January 31, 2010: Jesus’ Death
Jesus’ Death
Luke 23:44-49 (Parallel passages in Matthew 27:45-56, Mark 15:33-41, and John 19:29-30)
44 It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45 for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.
47 The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” 48 When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. 49 But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.
Background:
1. Now the most sacred and solemn moment in the history of mankind had arrived, when Jesus, God’s Son, the Lamb of God, would suffer and die on the cross. There, he would bear the wrath of God against the sins of the whole world. There, would forgiveness be provided for all mankind, past, present and future. This was the ultimate moment toward which he had set his face resolutely in the Garden of Gethsemane.
2. Luke tells us in verse 44 that about the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. Given that the Jewish day began at 6:00 a.m., the sixth hour would have been 12:00 noon, and the ninth hour would have been 3:00 p.m. We know from Mark that Jesus likely was nailed to the cross around the third hour or 9:00 a.m. on Friday morning. (Mark 15:25.) We do not know how God in his power brought about this “darkness” over the whole land for this three-hour period. Luke merely tells us that the Sun stopped shining, but Matthew and Mark also state that darkness came over the whole land for this three-hour period. Early Christian writers Origen and Eusebius quote words from a Roman historian, Phlegon, in which he refers to an extraordinary solar eclipse, as well as an earthquake, about the time of the crucifixion.
3. Luke also states that during this darkness or at the end of it “the curtain of the temple” was torn in two. Matthew and Mark state the “curtain of the Temple” was torn in two “from top to bottom.” (Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38.) This is a reference to the curtain that separated the holy area of the temple from the holy of holies, which is where the Ark of the Covenant was kept with the Ten Commandments inside. The tearing of the curtain symbolized that Christ had torn away any separation between God and us so that we, too, may have direct relationship with God and enter into God’s presence. (See Hebrews 9:1-14 and 10:14-22.)
4. At the end of the three-hour period of darkness, Matthew and Mark tell us that Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is a dialect of Aramaic. Translated, it means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus was bearing the sin of the world, which ultimately means no relationship with God, and Jesus’ cry reveals the depth of the abandonment that he felt as he bore the sin of the world. It stands to reason that he had never felt forsaken by his Father until this moment. In making this cry, Jesus is quoting Psalm 22:1: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?” No Psalm is quoted more frequently in the New Testament than Psalm 22.
5. Matthew and Mark tell us that some persons (not identified) who were standing nearby when Jesus made this cry thought he was calling for Elijah. (Matthew 27:47; Mark 15:35.) Apparently, they mistook his words, “Eloi, Eloi” to be a call for Elijah to help him. It was commonly believed in Jesus’ day that Elijah would come in times of critical need to protect the innocent and rescue the righteous. So one person, a man, ran and filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. Then they stood back to see if Elijah would come to save him. (Matthew 27:48-49; Mark 15:36.) Wine vinegar was a sour wine, typically drunk by laborers and common soldiers. John tells us that Jesus actually said he was thirsty, so someone soaked a sponge with wine vinegar from a jar that was there and put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant and then lifted it to Jesus lips. (John 19:28-29.)
6. After Jesus received the drink of wine vinegar, John tells us that Jesus said, “It is finished” and then he “bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” Matthew and Mark say that after Jesus received the wine vinegar, he cried out again with a loud voice and then he gave up his spirit and breathed his last. (Matthew 27:50; Mark 15:37.) Apparently, the loud cry was when Jesus said, “It is finished.” The Greek verb translated “finished” means “completed.” Jesus had completed what he came to accomplish on the cross. Luke also states that Jesus cried out at the end with a loud voice and said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” This is an unusual way of describing death in the Bible. It is worth noting the volitional nature of Jesus’ words. He chose to give up his spirit and die for us, and it is worth noting his reference to the Father in his last words. It appears that after the hours of darkness and the feelings of being forsaken, Jesus was again conscious of the presence of the Father as he breathed his last and gave up his spirit.
