Matthew 27:45-50 45Now from the sixth hour darkness came over all the land until the ninth hour. 46And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 47And some of those standing there, upon hearing it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.” 48And immediately one of them after running and taking a sponge and filling it with sour wine and putting it on a reed, gave it to him to drink. 49But the others said, “Wait, let us see if Elijah comes to save him.” 50And Jesus crying out again with a loud voice gave up his spirit.
Even the heavens participated in mourning the looming death of Jesus. In the Roman clock system, the sixth hour was 12 noon and the ninth hour was 3:00 pm. The way the passage is stated, the darkness could have lasted that long. There have been different theories about how the darkness came about, such as an eclipse, sandstorm, dark rain clouds, or similar. There are problems with each of these theories. The implication from this account (which is similar in all three Synoptic Gospels) is that the darkness was due to supernatural forces, namely, this was God’s doing. It was not natural and could not be explained in any way. Amos 8:9 has a prophecy that mentions the sun darkening at noon. Old Testament prophets connect darkness with God’s judgment (Isaiah 13:10–11; Joel 3:14–15). Those standing around watching Jesus would have recognized something strange happening. It should have cause both fear and awe.
Jesus hung on the cross for at least six hours before he died. Some people lasted days on crosses. The severe beating he received beforehand likely quickened his death. Matthew records only few words of Jesus on the cross quoted in Aramaic from Psalm 22: “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” There are several possible meanings of these words. Some of those standing around thought he was calling Elijah. The word for “God” and the word for “Elijah” are similar in Aramaic, so the people misunderstood what he was saying. If he was close to death, they may not have heard him clearly. The assumption is that Jesus was asking Elijah to come and help him from heaven, but this is a strange conclusion to make from a Jewish perspective.
One possibility is simply that Jesus was expressing how he felt as a human being. Although Jesus was human, he also had perfect faith that had grown over a lifetime of trust and demonstrated by his victorious faith in the desert of temptation and the garden of Gethsemane. On the surface, it might appear that Jesus is asking why God abandoned him at the moment of his greatest need. Why would the Father abandon his Son? One interpretation of this perspective is that it could assume that Jesus took on the sins of the world, and this sin kept him from God’s presence. Although this could be argued theologically, there are also problems with it because God the Father never left the incarnated God the Son.
Another interpretation is that Jesus had Psalm 22 in his mind at the end. Although this psalm starts off with this cry for help, it ends with a shout of victory. My God is an affirmation of faith that could not be taken away by death. Jesus trusted his heavenly Father even at the moment of death. The only thing that can guide us past death is faith.
One of those watching Jesus, either a soldier or bystander, had enough compassion to offer Jesus sour, cheap wine or vinegar, possibly as a sedative because this person thought Jesus was out of his mind. This fulfilled a statement from Psalm 69:21, “They also gave me poison for my food and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.” The rest of the crowd wanted to see if Elijah did indeed come to Jesus’ rescue. Even at the moment of his death, these people were taunting him and did not see the significance of what was happening.
Matthew records one simple statement about Jesus’ actual death. He had enough strength to cry out in a loud voice. Significantly, he gave up his spirit, implying that he was in control of the situation. He chose to die, even though his body was beaten and suffering. Even the soldiers were surprised at his quick death. God’s plan of redemption was complete. The Messiah had come to die for the sins of the world.
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