a Roman centurion professing faith in a crucified Jewish insurrectionist!

It is possibly purposeful that passers by, chief priests, and even fellow prisoners mock Jesus, but a Roman centurion responds in affirmation and awe!

SPECIAL TOPIC: THE SON OF GOD

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

the sixth hour. Noon. See App-165.

there was darkness. No human eyes must gaze on the Lord’s last hours.

land. Greek. ge. App-109.

unto = until. See App-165.

the ninth hour. 3pm. See App-165.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

45-50.] SUPERNATURAL DARKNESS. LAST WORDS, AND DEATH OF JESUS. Mar 15:33-37. Luk 23:44-46. Joh 19:28-30. The three accounts are here and there very closely allied; Matthew and Mark almost verbally. Luke only, however, contains the words which the Lord uttered before he expired,-omits the incident which takes up our Mat 27:46-49, and inserts here the rending of the veil. John is entirely distinct.

45]. According to Mar 15:25, it was the third hour when they crucified Him. If so, He had been on the cross three hours, which in April would answer to about the same space of time in our day-i.e. from 9-12 A.M. On the difficulty presented by Johns declaration ch. Mat 19:14, see notes there and on Mark.

] This was no eclipse of the sun, for it was full moon at the time-nor any partial obscuration of the sun such as sometimes takes place before an earthquake-for it is clear that no earthquake in the ordinary sense of the word is here intended. Those whose belief leads them to reflect WHO was then suffering, will have no difficulty in accounting for these signs of sympathy in Nature, nor in seeing their applicability. The consent, in the same words, of all three Evangelists, must silence all question as to the universal belief of this darkness as a fact; and the early Fathers (Julius Africanus, in Routh, Reliq. Sacr. ii. p. 297 f.: Tertull. Apol. c. 21, vol. i. p. 401: Origen c. Cels. ii. 33, vol. i. p. 414: Euseb. in Chronicon. Cf. Wordsw. h. l.) appeal to profane testimony for its truth. The omission of it in Johns Gospel is of no more weight than the numerous other instances of such omission. See Amo 8:9-10.

] Whether these words are to be taken in all their strictness is doubtful. Of course, the whole globe cannot be meant-as it would be night naturally over half of it. The question is, are we to understand that part of it over which there was day? I believe we are; but see no strong objection to any limitation, provided the fact itself, as happening at Jerusalem, is distinctly recognized. This last is matter of testimony, and the three Evangelists are pledged to its truth: the present words cannot stand on the same ground, not being matter of testimony properly so called.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Mat 27:45. , all) The whole of our planet is meant; for the sun itself was darkened.[1199]- , until the ninth hour) A three hours full of mystery. Psalms 8, in the third verse of which the omission of mention of the sun agrees with the darkness here spoken of, may be aptly compared with this period of dereliction and darkness.

[1199] There are some who think that this was the same Eclipse as that which was noted by Phlegon [Trallianus] and others of the ancients, or even as that one, the traces of which are now found among the [traditions of the] Chinese. Whatever degree of plausibility there may be in this, they are convicted of error by far stronger arguments, since, in fact, they must thus thrust forward the passion of Christ beyond the thirtieth year of the Dionys. era.-Harm., p. 571.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

Mat 27:45-61

6. DEATH AND BURIAL OF JESUS

Mat 27:45-61

45-50 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness.-The supernatural darkness continued three hours, from noon until three o’clock in the afternoon. The Jews divided the daylight into twelve parts. This darkness is mentioned also by Mark and Luke, but is omitted in John’s record. The Passover always occurred at the full moon, when an eclipse of the sun is physically impossible, as the course of the moon is in the opposite part of the heaven. We do not know any physical cause for this darkness; we only know it to be a fact, whether or not we ever can determine the physical causes for this darkness. How widely this darkness extended is not told except it was “over all the land until the ninth hour”; certainly it was over the country around Jerusalem. Darkness was typical of the powers of darkness which seemed to be prevailing; it was also typical of the great sufferings of the atoning for sin and the dark hour of sin and depravity that could crucify God’s beloved Son it could also typify the darkness of sin over all the earth, which was to be dispelled by the cross of Jesus and by his resurrection from the dead, when he brought light and life by his resurrection.

