COMMENTARY ON MARK
LESSON NUMBER 168
Mark 15:34 “And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? 35And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, He calleth Elias. 36And one ran and filled a sponge full of vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave Him to drink, saying, Let alone; let us see whether Elias will come to take Him down. 37And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost. 38And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.”
(Mark 15:34-37; Matt 27:46-51a; Luke 23:45-46; John 19:28-30)
JESUS GIVES UP THE GHOST
INTRODUCTION
Jesus died like no other man because of a unique reason. He did not die because He was related to Adam – for He was not. He was the “Seed” of the woman (Gen 3:15). It was because of His relationship to the woman that He was also “the Seed of Abraham” (Gal 3:16), and “the Seed of David” (Rom 1:3). Unlike all other men, He did not die because of Adam’s sin (Rom 5:12,17; 1 Cor 15:22), nor did He die because He was cursed (even though He was cursed), or because of a broken heart, as some allege. Jesus died because He was commanded to lay down His life (John 10:17-18), doing so as an offering to God (Heb 7:27; 9:14; 10:12). From another point of view, God Himself offered Jesus, who was His Lamb (Heb 9:28). Jesus also offered Himself to God “through the Spirit” (Heb 9:14). Thus, the entire Godhead was involved in the death of Christ. However, at the heart of His death, He Himself had to do it, laying down His life. The Father commanded it, the Spirit strengthened Him, but He had to do the work. In Jesus laying down His life, He was alert unto the end, ensuring that all Scripture concerning Him was fulfilled. This was essential if He was to “lay down” His life. He Himself said no man took His life from Him (John 10:18). Nor did the Father take His life from Him as He took the life of Uzzah (2 Sam 6:7). God made the soul of Jesus an offering for sin (Isa 53:10), but Jesus is the one who offered it up to God. Although these may appear to be nothing more than technicalities, they are what validated the death of Christ for the atonement of sin. Now, in this text, Jesus will yield up His life to God.
JESUS IS FORSAKEN BY GOD
“ Mark 15:34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? 35 And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, he calleth Elias.”
AT THE NINTH HOUR. This was three o’clock in the afternoon, and was at the conclusion of three long hours of a darkness that covered the land, and probably the entire earth. This darkness that descended upon the earth was indicative of the darkness that shrouded the soul of Jesus as “the iniquity of us all” was laid upon Him (Isa 53:6). Note, not the iniquities, but “the iniquity.” Sin in its totality was laid upon Jesus in a more real sense than when Aaron confessed “all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all of their transgressions in all of their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat” (Lev 16:21). What Aaron did was, in a sense, symbolic. But what we are witnessing in the death of Christ is not symbolic. When the mass of iniquity was gathered and placed upon the Son, it brought in a flood of darkness. That darkness stood for the vast gulf that sin had caused between man and God. It was a gulf that could not be penetrated by human vision. The knowledge of God was, in a sense, blotted out when sin entered into the world. Now, the only way any individual could obtain the faintest conception of God was for God Himself to break through the darkness, making Himself known to humanity. That moral and spiritual darkness is reflected in the supernatural darkness that descended upon the earth from the sixth to the ninth hour.
HE CRIED WITH A LOUD VOICE. Ordinarily, the voice becomes weak when the body is racked with pain over a long period. But this is no ordinary circumstance, and Jesus is certainly no ordinary man. The fact that Jesus cried out with a loud voice confirms that He was in control of His life, and it was His life, or “Himself,” that was being offered to God (Heb 7:27; 9:14,25; Isa 53:10).
WHY HAST THOU FORSAKEN ME? Mark uses the words “Eloi, Eloi,” which are Chaldean, or Syriac. Matthew uses the words “Eli, Eli,” which are Hebrew (Matt 27:46). The words “lama sabachthani” are Aramaic, so that the saying is a kind of mixture of languages. Some have conjectured that Jesus was speaking in the common tongue of the day. However, the response that follows seems to me to contradict that view. I prefer to see this as Jesus crying out in the language of the Jews and of the Gentiles, thereby indicating that He was being offered up for the sins of the whole world. However, there is no need to be contentious about the matter.
This is a quotation of Psalm 22:1, confirming that it was a prophetic psalm concerning the sufferings of Christ. That fact by no means reduces the magnitude of the experience that Jesus has described – being “forsaken” by God. Two staggering considerations add to the weight of this cry. First, “the iniquity of us all” was being laid upon Him. Secondly, this was a time allotted to “the power of darkness” (Lk 22:53), when they would be allowed to do their worst. The cursing of Jesus, as declared in Galatians 3:13, inquired that God abandon His Son, for that is what is involved in cursing. In this case, Jesus was left alone to be ravished by Satan and his powers, for wherever sin is dominate, Satan and all of his hosts may be found.
God has made clear that He cannot countenance sin, or remain with the one in whom sin is found. Habakkuk knew this was the case: “Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity”(Hab 1:13). David said, “For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee” (Psa 5:4). Again he said, “The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth” (Psa 34:16). Sin separates the sinner from the Lord. As He said of His own chosen people, “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear” (Isa 59:2).
