What does Mark 15:33-41 mean?

³³ And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 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. ³⁶ And one ran and filled a spunge 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. ³⁷ And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost.

³⁸ And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. ³⁹ 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. ⁴⁰ There were also women looking on afar off: among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome; ⁴¹ (Who also, when he was in Galilee, followed him, and ministered unto him;) and many other women which came up with him unto Jerusalem. (Mark 15:33-41 KJV)

The Death of Jesus

Here we have an account of Christ’s death—how his enemies abused him and how God honored him at his death. There was a thick darkness over the whole land (some think over the whole earth) for three hours, from noon until three o’clock. Now the Scripture was fulfilled (Amos 8:9), “I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day”; and Jeremiah 15:9, “Her sun has gone down while it is yet day.” The Jews had often demanded of Christ a sign from heaven, and now they had one, but it signified the blinding of their eyes. It was a sign of the darkness that had come, and was coming, upon the Jewish church and nation.

They were doing their utmost to extinguish the Sun of Righteousness, which was now setting, and the rising again of which they would never acknowledge. This showed them that the things which belonged to their peace were now hidden from their eyes, and that the day of the Lord was at hand, which would be to them a day of darkness and gloom (Joel 2:1-2). It was the power of darkness they were now under, the works of darkness they were now doing; and their punishment would rightly reflect that, for they loved darkness rather than light.

Toward the end of this darkness, our Lord Jesus, in agony of soul, cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34). The darkness represented the present cloud over Christ’s human soul, as he was being offered for sin. Mr. Fox, in his Acts and Monuments (vol. 3, p. 160), tells of one Dr. Hunter, a martyr during Queen Mary’s time, who, being fastened to the stake to be burned, prayed, “Son of God, shine upon me.” Immediately, the sun broke through the clouds and shone in his face, comforting him. But our Lord Jesus was denied the light of the sun during his sufferings, symbolizing the withdrawal of God’s comforting presence. This he complained of more than anything—not of his disciples’ forsaking him, but of his Father’s.

1. Because this wounded his spirit, and that is hard to bear (Proverbs 18:14); it brought the waters into his soul (Psalm 69:1-3).
2. Because in this especially, he was made sin for us; our iniquities deserved wrath upon the soul (Romans 2:8), and therefore Christ, being the sacrifice, endured as much of it as he could. It was a heavy burden on him, who had always been in the bosom of the Father and was his eternal delight. These signs of divine wrath upon Christ in his sufferings were like the fire from heaven that consumed sacrifices in extraordinary cases (Leviticus 9:24; 2 Chronicles 7:1; 1 Kings 18:38); it was always a token of God’s acceptance. The fire that should have fallen on the sinner instead fell on the sacrifice, as a token of God’s peace; so it now fell on Christ and drew from him this loud and bitter cry. Paul, when offering himself as a sacrifice for the service of the saints, could rejoice (Philippians 2:17); but it is another thing to be offered as a sacrifice for the sin of the world. From the sixth to the ninth hour, the sun was darkened by an extraordinary eclipse. And if, as some astronomers say, there was a lunar eclipse later that day, with most of the moon covered between five and seven o’clock, it would be a remarkable and further symbol of the darkness of that time. “When the sun shall be darkened, the moon shall not give its light.”

Christ’s prayer was mocked by those who stood by (Mark 15:35–36); because he cried, “Eli, Eli,” or (as Mark records it in the Syriac dialect) “Eloi, Eloi,” they said, “He’s calling for Elijah,” though they knew very well he was saying, “My God, my God.” They portrayed him as praying to saints—either because he had abandoned God or because God had abandoned him—to make him more contemptible to the people. One of them filled a sponge with vinegar and gave it to him on a reed: “Let him cool his mouth with that—it’s a drink good enough for him” (Mark 15:36). This was meant as further abuse. And the one who stopped him from giving the drink only added to the insult: “Let him alone; he has called for Elijah—let’s see whether Elijah will come to take him down; and if not, we may assume he too has abandoned him.”

Christ again cried with a loud voice and gave up his spirit (Mark 15:37). He was now committing his soul into his Father’s hands. Though God isn’t influenced by bodily strength, this loud cry expressed the great strength and passion with which he surrendered himself. It teaches us to approach God with our whole heart, especially in surrendering ourselves. And even if we cannot cry out as Christ did, if God is the strength of our heart, that will not fail. Christ truly died, for he gave up his spirit; his human soul went to the world of spirits, and his body became lifeless clay.

At the very moment Christ died on Mount Calvary, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom (Mark 15:38). This signified:

1. The terror that should come upon unbelieving Jews—it foreshadowed the destruction of their church and nation, which soon followed. The veil was extremely beautiful and glorious (Exodus 26:31), and tearing it suggested the same message as when the staff of beauty was broken (Zechariah 11:10, 12), at the same time they gave thirty pieces of silver as his price—an act that broke the covenant God had made with them. It was time to say, “Ichabod, the glory is departed from Israel.” Some think the story Josephus tells of the temple door opening on its own with a voice saying, “Let us depart,” refers to this, though it likely doesn’t—but it carried the same meaning (Hosea 5:14), “I will tear and go away.”
2. Comfort to all believing Christians—it marked the consecration and opening of a new and living way into the holiest place, by the blood of Jesus.

The centurion in charge of the execution was convinced and declared that Jesus was the Son of God (Mark 15:39). He was amazed that someone about to die could still cry out so loudly. He had never seen anything like it: one who had strength to cry so loud and yet immediately give up his spirit. This astonished him, and he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God,” honoring Christ and shaming those who had abused him. Why did he say so?

1. He saw that Jesus suffered unjustly. Christ had claimed to be the Son of God, and if his suffering was unjust—as the circumstances clearly showed—then what he said was true, and he was indeed the Son of God.
2. He saw divine favor in how Heaven honored him at his death and frowned upon his persecutors. “Surely,” he thought, “this must be some divine person, highly loved by God.” Though he may not have fully understood what he said, his words pointed to Christ’s eternal divine nature and his appointment as Mediator. Even in deep suffering and humiliation, Jesus was the Son of God and was declared to be so with power.

Some of Christ’s friends, especially the women, watched from a distance (Mark 15:40-41). The men dared not show themselves; the crowd was too violent. The women stayed back, overwhelmed with grief. Some are named here. Mary Magdalene was one; she had been healed by Jesus and, in gratitude, devoted herself to serving him. Mary, the mother of James the Less (Jacobus parvus, probably called so because he was short, like Zacchaeus), was also there. She was the wife of Cleophas or Alphaeus and sister to the Virgin Mary.

These women had followed Jesus from Galilee, though they were not required to attend the feast like the men. They likely came expecting his kingdom to be established soon and hoped for positions of honor for themselves or their relatives. The mother of Zebedee’s sons certainly did (Matthew 20:21). Now, to see him on a cross instead of a throne was a crushing disappointment. Those who follow Christ, expecting great things in this life, may often find themselves sorely disappointed.