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 Ps. xxii. 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 [Ps. xxxi. 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--John
x. 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. ix. 7,
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. i. 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--I. Cor. xv. 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 (Matt. viii. 10) and Cæsarea (Acts x. 1, 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 p.
729), and has shown that he stood with them. 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. Probably they feared violence in the darkness,
and so withdrew and viewed from afar off the scene as lighted by the torches
which the Roman soldiers would be obliged to procure in order to effectually
guard their prisoner (Acts xvi. 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]