About the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice.-This was three o’clock in the afternoon at the time when the lamb for the daily evening offering was sacrificed. (Mar 15:34-41 Luk 23:45-49 Joh 19:28-37.) At this time Jesus cried with a loud voice and said, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” This is part of the twenty-second Psalm. This cry classes itself with the agonies of Gethsemane in the point that both involve the deep mysteries of the atonement-those which pertain to the mutual relations of the Father and the Son in those sufferings and that death under which his blood was shed for the “remission of sins.” We cannot fathom the depth of the wisdom of God in thus giving his Son as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. Jesus here applied Psa 22:1 to himself as prophetic; it is uttered by him to show that he is enduring an intolerable agony, deeper than any external affliction. We have seven recorded statements that Jesus made while on the cross. We cannot determine the exact chronological order of these seven utterances. Some think that this one was the fourth in order. Those who stood by and heard did not understand the language and thought that he called for Elijah. The mistake may easily have been made by some one sitting near, as the words resembled the sound of the name of Elias in Hebrew. The boldness which had prompted them to taunt Jesus had vanished, and hearing him cry out at this time, they may have expected in terror that the fiery prophet would descend in the chariot of fire to carry him away; hence, “one of them ran, and took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink.” This was done in kindness, and seems to show that his enemies had quailed before the darkness. He had also said, “I thirst,” and some one ran to relieve it. Some one filled the sponge with sour wine or vinegar, such as the soldiers used, and putting it upon a reed of hyssop, so as to reach his lips, as he hung on the cross, gave it to him to quench the dreadful feverish thirst which he endured. John says, “There was set there a vessel full of vinegar.” (Joh 19:29.) It did not have the qualities that stupefy and shorten life; hence when it was presented to him, he drank it. Some of them said, “Let us see whether Elijah cometh to save him.” Their attitude toward Jesus is now changed and they begin to fear. “Jesus cried again with a loud voice, and yielded up his spirit.” Jesus uttered the words, “It is finished” (Joh 19:30), and then, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit” (Luk 23:46). His work, his agony, his sacrifice, were finished. His humiliation, the work of redemption, the types and prophecies, the imperfect covenant of the Mosaic law, the faith and patience of the saints, the great power of sin and Satan, the curse lifted-all were finished. The soul of Jesus was not taken from him by necessity as our lives are (Joh 10:18); he died for the sins of the world; he gave his life a ransom for many.

51-56 And behold, the veil of the temple was rent.-We have a description of the veil of the tabernacle in Exo 26:31-33. This veil divided the tabernacle into two parts as the veil of the temple divided it into two parts, the holy place and the most holy. This veil was rent by the tempest and concussion of the earthquake. This signified the breaking down of the partition wall between Jew and Gentile, and the opening of the way for all men into the innermost recesses of the true temple, which is the church of God. It also signified the opening of those heavenly regions that the Holy Spirit should come down to bless men; and finally, it showed the desertion of the temple by Jehovah and the end of the Jewish covenant. It was divided into two pieces. About this time of day the priest was burning incense before the holy of holies, and must have witnessed it. “The earth did quake”; an earthquake is a violent quaking or concussion of the earth, accompanied by fearful rending of it in various places, and tempestuous winds in the air. The rending of the rocks by this earthquake opened the tombs of certain saints, “and many bodies of the saints that had fallen asleep were raised.” The opening of graves occurred at the moment that Jesus died, while the resurrection and visible appearance in the city of the bodies of the saints occurred “after his resurrection.” Matthew mentions the last event here because it is associated with the rending of the rocks, which opened the rock-hewn sepulchres in which the bodies of the saints had been placed. No one knows what became of the saints that were raised. Some think that they lived again in the flesh as did Lazarus and others who had been raised from the dead, while others think that they ascended to heaven. Matthew is the only historian that records this event. The scripture frequently speaks of death as asleep. (Deu 31:16; Joh 11:11.)

Now the centurion, and they that were with him watching Jesus, when they saw the earthquake, and the things that were done, feared exceedingly.-It is not stated that the centurion knew anything about what had occurred to the tombs. The “centurion” was a Roman officer over a hundred soldiers his duty on this occasion was to watch the bodies of the crucified until they were entirely dead. Not only the centurion, but those “that were with him” were awe-stricken and said, “Truly this was the Son of God.” There were many of them and many exclamations. Luke records that the centurion glorified God and said, “Certainly this was a righteous man.” (Luk 23:47.) This language seems to intimate that he had some knowledge of the true God; we have in him a disinterested witness to the divine character of our Lord which is invaluable. He was a plain man, a soldier and a heathen, he had no prejudices to mislead him or bias him even in favor of Jesus; he gave his unsolicited testimony to the divinity of Jesus from what he saw at the crucifixion.

And many women were there beholding from afar.-These women had followed him from Galilee and had ministered unto him. This company of women, of which frequent mention is made, were relatives of some of his disciples. (Luk 22:49, Joh 19:25.) Their sex protected them from the dangers to which men might have been exposed; a few of them stood with the mother of Jesus near the cross. They remained “last at the cross” with John. It was fitting that this sex which had originally led the way to our common misery away from God should follow to the last Jesus who had taken flesh of them to expiate our common sin. Woman was the first to sin and to lead man to sin, but she was the last at the cross and the first at the empty tomb, and the first to bear the good news that Jesus had been raised from the dead. Among these women were “Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.” Jesus had cast seven demons out of Mary Magdalene; this Mary was probably the wife of Cleophas, or Clopas (Joh 19:25). There is much division of opinion as to the identity of some of these persons. The mother of Zebedee’s children was Salome, and the mother of the apostles James and John. Mary, the mother of Jesus, was with them; they were “faithful unto death.”

57-61 And when even was come.-At about five o’clock in the afternoon before sunset “a rich man from Arimathaea, named Joseph” went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus to bury it, he came to the cross and found that Jesus was dead, and then went in to the city to Pilate. “Arimathaea” was the same as the Old Testament town “Ramathaim-zo-phim,” which was the birthplace of Samuel. (1Sa 1:19.) Joseph was a pious man and highly spoken of by the writers of the gospel. He was “a councillor of honorable estate” (Mar 15:43), and “himself was looking for the kingdom of God”; he went boldly to Pilate and asked for the body. He was a good man and opposed the wickedness of his fellow councillors (Luk 23:51), and was, with an allowed prudence, a disciple of Jesus. (Joh 19:38.) He dared not remove the body of Jesus without permission; he knew the feeling of all parties and was probably a man entitled to the respect of Governor Pilate. It was usual to leave the bodies of those who were crucified to decay in the places where they died. Pilate granted him the permission to take the body from the cross and make such disposition of it as he wished.

And Joseph took the body, and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth.-The body of a dead person was rolled in swaths of linen; Nicodemus joined him and brought with him servants bearing “a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds.” (Joh 19:39.) There was so little time left before the Sabbath-Saturday-that thy hastily disposed of the body, intending to supply the other necessary things on the first day of the week; so they returned from the sepulchre and made preparations to that effect. (Luk 23:56; Luk 24:1.) The body was placed in Joseph’s “own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock.” This tomb stood in a garden or enclosed place and was very near the place of crucifixion. It was a new tomb, and judging by the size of it, there was room for only a single body. It had two portions, an outer chamber or vault, and an inner one which was narrow and smaller, where the body was placed. There could be no mistake as to the resurrection; it was a solid rock, a new tomb without other bodies, and sealed and guarded by soldiers. It was impossible to remove the body by force or deception. In this burial a prophecy was fulfilled, which seemed strange that it should be spoken of one “numbered with the transgressors” (Isa 53:12), that he should make his grave with the rich. A “great stone” was rolled against the door or entrance of the tomb.

This act of Joseph is remembered for his thoughtfulness and love for the Master. He was “a good and righteous man” (Luk 23:50); he was “looking for the kingdom of God” (Mar 15:43; Luk 23:51); he became a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews he did not openly follow him (Joh 19:38). The scenes around the cross seem to have kindled in him new life and he summoned courage to perform this public act of service. “And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre.” These women were present to note the place of the burial and to give expression to their grief; they probably remained till sunset or the close of the day. They simply watched the tomb for a while and then went home to prepare spices and ointment for the completion of the embalming, and then rested over the Sabbath day, when they could perform their own service of love to the body.

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

the Broken Heart and the Rent Veil

Mat 27:45-56

With hushed hearts we stand in the presence of that sight. It is the tragedy of time; the one supreme act of self-surrender; the unique unapproachable sacrifice and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world. It is here that myriads of sin-sick, terror-stricken souls, in every century, have found refuge. It is here that martyrs have been made strong to endure. It is here that Jacobs ladder rested, in the lower places of the earth, for He that ascended is the same also that first descended into the lower parts of the earth. He became obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross. Wherefore. See Php 2:8.

The centurion had seen other crucified ones die, but never one like this. He recognized the superhuman elements of the scene. But for us, the emotions of this hour are not those of wonder, but of loving gratitude and faith. He loved me He gave Himself up for me, Gal 2:20.

Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary

Chapter 89

Three Hours of Darkness

Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias. And straightway one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink. The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him. Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God. And many women were there beholding afar off, which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him: Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedees children.

(Mat 27:45-56)

Yonder, amazing sight! I see

Th incarnate Son of God

Expiring on th cursed tree,

And weltering in His blood.

Behold, a purple torrent run

Down from His hands and head,

The crimson tide puts out the sun;

His groans awake the dead.

The trembling earth, the darkend sky,

Proclaim the truth aloud;

And with th amazed centurion, cry,

This is the Son of God!

So great, so vast a sacrifice

May well my hope revive:

If Gods own Son thus bleeds and dies,

The sinner sure may live.

Oh that these cords of love divine

Might draw me, Lord, to Thee!

Thou hast my heart, it shall be Thine!

Thine it shall ever be!

Samuel Stennett

In the verses before us we have Matthews account of our Saviors last three hours of agony upon the cursed tree, the last three hours of torture he endured for us as our Substitute, because he was made sin for us. This inspired narrative should always be read with reverence, with hearts broken over sin, and yet rejoicing at the forgiveness of sin obtained at such a price. May God the Holy Spirit sanctify our eyes, our hearts, and our minds as we attempt to meditate upon our Lords sufferings and to worship him who suffered all the hell of Gods holy wrath for us. After suffering the wrath of God as our Substitute, in his body, in his soul, and in his spirit, the Lord Jesus Christ became obedient unto death and yielded up the ghost. Everything in these verses is simply remarkable, utterly amazing!

The Darkness

Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour (Mat 27:45). First, Matthew calls our attention to a remarkable darkness that covered the land. This was not a natural solar eclipse, but a supernatural one, an eclipse specifically performed by God on this occasion. It was an eclipse that the prophet Amos prophesied. It shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord God, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day (Amo 8:9). It lasted for three hours. And it was attested to by men in other parts of the world who had no idea what was going on in Jerusalem. One Dionysius, living in Egypt at the time, said, Either the Divine Being suffers, or suffers with him that suffers, or the frame of the world is dissolving. This was a remarkable eclipse, lasting three hours. From high noon until three oclock, the sun refused to shine. Thus, the Lord God gives a vivid, symbolic display of four things.

1st. The darkness covering the land indicates the heinousness of the crime being committed. Wicked men were murdering the Lord of Glory! Though our Savior died and was slaughtered by the hands of wicked men exactly according to the purpose, will, and decree of God for the salvation of his elect, Gods decrees did in no way excuse their sin in crucifying him.