7. Matthew and Mark tell us that at the moment that Jesus died, that is when the curtain separating the holy of holies from the rest of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. (Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38.) Matthew includes some additional details. He tells us that after Jesus died the earth shook (an earthquake) and rocks actually split. He tells us that tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of their tombs, and later, after Jesus’ resurrection, they went into Jerusalem and appeared to many people. (Matthew 27:52-53.) Matthew is the only gospel writer that includes these additional details after Jesus’ death.
8. Matthew and Mark next tell us that when the centurion and the other soldiers with him who were guarding Jesus saw this earthquake and all that had happened, they became terrified and said, “Surely he was the Son of God.” (Matthew 27:54; Mark 15:39.) Luke says that after seeing what had happened, the centurion “praised God” and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” The point is that something amazing had to have occurred. In a matter of hours, the soldiers who had mocked, tortured, and crucified Jesus were now either terrified or praising God because of the death of Jesus and other events they had just experienced. This was a radical change of attitude.
9. Furthermore, a lot of Jewish people had gathered to watch the crucifixion, but apparently after experiencing the darkness and the earthquake and watching the crucifixion and death of Jesus, their attitudes also changed. Luke tells us that after these people saw what took place, they “beat their breasts and went away.” The beating of the breast was a sign of anguish, grief, or a contrite heart. It was this experience that undoubtedly planted the seeds for the conversion of many of these same Jews several weeks later on the day of Pentecost, when Peter stood up to preach the gospel of Jesus in Jerusalem.
10. Finally, among those watching the crucifixion “from a distance” were some of his followers, including women who had followed Jesus from Galilee and supported his ministry when he was in Galilee. Luke does not tell us their names, but Matthew and Mark tell us that among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and Joses, Salome, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons. (Matthew 27:55-56; Mark 15:40-41.) John tells us that at some point after Jesus was nailed to the cross but before his death, some of Jesus followers moved near the cross. Among them were Jesus’ mother Mary, Mary’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas (this might be the same Mary who bore James the younger and Joses), and Mary Magdalene, and John, who is referred to as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” John tells us that when Jesus saw his mother there, along with John, he looked at Mary and told her that John was her son and that Mary was John’s mother, and from that time on, John took Mary into his home to care for her as if she were his own mother. (John 19:25-27.) This may have occurred because Jesus’ biological brothers still may not have believed in him. We know from Church history that John left Jerusalem a few years after the death of Christ and moved to Ephesus on the coast of modern day Turkey. John likely took Mary, the mother of Jesus with him, and John lived another 50 years in Ephesus, outliving all of the other disciples and eventually writing the book of the Revelation toward the end of his life while he was exiled on an island called Patmos, several miles off the coast of Ephesus. Jesus chose the disciple who would live the longest to care for his mother.
Application:
1. What do you think is the significance of the fact that the “whole land” became dark for the last three hours that Jesus hung on the cross, that there was an earthquake after he died, that tombs broke open and holy people who had died were raised to life?
2. Why did Jesus feel that the Father had forsaken him while he hung dying on the cross?
3. What is the significance of the tearing of the curtain of the Temple in two when Jesus died?
4. Why did Jesus have to die, and what did he accomplish by dying? In a marvelous book called “The Shack,” by William Paul Young, the main actor, Mackenzie, is engaged in a discussion with God, whom he was told to call “Papa”. At one point, Mackenzie asks Papa these very questions, and Papa says, “Honey, you asked me what Jesus accomplished on the cross; so now listen to me carefully: through his death and resurrection, I am now fully reconciled to the world.” Mackenzie responds, “The whole world? You mean those who believe in you, right?” And Papa says, “The whole world, Mack. All I am telling you is that reconciliation is a two way street, and I have done my part, totally, completely, finally. It is not the nature of love to force a relationship but it is the nature of love to open the way.” (The Shack, 191, 192.) What was Mackenzie asking and what was the significance of Papa’s response? Has Jesus already died for the sins of everyone and forgiven everyone?
5. If you could summarize in one sentence what Jesus’ death on the cross means for us, the purpose for his death, what his death accomplished, what would you say? Write it out!
