Divine Vindication. Jesus Is The Son of God (27:45-54).
By now Jesus had been on the cross about three hours, and around noon an extraordinary event took place. For over the whole land there came gross darkness (compare Matthew 4:15-16). As it was the time of the full moon it could not have been an eclipse. A sirocco would probably have lasted longer. It would appear therefore that some phenomenon had resulted in extraordinary cloud cover, which was the precursor to a powerful earthquake. Possibly it was due to volcanic action of which we know nothing, or perhaps the natural phenomena underlying the earthquake caused temporary high winds which stirred up the dust like a sirocco.
It is difficult to think here that Matthew (and God) would not have in mind Amos 8:9, ‘and it will come about in that day, says the Lord YHWH, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in clear day'. That was to be a day when judgment came on Israel. Their feasts would become feasts of mourning (Amos 8:10), and there would be a famine of hearing the word of the Lord (Amos 8:11), while it would also be a time of ‘mourning like that for an only son' (Amos 8:10). In other words Israel as such would be rejected. This very much ties in with Jesus' vision of a new Israel arising from the ashes of the old through His death as the only son of the preceding parable (Matthew 21:43).
The darkening of the sun also regularly indicates eschatological and supernatural activity (Matthew 24:29; compare Acts 2:20 based on Joel 2:31. See also Isaiah 13:10; Joel 3:15; and often (see below), for the darkness as indications of God's activity). But in some ways more importantly great darkness came on Abraham prior to God revealing Himself to his soul, and manifesting Himself in the making of a covenant (Genesis 15:12; Genesis 15:17). Furthermore the period of thick darkness in Exodus 10:21-29 issued in the slaughter of the firstborn, the sacrifice of the Passover and the deliverance of Israel, a very similar result to here, while the cloud descended on the mountain when God made His covenant with Israel, and He manifested Himself there in thick darkness (Deuteronomy 4:11). Thus in Exodus 20:21 God was in the thick darkness (compare Deuteronomy 5:22-23). Darkness is therefore very much connected with the making of covenants between God and man.
Previously in Matthew its spiritual significance is also made clear. It is symbolic of God's withdrawing His face from Israel (Matthew 4:16), and therefore from Jesus Who is bearing the sin of Israel (Matthew 27:46). It would appear therefore that the cry of Jesus that rent the Heavens was primarily signalling the end of a period of such darkness of soul that it was indescribable as Jesus experienced separation from His Father, and God paradoxically brought in the new covenant. This was the time when the Power of Darkness was allowed to do its worst (Luke 22:53; Colossians 1:13). But God passed a veil over its significance for Jesus and so should we, for we can never comprehend its depths. Suffice to say that in His human nature even Jesus Himself did not fully comprehend what He was going through. The cup that He had to drink was fuller and deeper than He had ever realised. ‘None of the ransomed ever knew, how deep were the waters crossed, or how dark was the night which the Lord passed through, ere He found the sheep that were lost'.
Darkness had also constantly been in Scripture the picture of devastation and despair and the wrath of God (Deuteronomy 28:29; 1 Samuel 2:9; Isaiah 8:22; Isaiah 9:19; Isaiah 13:10; Isaiah 24:11; Isaiah 45:7; Isaiah 60:2; Ezekiel 32:7-8; Joel 2:2; Joel 2:10; Joel 2:31; Amos 5:18; Amos 5:20; Amos 8:9; Zephaniah 1:15). In Job it is constantly paralleled with the shadow of death (Job 10:21-22; Job 12:22; Job 34:22; Psalms 23:4; Psalms 107:10; Psalms 107:14; compare Matthew 15:22; Matthew 17:13). But paradoxically it is also the place where God is found in the mystery of His Being (2Sa 22:10; 2 Samuel 22:12; 1 Kings 8:12; Psalms 18:9; Psalms 18:11; Psalms 97:2). And now here was the darkness which summed up all darkness, a darkness in which the powers of Hell were defeated (Colossians 1:13; Colossians 2:15), and the judgmental power of the Law was broken (Colossians 2:14). God was there (Psalms 139:12), even though in the darkness of His own soul Jesus did not, for at least a brief few moments, know it. So the darkness may be seen as revealing the mysterious activity of God at work in a way beyond man's understanding, the covenant making activity of God, the visitation on earth of the wrath of God, and the desolation of a soul in the face of death and darkness and the powers of death and darkness.
For three hours there was total darkness and outwardly all was still as Jesus, alone, battled in His soul. The land was covered with a huge silence. Within that darkness the battle for the soul of the world was taking place. It is significant that we are told nothing of what happened in those three hours. And then there was a cry, as, in the travail of His soul, light broke through see especially Isaiah 53:11 in Isaiah scrolls a and b at Qumran, and LXX, ‘from the travail of His soul He will see light and will be satisfied'), and Jesus, as a result of that darkness being overcome, then questions why He had been forsaken, and finally yields up His spirit in triumph. Then all Heaven breaks loose and the powers of Heaven are revealed. The veil in the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom, the earth quaked and great rocks were shattered, and the tombs were opened, and once Jesus had risen from the dead men who had long been dead arose from their tombs and appeared to many in Jerusalem. God was signalling Jesus' victory. Truly He was the Son of God.
The passage can be split into three sub-passages, first the period of darkness and the cry of His soul to God; secondly the actions of God as a result of His death as the veil is rent in two, the rocks are torn asunder and the graves are opened; and thirdly the final effect on His executioners as they realise that they have executed the Son of God.
Analysis.
a Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour, and about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is, “My God, my God, why did you forsake me?” (Matthew 27:45-46).
b And some of those who were stood there, when they heard it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.” And immediately one of them ran, and took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink. And the rest said, “Let be, let us see whether Elijah is coming to save him” (Matthew 27:47-49).
c And Jesus cried again with a loud voice, and yielded up his spirit (Matthew 27:50).
d And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom (Matthew 27:51 a).
c And the earth quaked, and the rocks were torn asunder (Matthew 27:51 b).
b And the tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming forth out of the tombs after his resurrection they entered into the holy city and appeared to many (Matthew 27:52-53).
a Now the centurion, and those who were with him watching Jesus, when they saw the earthquake, and the things that were done, feared exceedingly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God” (Matthew 27:54).
Note that in ‘a' there was the darkness, and the cry of Jesus that spoke of His being forsaken by God, and in the parallel there was the earthquake and the cry of the centurion which revealed that Jesus was truly the Son of God. In ‘b' there is the question of whether God will send Elijah to save Him, and in the parallel God sends a number of men from the dead to testify to Him. In ‘c' Jesus cries with a loud voice and His body yields up His spirit, and in the parallel the earth cries out with a loud voice, and the rocks are torn apart. Centrally in ‘d' the veil of the Temple is torn in two and the way into the Holiest is opened up.