2nd. The darkness indicated the blackness, darkness, and blindness of mens hearts by nature. No impression was made upon these men, though God performed miracles, unheard of before or since, all around them. The fact is, mans heart by nature is so blind that no acts of providence, either in goodness or in judgment, can be seen by him, unless God takes the scales off his eyes.

3rd. Surely, this darkness was designed to declare the emptiness and darkness of Christless religion. Judaism had become mere ritualism. As such it was altogether darkness. Religion without Christ, without life, without faith is darkness, no matter how orthodox it appears.

4th. The darkness covering the earth was reflective of the darkness that passed upon and engulfed our Saviors holy soul, when he was made to be sin for us. When the Light of the world was made sin, darkness flooded the world as darkness flooded his soul.

Christ Forsaken

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? (Mat 27:46). Second, the Holy Spirit inspired Matthew to record the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ was forsaken by his Father.

And about the ninth hour, about three oclock in the afternoon, which was about the time of the slaying and offering of the daily sacrifice, which was an eminent type of Christ, Jesus cried with a loud voice, as one in great distress. In great darkness for three hours he had been silent, patiently bearing all the torment of his Fathers furious wrath in utter abandonment, and all the assaults of hell. Who can imagine the anguish of his soul? At last, he breaks out in a cry of terrible agony, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

Here our Savior speaks as a man, the man chosen, made, ordained, and anointed by God with the oil of gladness above his fellows. As a man, our Lord was upheld and strengthened by the Father, just as we are. As a man, he trusted God, loved him, and prayed to him, just as we do; only he did so perfectly, without sin! Though now the Father hid his face from him, still he expresses strong faith in him and love for him.

When he is said to be, forsaken of God, the meaning is not that he was separated from the love of God, or did not know the reason for his abandonment. Our Surety now stood in our place, bearing our sins. He, therefore, had to endure abandonment by God the Father to satisfy justice.

This cry, My God, my God, Why hast thou forsaken me? expresses the very soul of his sufferings as our Substitute. Indeed, all the wails and howls of the damned in hell to all eternity will fall infinitely short of expressing the evil and bitterness of sin. But here we see how vile a thing sin is. When God found our sin upon his darling Son, he forsook him in wrath! Whenever we read these words, hear them, or think about them My God, my God, Why hast thou forsaken me? we ought to be immediately reminded of the fact that the Lord our God is infinitely holy and just. As such, he must and will punish all sin. Our souls should be flooded with a deep appreciation of Gods infinite love, indescribable, everlasting, saving love for us! And we ought to be assured that Gods elect shall never be forsaken, not in this world or in the world to come.

Utterly Forsaken

My God, my God, Why hast thou forsaken me? These are the words of our blessed Savior when he hung upon the cursed tree as our Substitute, when he who knew no sin was made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. At the apex of his obedience, at the time of his greatest sorrow, in the hour of his greatest need, the Lord Jesus cried out to his Father, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? If we look at Psalms 22, where the Holy Spirit gives us the agonizing cries of our Redeemer in greater detail prophetically, we will find him answering his own heart-rending cry.

My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent. But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel (Mat 27:1-3).

How utterly forsaken he was! So utterly forsaken that the Father refused to hear the cries of his own darling Son in the hour of his greatest need. Why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent. I read those words with utter astonishment. I will not attempt to explain what I cannot imagine. But these things are written here for our learning that we might through patience and consolation of the Scriptures have hope. And I hang all the hope of my immortal soul upon this fact. When the Lord Jesus Christ was made sin for me, he was utterly forsaken of God and put to death as my Substitute; and by his one great, sin-atoning Sacrifice he has forever put away my sins. He not only bore our sins in his body on the tree, he bore them away!

The Reason

In Psa 22:3 our holy Savior, when he was made sin for us, answers the cry of his own souls agony. He cried, My God, my God, Why hast thou forsaken me? But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. Why was the Lord Jesus forsaken by his Father when he was made sin for us? Because the holy Lord God is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity. Our Savior was forsaken by the Father when he was made sin for us, because justice demanded it. Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity (Hab 1:13).

Here, as he was dying under the wrath of God, our great Substitute justified God in his own condemnation, because he was made sin for us. He proclaims the holiness of God in the midst of his agony. He is so pure, so holy, so righteous, so just that he will by no means clear the guilty (Exo 34:7), even when the guilty One is his own darling Son! Rather than that his holy character be slighted, our Surety must suffer and die, because he was made sin for us.

Our Savior had no sin of his own. He was born without original sin, being even from birth that Holy One (Luk 1:35). Throughout his life, he knew no sin (2Co 5:21), did no sin (1Pe 2:22), and in him is no sin (1Jn 3:5). But on Calvary the holy Lord God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him (2Co 5:21). Just as in the incarnation the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us (Joh 1:14), in substitution he who was made flesh was made sin for us.

I do not know how God could be made flesh and never cease to be God; but he was. I do not know how God could die and yet never die; but he did (Act 20:28). And I do not know how Christ who knew no sin could be made sin and yet never have sinned; but he was. These things are mysteries beyond the reach of human comprehension. But they are facts of divine revelation to which we bow with adoration.

Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias (Mat 27:47). While darkness covered them, they were apparently terrified and silent; but as soon as it was light again, their fear abated and they resumed their derision of the Son of God.

Christ our Passover was now being roasted in the fire of his Fathers holy wrath. When he cried, I thirst, they gave vinegar to drink. We read in Mat 27:48-49, And straightway one of them ran, and took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink. The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him. He thirsted and drank the bitter vinegar of divine justice, that we might drink of the water of life and never thirst; as John Trapp put it, that we might drink of the water of life, and be sweetly inebriated in that torrent of pleasure that runs at Gods right hand for evermore.

A Self-inflicted Death

Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost (Mat 27:50). Third, the Spirit of God reminds us that our blessed Savior died a remarkable, self-inflicted death. His strength was not abated. His last word was not the gasping breath of a failing life, but the triumphant shout of a conquering King. The Son of God voluntarily laid down his life for his sheep. He did not lose his spirit; he dismissed it! His work was finished. His life was complete. Therefore, he laid it down as a voluntary Surety, vicarious Sufferer, and our victorious Savior. That is exactly how he said he would die (Joh 10:14-18).

I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it 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 of my Father.

The Spirit of God emphasizes the fact that our Savior cried with a loud voice. He did not speak as an exhausted, beaten man, but as a conqueror in the field of battle, carrying away the spoils of his conquests (Col 2:15). He cried aloud, that all on earth, all in heaven, and all in hell might hear, It is finished! What was finished? Redemptions work was finished. The laws curse was finished. Death, hell, and the grave were vanquished. Robert Hawker wrote, The most glorious views of that life and immortality, which Christ first brought to light by his gospel, were seen from the hill of Calvary, brighter than Moses saw on the heights of Pisgah, of the promised land. And that song was sung in heaven, which the beloved apostle heard in vision. Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood (Rev 5:9).

Divine Testimonies

Fourth, the Lord God performed several startling, divine testimonies, declaring that this One who died at Calvary more than two thousand years ago is indeed the Christ of God. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many (Mat 27:51-53). Anyone who considers the miracles that were performed by Gods providence at this time must recognize as the centurion did, that This man was the Son of God!

The miracles wrought by God as his Son laid down his life for us seem to say, These are my witnesses, testifying who I am and what I have accomplished. The veil of the temple rent into two pieces, from the top to the bottom, because the Son of God had now opened a way of access to God by his blood (Heb 9:6-12; Heb 10:19-25). The earthquake and the rending of the rocks were celebrations of this glorious event. And the opening of the graves and the resurrected bodies of the saints were unmistakable displays of wonders of redemption and salvation by the death of Christ. These resurrected saints were visible demonstrations of Christs quickening power, whereby he shall soon raise our vile bodies, and make them like his glorified body, spiritual, immortal, and glorious. Truly, by the death of Christ for us, death is swallowed up in victory!

The Centurions Confession

Fifth, Matthew records a remarkable confession made by one of our Saviors tormentors. Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God (Mat 27:54). As the centurion was compelled to confess, by all the things he saw and heard on that infamous, glorious day, This man was the Son of God, soon, in the great day of wrath, all shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God (Php 2:8-11).

Exemplary Women

Sixth, we see many, faithful, loyal, exemplary women beholding their Savior. And many women were there beholding afar off, which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him. Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedees children (Mat 27:55-56). Let us find our place with these women, beholding Christ crucified for us. Behold him afflicted in his body, in his soul, and in his heart, that he might undo our affliction. Behold him wounded for us, that we might never be wounded. Behold him made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Behold him put to shame for us, that we might never be put to shame. Behold him dying for us, that we might never die. Behold how he loved us!

Sons of peace redeemd by blood,

Raise your songs to Zions God;

Made from condemnation free,

Grace triumphant sing with me.

Calvarys wonders let us trace,

Justice magnified in grace;

Mark the purple streams, and say,

Thus my sins were washd away.

Wrath divine no more we dread,

Vengeance smote our Suretys head;

Legal claims are fully met,

Jesus paid the dreadful debt.

Sin is lost beneath the flood,

Drownd in the Redeemers blood,

Zion, oh! how blest art thou,

Justified from all things now.

John Kent

Fuente: Discovering Christ In Selected Books of the Bible

from: Mar 15:25, Mar 15:33, Mar 15:34, Luk 23:44, Luk 23:45

darkness: That this general darkness was wholly preternatural is evident from this, that it happened at the passover, which was celebrated only at the full moon, a time in which it was impossible for the sun to be eclipsed, natural eclipses happening only at the time of the new moon. – See Introduction to the Comprehensive Bible, p. 59.Isa 50:3, Amo 8:9, Rev 8:12, Rev 9:2

Reciprocal: Gen 1:16 – to rule Exo 10:21 – darkness 2Sa 22:10 – darkness Job 3:4 – darkness Job 38:19 – darkness Isa 9:19 – is the land Jer 2:12 – General Jer 4:28 – the heavens Joe 2:31 – sun Mat 20:5 – sixth Luk 19:40 – General Luk 21:25 – signs Joh 4:6 – the sixth Act 2:20 – sun Act 10:9 – the sixth Rev 6:12 – the sun

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

7:45

The sixth and ninth hours corresponds with our noon and three In the afternoon. This darkness is pre dicted in Joe 2:30-31 and is referred to by Peter in Act 2:19-20. It seems that nature was draped in mourning during the last hours of this human-divine sacrifice. And to add to the gloom, the Father withdrew his comforting grace so that Jesus made a strong outcry, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” In order that the Son of God might make a complete sacrifice, that he might “pour out his soul unto death” (Isa 53:12), he was left unattended in his painful solitude, no soothing hand to calm the nervous agitation with a caressing touch, but, deserted by all his friends and mocked by his enemies, compelled to die for the unjust.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

IN these verses we read the conclusion of our Lord Jesus Christ’s passion. After six hours of agonizing suffering, He became obedient even unto death, and “yielded up the ghost.” Three points in the narrative demand a special notice. To them let us confine our attention.

