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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Matthew 27:45 - 27:49
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The last hours of suffering:
v. 45. Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.
v. 46. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?
v. 47. Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias.
v. 48. And straightway one of them ran, and took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave Him to drink.
v. 49. The rest said, Let be; let us see whether Elias will come to save Him.
It was now high noon and the brightest time of the day. But suddenly the sun's rays were cut off, not by the obstructing circle of the moon, for it was now the time of full moon, when an eclipse of the sun is impossible (this would also not last for three full hours), but by a miracle of God. It was an extraordinary phenomenon, associated with the death of Jesus In the most intimate and mysterious manner. According to some accounts, this darkness was chronicled even by secular historians, together with the earthquake that followed. Over the whole world this darkness extended, shrouding all things in its mysterious obscurity, as on the Black Good Friday of early American history. In these three hours the Son of God was obliged to taste and endure the full force, the full horror of the divine wrath over the sins of mankind. Here the Vicar of mankind was in prison and judgment. Forsaken, rejected by God: that is the torture of hell. What deep humiliation for the eternal Son of God to enter into the depths of everlasting death and torment! But by His enduring the torments of hell we have been liberated, for in the midst of this most terrible Passion He remained obedient to God and thus conquered wrath, hell, and damnation for us. When He uttered His cry of extreme pain and terror, in the Aramaic tongue, some of the bystanders again took occasion to mock Him. Jesus had quoted the words of the prophet, Psa_22:1, using the dialect to which He was accustomed. But they, either deliberately or foolishly, misunderstood or pretended to misunderstand Him to be calling for the help of Elijah. And while one of them, upon His second cry for something to quench His thirst, had enough feeling of compassion to reach up a sponge filled with vinegar to His lips, the others jeeringly sought to restrain him by bidding him wait until they might see whether Elijah would actually come to help Jesus. All this taunting mockery was a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, Psa_69:22. Not one word of the Lord regarding the Passion of the Savior fell to the ground.