THE LAST WEEK OF JESUS' PUBLIC MINISTRY AND HIS CRUCIFIXION

Three Hours of Darkness, Four More Sayings

-Matthew 27:45-50; Mark 15:33-37; Luke 23:44-46; John 19:28-30

-From the sixth hour (noon) to the ninth hour (3 p.m.), the time of the evening sacrifice, there was

 darkness over all the land.  This was a supernatural darkness rather than a normal eclipse for the

 Passover took place during the full moon and the duration of the darkness outlasted any natural

 eclipse.

      -“An extraordinary light gave intelligence of the birth of Christ (Matt 2:2), and therefore it was

       proper that an extraordinary darkness should notify his death, for he is the Light of the world...

       During the three hours that this darkness continued, we do not find that he said one word, but  

       passed this time in a silent retirement into his own soul, which was now in agony, wrestling with

       the powers of darkness, and taking in the impressions of his Father's displeasure, not against

       himself, but the sin of man, which he was now making his soul an offering for. Never were there

       three such hours since the day that God created man upon the earth, never such a dark and awful  

       scene; the crisis of that great affair of man's redemption and salvation” (Henry). 

      -It seems that the shock of the darkness brought an end to the verbal abuse suffered up to that

       point by our Lord.  “The taunts and jeers of the Jewish priests and the heathen soldiers were

       evidently confined to the earlier hours of the crucifixion...What Jesus suffered then for us men

       and our salvation we cannot know, for during those three hours He hung upon His cross in

       silence and darkness..” (Farrar, pg 411).  “It was doubtless a period during which He

       suffered extreme anguish of spirit and physical pain.  The increasing nameless agonies of

       the crucifixion were deepening more and more with every moment into death.  He was

       forsaken almost wholly by men and felt the sense of a desolate isolation and loneliness”

       (Shepard, pg 601).

            -Yet, as we consider this scene of darkness, we can truly see the Light of our Lord.  For, it

             was for us that He was on the cross.  It was for us that this dark deed of mankind was

             endured and completed.  Because of His death, I can look beyond the darkness of death with

             the bright hope of everlasting life.

-“At the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is,

 being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34).

      -It is important to note that this statement is a quotation of Old Testament scripture - Psalm 22:1.

       As Jesus hung in agony upon that cruel cross, in His mind He reflected upon God’s word. 

      -This statement, actually a question, has been the subject of much discussion and debate down

       through the centuries.  Many have claimed that it demonstrates a separation from the Father

       and the Son - a time when the Father “turned away” from Jesus.  However, such an approach

       contradicts:  1. previous words spoken by Jesus - “Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come,

       that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone : and yet I am not

       alone, because the Father is with me” (John 16:32); 2. the current words of Jesus, “My God, my

       God, why has thou forsaken me?” and 3. words yet to be spoken by Jesus - “Father,

       into thy hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23:46).  These statements reveal an ongoing

       relationship between the Father and Son, a relationship that was not interrupted.

            -“Of course the Son was never more well-pleasing to the Father than in this hour when He

             was voluntarily laying down His life for the redemption of the human race” (Shepard, pg

       602).

-Yet, this question, asked by Jesus, still remains.  “Was Jesus forsaken by the Father as he hung

 suspended upon the cross? Yes, in some sense, most assuredly he was. That is what the Savior’s

 question implies. Certainly no one will suggest that Christ said what he did, knowing such was not

 true. But just what is the meaning of the expression?... Perhaps this: he allowed him to die, to drink

 the full measure of suffering upon the cross, in order that humanity might have a sacrificial offering

 for sin. Could the Father have intervened and rescued Christ from the cross? Surely so; but then all

 of mankind would have been forever lost. Because of his love for us, therefore, he abandoned his

 Son to the fate of Calvary” (Jackson, http://www.christiancourier.com/articles/148-the-haunting-

 question-from-the-cross).

            -Within this sense, we should consider this thought:  When the Father chose between the well-

             being of Jesus or the well-being of us, He chose us.

