The trauma is complete. The end has been reached. Symbolically, the land is covered in darkness. Jesus cries out using words from the psalmist – my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? The scene is one of abandonment, isolation and despair. This is a horrific picture of anguish. Bonnie Bowman Thurston (Preaching Mark) describes the agony – “I view Jesus’ scream here as one of real suffering. He experiences not only horrific physical (crucifixion) and emotional (abandonment and mocking) suffering, but the most terrible thing any deeply religious person can face: the sense that God has abandoned him, that he is completely alone in a hostile universe. In this moment, Jesus enters into the darkest experience that humanity can face.”
The little details, and the four gospels give us slightly different windows into these, demonstrate how awful was this experience. Those who are near enough to hear, or so they think, what he might be saying suggest that he is calling for Elijah. We can imagine the words being somewhat incoherent. Some liquid, a sponge soaked in sour wine, is brought. The people, or some of them, wonder if Elijah will respond, but what rather happens is the moment of death. Jesus utters a loud cry and breathes his last. As Thurston says – “what that cry meant only God knows.”
Then, there is more detail. The curtain of the temple is torn in two. There is an affirmation of faith, surprisingly coming from the centurion, a Roman soldier doing his job, who is overseeing this process. He recognise that this was someone very special. It is also mentioned that some of the women who had followed Jesus were there. Mark names three, Mary Magdalene, another Mary and Salome. Perhaps these women disciples stayed around because they were not as greatly at risk as the men would have been. Perhaps it is because they were more committed, and more determined not to see Jesus complexly abandoned. What a devastating moment!
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