THE CRUCIFIXION
Subdivision C
DARKNESS THREE HOURS
AFTER FOUR MORE SAYINGS, JESUS EXPIRES. STRANGE EVENTS ATTENDING HIS DEATH. MATT. 27:45-56
MARK 15:33-41
LUKE 23:44-49
JOHN 19:28-30
My summary: Jesus is crucified. He's taunted by those around him and several women sit in the distance watching. He's offered wine but refuses. Significantly, he "offers up his spirit" upon his death. Multiple signs occur at this point: the veil in the temple is split, tombs crack open and spirits arise (then or after his resurrection), earthquakes rock the land, and there is darkness during the day.
Lots of thoughts and commentary from others:
http://www.artway.eu/content.php?id=767&lang=en&action=show
"Climactically Mark recorded five phenomena that accompanied Jesus’ death: (a) darkness (Mar_15:33), (b) Jesus’ cry, “My God…” (Mar_15:34), (c) Jesus’ loud cry (Mar_15:37), (d) the temple curtain torn from top to bottom (Mar_15:38), and (e) the Roman centurion’s confession (Mar_15:39)." -BKC
"Some Jewish bystanders apparently misunderstood or more likely, as a mockery, deliberately misinterpreted Jesus’ cry as a call to Elijah. Popular Jewish belief held that Elijah came in times of distress to deliver righteous sufferers."-BKC
"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 coming." -Fourfold
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| The Isenheim Altarpiece, Matthias Grunewald |
"Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last." -Luke 23:46
"Jesus’ loud cry (Luk_23:46) before He breathed His last indicated that He did not die the ordinary death of one who was crucified (cf. Mar_15:39). Normally such a person suffered extreme exhaustion for a long period (often two or three days) and then lapsed into a coma before dying. But Jesus was fully conscious to the end; His death came voluntarily and suddenly. This accounts for Pilate’s surprise (cf. Mar_15:44).-BKC
"Second, Luke noted that Jesus’ death occurred because He willed it. Breathing His last (Luk_23:46), He voluntarily gave up His life (Joh_10:15, Joh_10:17-18)." - BKC
"John recorded the fifth saying, I am thirsty. The wording in Joh_19:28 indicated that Jesus was fully
conscious and was aware of fulfilling the details of prophecies (Psa_42:1-2; Psa_63:1). The paradox of the One who is the Water of life (Joh_4:14; Joh_7:38-39) dying in thirst is striking." -BKC
"The sixth word or saying that Jesus spoke from the cross was the single Greek work tetelestai which means It is finished. Papyri receipts for taxes have been recovered with the word tetelestai written across them, meaning “paid in full.” This word on Jesus’ lips was significant." -BKC
"The Roman officer probably did not use the phrase “the Son of God” in its distinctive Christian sense, as a reference to Jesus’ deity (cf. Luk_23:47). Because of his pagan background he probably viewed Jesus as an extraordinary “divine man” much like the Roman emperor who was acclaimed “son of God” (cf. comments on Mar_12:16). Consequently some interpreters translate the phrase with an indefinite article, “a son of God” (NIV marg.). However, Mark regarded the declaration in its distinctive Christian sense; the centurion unwittingly said more than he knew." -BKC
"A third event mentioned was recorded only by Matthew. The tombs of many holy (righteous) people (Mat_27:52) were opened, probably at a Jerusalem cemetery. The NIV suggests that these saints were resurrected when Jesus died and then went into Jerusalem after Jesus’ resurrection. A number of commentators agree with this view. Many others, however, say that since Christ is the firstfruits of the dead (1Co_15:23), their resurrection did not occur till He was raised. In this view, the phrase “after Jesus’ resurrection” goes with the words were raised to life and came out of the tombs. This is possible in the Greek, and is suggested in the KJV and the NASB. The tombs, then, broke open at Christ’s death, probably by the earthquake, thus heralding Christ’s triumph in death over sin, but the bodies were not raised till Christ was raised." -BKC
The Fourfold Gospel agrees with the perspective that their resurrection was after Christ's:
"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 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." -Fourfold
"These people returned to Jerusalem, (the Holy City) where they were recognized by friends and family. Like Lazarus (Joh_11:43-44), Jairus’ daughter (Luk_8:52-56), and the widow of Nain’s son (Luk_7:13-15), they too passed through physical death again. Or some say they may have been raised with glorified bodies like the Lord’s. Walvoord suggests this event was “a fulfillment of the Feast of the Firstfruits of harvest mentioned in Lev_23:10-14. On that occasion, as a token of the coming harvest, the people would bring a handful of grain to the priest. The resurrection of these saints, occurring after Jesus Himself was raised, is a token of the coming harvest when all the saints will be raised” (Walvoord, Matthew: Thy Kingdom Come, p. 236). -BKC
"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." -Fourfold
"There were also many women there, looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him, among whom were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph and the mother of the sons of Zebedee." Matthew 27:55-56
"The women, being unable to bear arms in an insurrection, had little to fear. They were not likely to be complicated in the charges against Jesus. But the men were conspicuously absent. They appear to have stood quite close to the cross at one time just before the darkness." -Fourfold
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