Let us observe, in the first place, the remarkable words which Jesus uttered shortly before His death, “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?”

There is a deep mystery in these words, which no mortal man can fathom. No doubt they were not wrung from our Lord by mere bodily pain. Such an explanation is utterly unsatisfactory, and dishonorable to our blessed Savior. They were meant to express the real pressure on His soul of the enormous burden of a world’s sins. They were meant to show how truly and literally He was our substitute, was made sin, and a curse for us, and endured God’s righteous anger against a world’s sin in His own person. At that awful moment, the iniquity of us all was laid upon Him to the uttermost. It pleased the LORD to bruise Him, and put Him to grief. (Isa 53:10.) He bore our sins. He carried our transgressions. Heavy must have been that burden, real and literal must have been our Lord’s substitution for us, when He, the eternal Son of God, could speak of Himself as for a time “forsaken.”

Let the expression sink down into our hearts, and not be forgotten. We can have no stronger proof of the sinfulness of sin, or of the vicarious nature of Christ’s sufferings, than His cry, “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me.” It is a cry that should stir us up to hate sin, and encourage us to trust in Christ. [Footnote: The following quotations deserve notice, and throw light on this peculiarly solemn portion of Scripture.

“Our Lord said this, under a deep sense of His Father’s wrath unto mankind, in whose stead He now underwent that which was due for the sins of the whole world. When He said ‘Why hast thou forsaken me,’ He implied that God had for the time withdrawn from Him the sense and vision of His comfortable presence. When He said, ‘My God,’ He implied the strength of His faith whereby He did firmly apprehend the sure and gracious aid of His eternal Father.”-Bishop Hall. “

All the wailings and howlings of the damned to all eternity, will fall infinitely short of expressing the evil and bitterness of sin with such emphasis as these few words, ‘My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me.’ “-Jamieson.]

Let us observe, in the second place, how much is contained in the words which describe our Lord’s end. We are simply told, “He yielded up the ghost.”

There never was a last breath drawn, of such deep import as this. There never was an event on which so much depended. The Roman soldiers, and the gaping crowd around the cross, saw nothing remarkable. They only saw a person dying as others die, with all the usual agony and suffering, which attend a crucifixion. But they knew nothing of the eternal interests which were involved in the whole transaction.

That death discharged in full the mighty debt which sinners owe to God, and threw open the door of life to every believer. That death satisfied the righteous claims of God’s holy law, and enabled God to be just, and yet the justifier of the ungodly. That death was no mere example of self-sacrifice, but a complete atonement and propitiation for man’s sin, affecting the condition and prospects of all mankind. That death solved the hard problem, how God could be perfectly holy, and yet perfectly merciful. It opened to the world a fountain for all sin and uncleanness.-It was a complete victory over Satan, and spoiled him openly. It finished the transgression, made reconciliation for iniquity, and brought in everlasting righteousness.-It proved the sinfulness of sin, when it needed such a sacrifice to atone for it.-It proved the love of God to sinners, when He sent His own Son to make the atonement. Never, in fact, was there, or could there be again, such a death. No wonder that the earth quaked, when Jesus died, in our stead, on the accursed tree. The solid frame of the world might well tremble and be amazed, when the soul of Christ was made an offering for sin. (Isa 53:10.)

Let us observe, in the last place, what a remarkable miracle occurred at the hour of our Lord’s death, in the very midst of the Jewish temple. We are told that “the veil of the temple was rent in twain.” The curtain which separated the holy of holies from the rest of the temple, and through which the high priest alone might pass, was split from top to bottom.

Of all the wonderful signs which accompanied our Lord’s death, none was more significant than this. The mid-day darkness for three hours, must needs have been a startling event. The earthquake, which rent the rocks, must have been a tremendous shock. But there was a meaning in the sudden rending of the veil from top to bottom, which must have pricked the heart of any intelligent Jew. The conscience of Caiaphas, the high priest, must have been hard indeed, if the tidings of that rent veil did not fill him with dismay.

The rending of the veil proclaimed the termination and passing away of the ceremonial law. It was a sign that the old dispensation of sacrifices and ordinances was no longer needed. Its work was done. Its occupation was gone, from the moment that Christ died. There was no more need of an earthly high priest, and a mercy seat, and a sprinkling of blood, and an offering up of incense, and a day of atonement. The true High Priest had at length appeared. The true Lamb of God had been slain. The true mercy seat was at length revealed. The figures and shadows were no longer wanted. May we all remember this! To set up an altar, and a sacrifice, and a priesthood now, is to light a candle at noon-day.

