The death of Jesus

Jesus had been on the cross for about 3 hours when at noon, darkness fell over all the land of Palestine. This darkness lasted for 3 hours until 3pm. Some skeptics have suggested that this was nothing more than a normal solar eclipse. However, because Passover occurred at the full moon every year, the idea of a solar eclipse is simply impossible. This supernatural phenomenon showed God’s judgment on sin and visualized physically what Jesus was experiencing spiritually.

At 3pm, Jesus cries out in Aramaic, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken Me?” For the first time in all of eternity Jesus experienced spiritual separation from God the Father as He carried the sin of the world. Because the beginning of this cry sounds similar to the name, “Elijah,” people thought that He was crying out for the prophet Elijah to come and rescue Him. A bystander lifted a sponge dipped in a wine vinegar that had been diluted with a mixture of eggs and water for Him to drink.

Jesus now makes a loud cry prior to breathing His last. Jesus’ death was not typical for crucifixion which usually lasted for several days and ended with a person lapsing into a coma before dying. At the time of His death, the veil in the temple that separated the Hoy of Holies was torn from the top to the bottom. The passive voice and direction of the action show that this was an action of God. This visualized that Christ’s death ended the need for sacrifices and provided an open and free access to God through faith.

The centurion in charge of this crucifixion, when he saw how Jesus had died, declared, “Truly, this man was the Son of God.” A group of devoted women who had followed Jesus were witnesses of His crucifixion. These would be the same women that would become the first witnesses of His resurrection.

Because it was the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea asks permission of Pilate to bury Jesus before sunset. Joseph was a wealthy member of the Sanhedrin who had not consented to the death of Jesus (Luke 23:51). He was a Pharisee who secretly believed that Jesus was the Messiah (John 19:38) showing why it took such courage to make this request for the body of Christ. Pilate was amazed to hear that Jesus was already dead and summoned the centurion in charge to affirm that this death was indeed factual. Only the Gospel of Mark records this encounter showing his Roman readers that the death of Jesus was confirmed by a Roman military officer.

With the help of Nicodemus, Joseph buries Jesus after washing His body and wrapping it in linen strips (John 19:39-40). The body was placed in an unused tomb which had been hewn out of a rock and a large stone was rolled in front of the entrance. This stone was rolled down a sloping groove to keep out intruders and would have taken several men to move it uphill. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary (the mother of James the Son of Alpheaus) were careful to note the exact place where Jesus was buried. They obviously planned to return and what a sight they would discover when they did.