Now, as it were, with all sin being gathered together into one composite whole and placed upon Jesus, and while He is bearing our sins in His body on the tree (1 Pet 2:24), God, in keeping with His own nature, turns His face from His Son, withdrawing His presence. The impact of this upon the Lord Jesus goes beyond our abilities of comprehension. Jesus is not asking for an answer, but is rather identifying Himself as the chief subject of the twenty-second Psalm. He is stating that He is experiencing what Had been prophesied of Him nearly eight hundred years earlier. Those were the most suitable words.
Some have taught that God did not really forsake Jesus while He was on the cross. For them, this is too difficult to receive. Therefore, they view His words as nothing more than oratory. Of course, that would mean that He really did not fulfill the 22nd Psalm, that He really was not cursed by God, and that God really can countenance the sight of sin.
SOME OF THEM THAT STOOD BY. Some hearing Jesus’ words assumed He was calling out for Elijah (Matt 27:47). This confirms that they did not comprehend what He had said. In some sense it was confusing to them. It seems to me that Jesus purposefully veiled His cry, for no man was capable of comprehending what He was actually experiencing.
JESUS IS GIVEN VINEGAR TO DRINK
“ 36 And one ran and filled a sponge full of vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave Him to drink, saying, Let alone; let us see whether Elias will come to take Him down.”
ONE RAN AND FILLED A SPONGE. Following the cry of Jesus, “Why hast Thou forsaken Me?” someone ran and filled a sponge “full of vinegar.” John provides us with a fuller account of that event. He tells us that it was precipitated by another saying of Jesus that is not recorded by the other Gospel writers. “After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst” (John 19:28). Note that Jesus knew that “all things were now accomplished.” There is a multiple meaning here. First, everything appointed to precede His death had now been accomplished. He had made provision for His mother, and He had apprehended a trophy of grace to carry with Him to the other side. There was also the fulfillment of Scriptures relating to His death. He had been despised and rejected of men (Isa 53:3). His visage had been marred more than any of the sons of men (Isa 52:14; Psa 22:6). He had made intercession for the transgressors (Isa 53:12). The iniquity of us all had been laid upon Him (Isa 53:6). He had experienced the abandonment of which the Psalmist spoke (Psa 22:1). The soldiers had divided His garments and cast lots for His vesture (Psa 22:18). He was mocked by the people (Psa 22:7-8). He was poured out like water, and all of His bones were out of joint (Psa 22:14).
Now, Jesus fulfills another Scripture when He cries out, “I thirst.” This fulfilled Psalm 22:15: “My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and My tongue cleaveth to My jaws; and Thou hast brought Me into the dust of death.” It also fulfilled Psalm 69:21: “and in My thirst they gave Me vinegar to drink.”
But it seems to me that there is another “thirst” that is also encompassed in this saying – one that was experienced when He was forsaken by His God. “My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?” (Psa 42:2). Who is able to estimate the profound longings for Divine fellowship that Jesus experienced during this awful hour? For the first and last time He was in a place where no Divine assistance was being realized. What an awful price was paid for sin! Even the faintest knowledge of it will provoke the tender of heart to abhor that which is evil, fleeing to Jesus for refuge from its grasp.
This is now the fifth saying of the Lord Jesus while He was upon the cross. The other four are as follows. They are listed in the sequence in which they were uttered.
1–"Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do" (Lk 23:34).
2–"And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise" (Lk 23:42, 43).
3–‘Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother!” (John 19:25, 26)
4–"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?" (Matt 27:46; Mk 15:34).
HE GAVE HIM TO DRINK. The unnamed person filled a sponge with vinegar and gave Jesus to drink. The first time the Lord was offered vinegar mingled with gall, “He would not drink” (Matt 27:34). He would not receive assistance from men in the giving of His life as a ransom for many. This time, however, it is written that Jesus “received the vinegar” (John 19:30). In so doing He fulfilled the Scripture, “and in My thirst, they gave Me vinegar to drink” (Psa 69:21). Behold how precisely He thought, and how deliberately He gave His life.
LET US SEE. Mark says the person giving Jesus the vinegar said “Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to take Him down." NKJV Matthew tells us “the rest” joined in saying, “let us see if Elijah will come and save Him” (Matt 27:49). Mark has already noted that, upon hearing Jesus cry out to God, some of them standing by had said, “Behold, He calleth for Elijah” (Mk 15:35). They were like many of our day who make observations of Jesus without knowing who He is or what He has really said. They were only surface thinkers, cavorting about on the surface of Divine utterance like a spider who walks around on the water.
At that time, there is no indication that anyone standing by knew what Jesus really said – not merely the meaning of His words, but even the words themselves. They heard Jesus say a word that vaguely sounded like “Elijah” (Eloi), and thus assumed He was crying out to the departed prophet. Only when the record was written was the meaning unveiled. However, Elijah could not have helped Jesus at the time, for the 22nd Psalm also said, “there is none to help” (Psa 22:11). Jesus knew that if the Father forsook Him, it was pointless to seek assistance from any other place.