That rending of the veil proclaimed the opening of the way of salvation to all mankind. The way into the presence of God was unknown to the Gentile, and only seen dimly by the Jew, until Christ died. But Christ having now offered up a perfect sacrifice, and obtained eternal redemption, the darkness and mystery were to pass away. All were to be invited now to draw near to God with boldness, and approach Him with confidence, by faith in Jesus. A door was thrown open, and a way of life set before the whole world. May we all remember this! From the time that Jesus died, the way of peace was never meant to be shrouded in mystery. There was to be no reserve. The Gospel was the revelation of a mystery, which had been hid from ages and generations. To clothe religion now with mystery, is to mistake the grand characteristic of Christianity.

Let us turn from the story of the crucifixion, every time we read it, with hearts full of praise. Let us praise God for the confidence it gives us, as to the ground of our hope of pardon. Our sins may be many and great, but the payment made by our Great Substitute far outweighs them all.-Let us praise God for the view it gives us of the love of our Father in heaven. He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, will surely with Him give us all things.-Not least, let us praise God for the view it gives us of the sympathy of Jesus with all His believing people. He can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. He knows what suffering is. He is just the Saviour that an infirm body, with a weak heart, in an evil world, requires.

Fuente: Ryle’s Expository Thoughts on the Gospels

Mat 27:45. Now from the sixth hour. Twelve oclock. The nailing to the cross took place at nine oclock (Mar 15:25 : It was the third hour). John (Joh 19:14) says that it was about the sixth hour, when Pilate presented our Lord to the people for the last time. Whatever be the explanation of that passage, we accept the accuracy of the verse before us, confirmed by the statements of Mark and Luke. From midday to three oclock in the afternoon, usually the brightest part of the day, there was a darkness. Besides the testimony of the three Evangelists, early Christian writers speak of it and appeal to heathen testimony to support the truth. It could not have been an ordinary eclipse, for the moon was full that day. Although an earthquake followed (Mat 27:51), yet even that was no ordinary earthquake, and the obscuration was too entire and too long continued to be the darkness which often precedes an earthquake. It was a miraculous occurrence designed to exhibit the amazement of nature and or the God of nature at the wickedness of the crucifixion of Him who is the light of the world and the sun of righteousness. To deny its supernatural character seems to impair this design. If Jesus of Nazareth is what the Gospels represent Him to be, the needs of humanity ask Him to be, and the faith of the Christian finds Him to be, the supernatural here seems natural.

Over all the land. Possibly only the whole land of Judea; the main point being the fact in Jerusalem. Still it may refer to the whole world, i.e., where it was day, especially as the heathen notices of what is generally supposed to be the same event, justify an extension beyond Judea. Heubner : Suidas relates that Dionysius the Areopagite (then a heathen), saw the eclipse in Egypt, and exclaimed: Either God is suffering, and the world sympathizes with Him, or else the world is hurrying to destruction.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Observe here, 1. How the rays of Christ’s divinity,, and the glory of his godhead, break out and shine forth in the midst of that infirmity which his human nature laboured under. He shows himself to be the God of nature, by altering the course of nature. The sun is eclipsed and darkness overspreads the earth, for three hours; namely, from twelve o’clock to three. Thus the sun in the firmament becomes close mourner at our Lord’s death, and the whole frame of nature puts itself into a funeral habit.

Observe, 2. That the chief of Christ’s sufferings consisted in the suffering of his soul; the distress of his spirit was more intolerable than the torments of his body, as appears by his mournful complaint, My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me? Being the first words of the 22nd psalm; Psa 22:1, and some conceive that he repeated that whole psalm, it being an admirable narrative of the colours of his passion.

Learn hence, that the Lord Jesus Christ, when suffering for our sins, was really deserted for a time, and left destitute of all sensible consolation. Why has thou forsaken me?

Learn farther, That under this desertion Christ despaired not, but still retained a firm persuasion of God’s him. My God, my God, These are words of faith and affiance, striving under temptation. Christ was thus forasaken for us, that we might never be forsaken by God; yet by God’s forsaking of Christ, is not to be understood any abatement of divine love, but only a withdrawing from the human nature the sense of his love, and a letting out upon his soul a deep afflicting sense of his displeasure which God utterly forsake a man, both as to grace and glory, being wholly cast out of God’s presence, and adjudged to eternal torments; this was not compatible to Christ, nor agreeable to the dignity of his person.

But there is a partial and temporary desertion, when God for a little moment hides his face from his children: now this was both agreeable to the dignity of Christ’s nature, and also suitable to his office, who was to satisfy the justice of God for our forsaking of him, and to bring us near to him, that we might be received forever.

Observe lastly, What a miraculous evidence Christ gave of his divinity instantly before he gave up the ghost. He cried with a loud voice. This showed that he did not die according to the ordinary course of nature, gradually departing and drawing on, as we express it. No, his life was whole in him, and nature as strong at last as at first. Other men die gradually, and towards their end their sense of pain is much blunted; they faulter, fumble, and die by degrees: his life was whole in him. This was evident by the mighty outcry he made when he gave up the ghost, contrary to the sense and experience of all ather persons; this argued him to be full of strength. And he that could cry with such a loud voice (in articulo mortis) as he did, could have kept himself from dying, if he would.

