Our last article considered the Lord’s Crucifixion, focusing on Gabbatha and the first three hours at Golgotha. We should not become too scientific in our consideration of the Lord’s death, but we must recognise that each synoptic Gospel divides His six hours of suffering into two three-hour periods.
From 9am until noon, the Lord suffered in the daylight. From noon until 3pm, He suffered in the darkness. During the first three hours, His words communicate compassion and blessing on those who surrounded Him (Luk 23:34,43; Joh 19:26-27). In the final three hours His words express His own suffering and accomplishment (Mat 27:46; Mar 15:34; Joh 19:28,30; Luk 23:46).
In this article we’ll consider the final three hours at Golgotha. These three hours provide us with seven subjects: darkness, desolation, derision, death, demonstration, declaration and devotion.
Darkness – “And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness …” (v33).1 The sun’s light failed and the whole land became shrouded in darkness for three hours. This miraculous darkening symbolised divine judgment (Exo 10:21-26; Isa 5:30; Amo 8:9-10; Zep 1:14-15). It was undoubtedly a “thick darkness” that “may be felt” (Exo 10:21-22).
Desolation – “And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice …” (v34). As He emerged from the darkness, the Lord’s cry provided an immediate explanation: He had been abandoned, left alone, forsaken in the depth of His suffering. “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” His forsakenness appears to be the worst aspect of His sufferings. Direct dealings have taken place between the Servant and His God. In keeping with Isaiah, the “LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all” (53:6); “he hath put him to grief” (v10).
Paul draws out the significance of this: “God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we would become the righteousness of God” (2Co 5:21 NET). God acted in judgment upon Christ at Calvary and, in these final hours of forsakenness, every human eye was excluded. God “spared not his own Son” (Rom 8:32). He who was infinitely holy was treated by God as sin would be treated. His abandonment was the price for our acceptance, His suffering the cost of our salvation.
Derision – “And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said …” (vv35-36). When the Egyptians suffered the plague of darkness, they “saw not one another, neither rose any from his place” (Exo 10:23). They remained where they were. So the observers at Calvary remained until the darkness lifted. But, while the external darkness was dispelled, the darkness upon their hearts remained. The Lord’s cry was misinterpreted as a cry for Elijah’s assistance, “Behold, he calleth Elias.”
When no help was forthcoming, a soldier lifted a sponge full of sour wine to the Saviour’s lips. This was to keep Him conscious to “see whether Elias will come to take him down.” In close proximity to the Son of God, and in the shadow of Calvary, men in their dullness remained oblivious to God’s purpose and plan. “For had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (1Co 2:8).
Death – “And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost” (v37). This was the triumphant cry, “It is finished!” (Joh 19:30). Mark emphasises how He cried out. It differed sharply from the usual groans of crucifixion victims and gained the attention of the watching centurion (v39). The wise man had declared, “There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death” (Ecc 8:8), but to that wise saying there is an exception: the Lord Jesus. The “strength of the cry indicates that he did not die the ordinary death of those crucified” (William Lane). The Lord, in perfect control of His destiny, announced the completion of His work and deliberately yielded up His spirit to God.
Demonstration – “And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom” (v38). The impact of the death of God’s Servant upon Judaism was announced by the miraculous rending of the temple veil. It was not torn haphazardly but “in twain.” It was not torn by human hand but “from the top to the bottom.” Such an event must have shocked the priesthood to the core. It was God’s demonstration of the end of the Jewish system, and the promise of access into God’s presence through Christ.
Declaration – “And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God” (v39). The centurion was in charge of the soldiers tasked with the crucifixion. His experience of death, and particularly this kind of death, was unquestionable. Hearing the loud triumphant cry and witnessing the Lord’s dignified death, all prior doubt about His claims were overcome. “Truly this man was the Son of God.”
Devotion – “There were also women looking on afar off …” (vv40-41). Mark shows that these women remained at the cross until the end, and arrived at the tomb “very early in the morning” (16:2). As Mary of Bethany’s devotion to the Lord would stand as a memorial (14:9), surely also the devotion of these women should be noted. They followed Him, served Him, and remained steadfast throughout the whole ordeal of His crucifixion, without ever forsaking the One they loved.
Considering the inspired record of the Lord’s crucifixion, we are amazed at the restraint used by the Gospel writers in describing this central event of time and eternity. Erich Sauer’s words, written originally about the incarnation, are well applied to the Cross:
of all times—the turning point
of all love—the highest point
of all salvation—the starting point
of all worship—the central point
May our hearts be drawn out in adoration of God’s Servant who accomplished to perfection the work with which He was entrusted.
1 Bible quotations in this article are from the KJV unless otherwise noted.