            -The key might be found in the sense of punishment.  Jesus was experiencing - for the first

             and only time - the wrath of His Heavenly Father.  Never in eternity’s past had He ever

             experienced this nor will He ever do so again in eternity’s future.  How difficult it must have

             been for Jesus to experience wrath from One with Whom He was in complete harmony.

                        -When we are the recipients of persecution or offense, is it more hurtful when the offender

                         is a complete stranger or when the offender is a dear friend?  We hurt the most when

                         hurt by those who are closest to us.  Now consider this:  Jesus was the recipient of the

                         Father’s wrath even though He and the Father were/are one.  (See John 10:30, 17:21.) 

                        -That wrath was about to reach its pinnacle - death.  Think about it, in this sense Deity was

                         about to experience death.  How difficult it must have been for Jesus to endure this unique

                         experience - an experience not found in eternity’s past nor in eternity’s future.

-“The most difficult feature of this entire matter, however, is the fact that the Lord’s utterance was in

 the form of a question. ‘Why?’ the Savior asked. Did he not know why he was suffering upon the

 cross? Certainly so. It was Christ himself who said, ‘[T]he Son of man came not to be ministered

 unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many’ (Matthew 20:28). That brings us back

 to that mysterious ‘Why?’ Why did our Lord ask, ‘Why?’  I must honestly say that I do not have an

 absolute answer. I believe there is more in that anguished cry than any mortal person can hope to

 fathom. When we have analyzed it a dozen different ways, we will come away feeling empty” (ibid).

            -Some who were near the cross either misunderstood the words of Jesus or twisted His words in

             an effort to ridicule Him.  Barnes expresses the latter by saying, “They derided him now, as

             calling upon ‘Elias’ when God would not help him; still keeping up the pretensions to being

             the Messiah, and invoking ‘Elijah’ to come from the dead to aid him.”

-Despite all of His severe suffering, Jesus continued to focus upon the scriptures and the fulfillment

 of them - “After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture

 might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst” (John 19:28).

            -Insatiable thirst was a result of the process of crucifixion.  “The increasing inflammation of

             the wounds, the unnatural position, the forced immobility and the rigidity of the limbs which

             resulted from it, the local congestions, especially in the head, the inexpressible anguish

             resulting from the disturbance of the circulation, a burning fever and thirst tortured the

             condemned without killing him” (Lipscomb, pg 301).

            -We are told that Jesus was given “vinegar” (John 19:29-30) - the common drink of Roman

             soldiers.  “This was not the vinegar mixed with myrrh and gall which Jesus refused to accept

             before the crucifixion (Mark 15:23; Matt. 27:34), but a mixture of sour wine (vinegar) and water

             brought along by the soldiers to quench their own thirst.  A branch of the hyssop plant was

             used to dip the mixture in water and to extend it to Jesus.  The stalks of hyssop were from one

             and a half to three feet in length, and thus the approximate height of Jesus on the cross may by

             this be determined” (Woods, pg 408).

-When Jesus had received the drink, He “cried with a loud voice” (Luke 23:46), “said, It is finished”
 (John 19:30).

            -What a statement!  This summarized all that Jesus had done - all that He had taught, all the

             works that He had performed, all the actions that He had taken, all the persecutions that He

             had suffered - ALL that He had done.  It was 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” (McGarvey/Pendleton, pg 731).

            -“Death thus became the door to the realization of his glory and not the shame which his

             enemies intended” (Woods, pg 408).

-“And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into Thy hands I commit My spirit.’  And

 having said this, He breathed His last” (Luke 23:46, NASB).  His life had not been taken.  Instead, 

 Jesus had voluntarily given His life for mankind in fulfillment of the will of our loving Father.    

-“Let it be remembered that all these sufferings and indignities were borne by Jesus with

 the knowledge that he could speak the word and twelve legions of angels would come to his

deliverance.  He failed to seek the deliverance because his deliverance from death would

 leave man a helpless and lost sinner without a way of escape from ruin.  He bore it all out of

 love to man.  His love for man was so deep and strong that he found more joy in the crown

 of thorns and the cross with the way open for man’s redemption, than he found on the throne

 of God with the way for man’s redemption closed” (Dorris, pg 374).