Hence we learn, That when Christ died, he rather conquered death, than was conquered by death. He must voluntarily and freely lay down his life, before death could come at him. He yielded up the ghost. O! wonderful sight; the Lord of life hangs dead, dead on the accursed tree. O! severe and inexorable justice in God! O! amazing and astonishing love in Christ! love beyond expression, beyond conception, beyond all comprehension! with what comparison shall we compare it? Verily, with nothing but itself; never was love like thine.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Mat 27:45. Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour From mid-day till three in the afternoon with us, (see note on Mat 20:1,) there was darkness over all the land Or, over all the earth, as the original expression, , is more literally rendered in the Vulgate, and understood by many learned men; the sun being darkened, says Grotius, as Luke informs us, not by the interposition of the moon, which was then full, nor by a cloud spread over the face of the sky, but in some way unknown to mankind. It is true, the same expression sometimes evidently signifies only all the land, as Luk 4:25, where it is so translated. It seems, however, highly probable, if the darkness did not extend to the whole earth, or, to speak more properly, to the whole hemisphere, (it being night in the opposite one,) it extended to all the neighbouring countries. This extraordinary alteration in the face of nature was peculiarly proper, says Dr. Macknight, while the Sun of righteousness was withdrawing his beams from the land of Israel, and from the world, not only because it was a miraculous testimony borne by God himself to his innocence, but also because it was a fit emblem of his departure, and its effects, at least till his light shone out anew with additional splendour, in the ministry of the apostles. The darkness which now covered Judea, together with the neighbouring countries, beginning about noon and continuing till Jesus expired, was not the effect of an ordinary eclipse of the sun; for that can never happen except when the moon is about the change, whereas now it was full moon; not to mention that total darknesses occasioned by eclipses of the sun never continue above twelve or fifteen minutes. Wherefore it must have been produced by the divine power, in a manner we are not able to explain. The Christian writers, in their most ancient apologies to the heathen, while they affirm that, as it was full moon at the passover, when Christ was crucified, no such eclipse could happen by the course of nature; they observe, also, that it was taken notice of as a prodigy by the heathen themselves. To this purpose, we have still remaining the words of Phlegon, the astronomer and freedman of Adrian, cited by Origen, (Contra Cels., p. 83,) at a time when his book was in the hands of the public. That heathen author, in treating of the fourth year of the 202d Olympiad, which is supposed to be the year in which our Lord was crucified, tells us, That the greatest eclipse of the sun which was ever known happened then; for the day was so turned into night, that the stars in the heavens were seen. If Phlegon, as Christians generally suppose, is speaking of the darkness which accompanied our Lords crucifixion, it was not circumscribed within the land of Judea, but must have been universal. This many learned men have believed, particularly Huet, Grotius, Gusset, Reland, and Alphen. Tertullian (Apol., cap. 21.) says that this prodigious darkening of the sun was recorded in the Roman archives; for, says he, at the same moment, about noontide, the day was withdrawn; and they, who knew not that this was foretold concerning Christ, thought it was an eclipse. And Eusebius, in his Chronicle, at the eighteenth year of Tiberius, says, Christ suffered this year, in which time we find in other commentaries of the heathen, these words: There was a defection of the sun: Bithynia was shaken with an earthquake; and many houses fell down in the city of Nice. And then he proceeds to the testimony of Phlegon. See Whitby.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

CXXXIII.

THE CRUCIFIXION.

Subdivision C.

DARKNESS THREE HOURS. AFTER FOUR MORE SAYINGS,

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 Csarea ( 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 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]

Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)

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, Salems 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 oclock, 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 sinners 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.

Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament

Mat 27:45-56. The Death of Jesus (Mar 15:33-41*, Luk 23:44-49).

Mat 27:48 f. is to be preferred to Mar 15:36. vv. Mat 27:51-53 is found only in Mt., and may have as its basis Eze 37:12.after his resurrection: a still later insertion to fit the statement that Christ was the first fruits of them that sleep. We can hardly suppose that the original account of the miracle represented them as staying alive in their tombs from Friday afternoon till Sunday morning. The phrase the holy city (cf. Mat 4:5) is picturesque. By the saints the writer probably meant devout Jews of the type of Simeon (Luke 2), or even patriarchs, prophets, and martyrs. According to Mt. not only the centurion but his comrades were impressedbut by the earthquake.

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

Verse 45

The ninth hour; about the middle of the afternoon.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

27:45 {12} Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.

(12) Heaven itself is darkened for very horror, and Jesus cries out from the depth of hell, and all during this time he is being mocked.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

The death of Jesus 27:45-50 (cf. Mar 15:33-37; Luk 23:44-46; Joh 19:28-30)

Matthew now turned his spotlight away from the observers of Jesus to Jesus Himself.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

That "land" (Gr. ge) became abnormally dark from noon until 3:00 p.m. This was quite clearly an abnormal, literal darkening of the sky. It could not have resulted from a solar eclipse since the Passover was celebrated at full moon. [Note: F. F. Bruce, Jesus and Christian Origins outside the New Testament, pp. 29-30.] Matthew’s use of ge probably implies Israel as well. Darkness in Scripture often represents judgment and or tragedy (cf. Amo 8:9-10). Compare the three days of darkness in Egypt (Exo 10:21-23) and the three hours of darkness here. Matthew’s description of the setting "conveys a strong sense of impending disaster." [Note: Kingsbury, Matthew as . . ., p. 28.] This was a judgment on Israel and its people, but it was also a judgment on Jesus. His cry of desolation came out of this darkness (Mat 27:46). This was a time of judgment on Jesus for the sins of all humanity.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

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