45 Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. 46 And about 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?” 47 Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, “This Man is calling for Elijah!” 48 Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink. 49 The rest said, “Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him.” 50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.
They put Jesus on the cross at 9 A.M.; the scene in this section is from noon through three o’clock in the afternoon. At noon a supernatural darkness came upon the land.
27:45
Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land.
This supernatural darkness was over the land of Judea rather than the entire earth. The darkness was from noon until 3 P.M.
27:46
And about 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?”
About three o’clock in the afternoon Jesus cried out with a direct quotation from Psalm 22:1. “Eli” is Hebrew for my God. “Lama sabachthani” is Aramaic. His concern was primarily with loss of His relationship to the Father. Jesus’ friends, colleagues, and nation forsook Him, but the abandonment that was the worst to Him was that of the Father. The Father could not fellowship with Him while He bore the sins of the world. He bore our sins alone.
27:47
Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, “This Man is calling for Elijah!”
The bystanders thought they heard the prophet Elijah’s name.
27:48
Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink.
It was probably one of the Roman guards who tried to allay Jesus’ pain.
27:49
The rest said, “Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him.”
Others at the scene used the opportunity to give their commentary on what happened, in idle curiosity rather than mockery. The supernatural pitch darkness did not get their attention.
27:50
And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.
There is a different Greek word here for “cried out” than in verse 46. The death of Jesus was the climactic point. His death is the reason the Father delivers us from sin. His death was vicarious.
His life did not ebb away but ended with Jesus’ own volition. “Yielded up” has to the idea of sending away and letting go, giving the idea of an act of will.
PRINCIPLE:
Jesus’ death reveals God’s heart as God wants it revealed.
APPLICATION:
The idea of Jesus’ death was not that of a martyr for a righteous cause. His death was vicarious (Mt 20:28; Is 53:5; Zech 12:10; Ro 4:25; Ga 3:13; 1 Pe 2:24; 3:18; 1 Jn 4:10; Re 13:8). He died as a substitute for the sins of the world, sins that violate the absolute character of God. That is why the Father forsook intimate fellowship with the Son. This was far more painful than suffering on the cross.
Jesus’ death reveals God’s heart as God wants it revealed. It is ironic that a savaged man hanging on a cross, dying in the dark, is the apex of God’s love, mercy, and forbearance toward us.