There is something else to be seen here. In those times, even though the people were corrupt, there was a sense of the supernatural – of things that extend beyond the here and the now. Elijah had been carried up into heaven over nine hundred years before Christ. Yet these people had no difficulty believing He was alive and well. I am afraid that the pseudo-scholasticism of our day has robbed the people of this kind of persuasion.
JESUS GIVES UP THE GHOST and THE TEMPLE VEIL IS RENT
“ 37 And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost. 37 And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.”
JESUS CRIED WITH A LOUD VOICE. Once again, emphasizing that Jesus was in control of both His body and His spirit, He cried out with a loud voice – after being on the cross for six hours. In every sense He “gave Himself” (Gal 1:4), “offered Himself” (Heb 9:14), and “laid down His life” (1 John 3:16).
Matthew says that Jesus “cried again with a loud voice” (Matt 27:50) – that is, after He had cried “My God, My God . . .” (Matt 27:46). John tells us what Jesus said at this time. “When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said, It is finished” (John 19:30). Other versions read, “All is done,” BBE “It is consummated,” DOUAY “It is completed,” NET and “It is fulfilled.” NJB What did He mean by this? His resurrection had not yet occurred, and that is surely essential to our salvation. Nor, indeed, had He yet ascended into heaven, been seated at the right hand of God, received all power in heaven and earth, and commenced His mediation of the New Covenant and intercession for those coming to God through Him – and that was all necessary also.
Here Jesus refers to everything that must precede Him taking away our sins (1 John 3:5), making an end of sins (Dan 9:24), and finishing the transgression (Dan 9:24). Sin was judged while Jesus was on the cross, when God forsook Him. The Divine stroke that was due sin was administered there – a stroke that would consummate in Christ’s death. When Jesus cried out, “It is finished,” He was saying that everything had been done that would justify His death for the sin of the world. He was now a suitable sacrifice, and the body that had been prepared for Him was now ready to be offered (Heb 10:10).
Luke records that Jesus, after He had cried with a loud voice, said, “Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit” (Lk 23:46). Other versions read, “commit My spirit.” NKJV On the day of Pentecost, Peter unveiled something of the meaning of this saying, declaring that David was speaking about the dying Jesus when he wrote, “For You will not leave My soul in Hades” NKJV (Acts 2:27; Psa 16:10). Jesus committed His soul into the keeping of the Father, knowing that He would not be left in the abode of the dead, but would be raised again. Therefore, Jesus not only lived in hope, but also died in the full persuasion of what would follow His death (Heb 12:2).
Thus, the final two sayings of Jesus have been uttered, making seven in all.
JESUS GAVE UP THE GHOST. Others have also given up the ghost (Gen 25:8; 35:29; Acts 5:5; 12:23) –but none of them did so like Jesus. Emphasizing the experience of death itself, Mark says Jesus then “gave up the ghost,” or “breathed His last.” NASB Matthew stresses that Jesus dismissed His Spirit, laying down His life: “yielded up His Spirit.” NKJV Luke says Jesus gave up the ghost after He had commended His spirit to God (Lk 23:46). John accents the personal devotion of the Lord: He “bowed His head, and gave up His spirit” NKJV (John 19:29). When the spirit of Jesus departed from His body, it was not a natural experience, as with every other death. In this case, Jesus controlled the departing of His Spirit, dismissing it by an act of His will.
THE VEIL OF THE TEMPLE WAS RENT. As soon as Jesus died, the separating veil of the Temple was violently torn in two from the top down, confirming that sin had been removed between God and man, and the way to God been opened up. Luke says the veil was “rent in the midst,” emphasizing the granted access (Lk 23:45). This was a symbolic gesture, and was not intended to allow for the continuance of the Temple ministry in the Most Holy place. The book of Hebrews stresses that during the administration of the Law “the way into the holiest was not yet manifest” (Heb 9:8). There was another “Holiest” place that was opened by means of Jesus death – and the way that led to it was a “new and living way” that permits us to “draw near” to God Himself “with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water” (Heb 10:19-22).
By tearing the veil in two, the Lord signifiied the conclusion of the Temple service, and an approach to Him by means of routine. Once the way to “the holiest” has been opened, it is a transgression of great magnitude to attempt to approach God by means of rituals or procedures. Those who seek to worship or gain access to God by a series of authorized actions or activities, regardless of their nature, are on very precarious ground. Too, those who affirm that praise is the means of gaining access to God are operating under an Old Covenant principle. The means by which we come to God are spelled out with exacting precision. Several conditions are required. (1) A true heart. (2) The full assurance of faith. (3) Hearts that are cleansed from defiling guilt. (4) Bodies that have been washed with purifying water. We do not approach God with our lips, but with our hearts, and in faith. Where the specified requirements are not met, there is no frame of mind or activity that can compensate for their absence. It is categorically stated that we have access into grace “by faith” (Rom 5:2), and that we have “access with confidence” by the faith that comes from Christ (Eph 3:12; 6:23).