Mark 15:33
- When Jesus had hung on the cross for three hours, the whole land was covered with darkness, as predicted by several prophets (Amos 8:9-19).
- The Roman historian Phlegon also mentions a solar eclipse at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion.
Mark 15:34
- Jesus quotes Psalm 22, a psalm that is bursting with references to Jesus and the cross.
- Jesus, who is one with the Father (John 10:30), now experiences how he is instead made one with sin (2 Corinthians 5:21).
- Jesus, who is sinless and righteous, bore our sins in his body when he died on the cross (1 Peter 2:24), which resulted in us sinners being able to get rid of sin and share in Jesus’ righteousness instead (2 Corinthians 5:21).
- “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law when he became a curse in our place. It is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on wood.'” (Galatians 3:13, see also Deuteronomy 21:22-23).
Mark 15:37
- No one had the power to take Jesus’ life, but he gave it willingly (John 10:17-18).
Mark 15:38
- The veil was a thick piece of cloth that hung inside the temple between the holiest and the most holy (Exodus 26:33).
- Once a year, the high priest went into the holy of holies and offered a sacrifice of atonement for Israel (Exodus 30:10).
- With Jesus’ death on the cross, this sacrifice is no longer needed and therefore the way into the Holy of Holies was opened so that all people now have free access to the Holy of Holies (Heb 9:3-9, Heb 10:19-22).
Mark 15:39
- This is the first time in Mark’s gospel that anyone, other than God and the demons, confesses that Jesus is the Son of God.
- Just as the Roman officer saw who Jesus was at the cross, we too can see who Jesus really is when we come to Jesus with our sins and ask for forgiveness.
Mark 15:40
- While many of the male disciples have abandoned Jesus, the female ones remain.
- These women, thanks to their courage and devotion to Jesus, witnessed Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection.