The Death of Jesus

“At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And at three in the afternoon, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?’ (which means ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’). When some of those standing near heard this, they said, ‘Listen, he’s calling Elijah.’ Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. ‘Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,’ he said. With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.” (Mark 15:33-38)

The Lord Jesus was crucified at the third hour, which is nine in the morning. The darkness covered the whole land from noon until the ninth hour, or three in the afternoon. From the third hour to the ninth hour, a total of six hours passed. The first three hours were spent enduring human mockery, and the last three were in darkness. At the ninth hour, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” and then breathed His last. This is the only time in the Synoptic Gospels that Jesus did not address God as “Father.” In that moment on the cross, Jesus personally bore our sins (1 Peter 2:24) and became sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21), because the Lord laid all our iniquity on Him (Isaiah 53:6), causing Him to give His life as a ransom for many. Therefore, a just and holy God had to turn away from Him (Psalm 22:1).

The Lord Jesus breathed His last at the ninth hour (3 PM), which was the exact time that the Passover lamb was being slaughtered by the Jews. The inner veil of the temple, which separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place and prevented ordinary people from directly approaching the throne of grace (Exodus 26:33), was torn “from top to bottom.” This was an act of God, symbolizing that Jesus’s body was torn for us, opening the way to the kingdom of heaven. He opened a new and living way for us to go through the veil, which is His body (Hebrews 10:20). Therefore, we can now enter the Most Holy Place with confidence (Hebrews 10:19) and boldly approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need (Hebrews 4:16).

The Roman centurion, who was accustomed to seeing how ordinary people died on the cross, recognized that Jesus’s death was unique and concluded that He was no ordinary man. The text highlights the irony that while the Jews mocked Jesus as the Son of God (Matthew 27:40, 43), a Gentile centurion, by witnessing the power of His death, confessed that He was truly the Son of God. This is one of the two high points of Mark’s Gospel: Peter, a Jew, confessed that Jesus was the Christ, and now a Gentile centurion also confessed that He was the Son of God.