Truly this was the Son of God!

 

 Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land.  And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"  Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, "This Man is calling for Elijah!"  Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink.  The rest said, "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him."  And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.  Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.  So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, "Truly this was the Son of God!"

 

- Matthew 27:45-54 

 

Yesterday we read that, following His trial before Pilate and assignment to be crucified, as Jesus and the soldiers came out from the Praetorium, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name.  Him they compelled to bear His cross.  And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull, they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink.  But when He had tasted it, He would not drink.  Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet:  "They divided My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots." Sitting down, they kept watch over Him there.  And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him:  THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.  Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one of the right and another on the left.  And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, "You who destroy the temple and built it in three days, save Yourself!  If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross."  Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save.  If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.  He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'"  Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing. 

 

  Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land.   The sixth hour is noon; the ninth hour is 3:00 in the afternoon.  Regarding this darkness at noon, see Zechariah 14:6-7; Amos 8:9.

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"  Jesus is praying Psalm 22, a psalm which foretold the details of the Crucifixion.  My study Bible says that if this is taken from the rest of the psalm, Jesus' cry of "Why have you forsaken Me?" can be misinterpreted as a cry of despair.  We should understand that since He took on our human nature, Jesus also experiences our alienation from God in His humanity, knowing our suffering and distress; but He does not despair.  He speaks these words in the name of humanity, my study Bible notes, completely identifying with us in our condition, as in His divinity, He is never forsaken by the Father.  

Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, "This Man is calling for Elijah!"  Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink.  The rest said, "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him."  And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.  The text tells us that Christ yielded up His spirit.  My study Bible comments that Christ's death is voluntary to the very end.  Even on the Cross, it says, Christ's life could not be taken from Him against His will.  He accepts death on the Cross neither to receive the Father's punishment on our behalf, nor to satisfy the Father's need for blood-justice (as if God would demand such things), but by entering death as the divine Son of God, He can destroy the last enemy -- which is death itself (1 Corinthians 15:20-28).  In allying Himself completely to our nature, He transforms human nature for all of us.

 

Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, . . .  The veil of the temple separated the Most Holy Place from the rest of the temple.  My study Bible calls it a symbol of the separation between God and humanity.  Christ's death now opens the way into the presence of God for all people, giving human beings access to that which is the most holy of all:  God.  Additionally my study Bible notes that in many Orthodox churches, there is a curtain between the altar and the nave; it's drawn open during liturgical services in order emphasize that communion with God, which was at one time sealed off from humanity, now available to all who approach in faith.  

 

 . . . and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.  My study Bible says that the completeness of the salvation won by Christ is signified in this resurrection of the saints from the Old Testament.  It says that this is a guarantee of the promise given to Ezekiel that God can and will one day open the graves of all humankind (Ezekiel 37:1-14).   The saints entering the holy city, it notes, is an icon of resurrected humanity entering the heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 11:10; 12:22-23; Revelation 21:2-22:5).

So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, "Truly this was the Son of God!"   According to my study Bible, this centurion is a Gentile who realizes that Jesus has dominion over nature, and therefore acknowledges Him as the Son of God.  In tradition he is known as St. Longinos.

The text tells us that, immediately after Jesus yielded up His spirit, then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.  These images sear the mind as those of things popping open, almost like spring -- the tearing of the veil of the temple in two from top to bottom, the earth quaking, the rocks splitting, graves opened and the bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep raised and coming out of the graves, even appearing to many.  Everything splits open to reveal extraordinary things setting forth, pouring out, appearing before people, as if the whole world has suddenly broken open with these extraordinary things exploding out like chicks breaking out of an eggshell they've broken open from within.  Christ's voluntary death lets forth an unprecedented outpouring from the world, splitting the veil in the temple and the rocks, opening the graves, and saints appearing to the people.  It's like an eruption of life that was just waiting to be revealed, which nobody knew was there.  But poetically, perhaps ironically, it is Christ's death which explodes this vivid outpouring of life.  It's as if there were all these things hidden, and all it took was this one event to unleash them for all to see.  This is a strange parallel with the understanding of the season of spring, its name in many languages indicating the "springing forth" of flowers from the ground.  But Christ's death springs forth everything, not just flowers.  It's an indication of things to come, the kinds of truths and meanings that will flow from this event and through the Church, bringing countless things to light and into history in ways that inform every facet of our lives --  most of which is now so woven into our culture we are likely no longer entirely aware and might struggle to name.  This outpouring has to be understood as the effect of the Sower, who will now be "sown" in the ground Himself, and whose Resurrection it all portends.  Jesus has said to Himself, in John's Gospel:  "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain" (John 12:23-24).  Even more powerfully, He asks us to follow Him, for participating in His life, death, and Resurrection, we may also do the same:  "He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor" (John 12:25-26).  He sows His life and expands new life for us all.  Whatever we "lose" in following Him, is raised up with many, for the Father will honor such endeavor, and all of the life exploding out in Jerusalem at Christ's death affirms this unmistakable power.  Let us consider what His death and sacrifice give to us; let us live His life He gives us in His Resurrection, and share in what we reap.  For even as the centurion can see, "Truly this was the Son of God!"

Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened

 

 Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land.  And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?"  Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, "This Man is calling for Elijah!"  Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink.  The rest said, "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him."  And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.  Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.  So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, "Truly this was the Son of God!" 

 

- Matthew 27:45-54 

 

Yesterday we read that, as Jesus and the Roman soldiers they came out of the Praetorium to walk to the place of crucifixion, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name.  Him they compelled to bear the cross of Jesus.  And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull, they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink.  But when He had tasted it, He would not drink.  Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet: "They divided My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots."  Sitting down, they kept watch over Him there.  And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him:  THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.  Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left.  And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, "You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself!  If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross."  Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save.  If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.  He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him, for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'"  Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing. 

 

 Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land.   Much of what comes to pass at the events surrounding the Crucifixion is found in Biblical prophecy.  Regarding this darkness, see Zechariah 14:6-7; Amos 8:9.  

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?"  Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, "This Man is calling for Elijah!"  Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink.  The rest said, "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him."  Those who hear Christ misunderstand Him.  He is praying Psalm 22, which is a foretelling of the very details of the Crucifixion.  If we do not understand this prayer and the fullness of the psalm, then Christ's cry of "Why have You forsaken me?" can be easily misinterpreted as a cry of despair.  But the whole of the psalm tells a different story.  As Jesus took on our human nature, He experiences our alienation from God in His humanity, knowing our suffering and distress.  But Christ does not despair.  My study Bible notes that He speaks these words in the name of humanity, completely identifying with us in our condition, for in His divinity He is never forsaken by the Father.

And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.  My study Bible comments here that Christ's death was voluntary to the very end, for even on the Cross, His life could not be taken from Him against His will.  Christ accepts death on the Cross neither to receive the Father's punishment on our behalf, nor to satisfy the Father's need for blood-justice (as if God would demand such things), but so that by entering death as the divine Son of God, He can destroy this last enemy, which is death itself (1 Corinthians 15:20-28).  See also Christ's words reported at Luke 23:46, quoting from Psalm 31 (verse 5). 

Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split . . .   My study Bible notes that the veil that separated the Most Holy Place from the rest of the temple was a symbol of the separation between God and man.  Christ's death opens the way into the presence of God for all people, giving people access to that which is most holy of all:  God.  In many Orthodox churches, there is a curtain between the altar and the nave which is drawn open during liturgical services in order to emphasize this communion with God, which was at one time sealed off from humanity, and is now available to all who approach in faith.

. . . and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.  That the resurrection of the saints from the Old Testament is reported signifies the completeness of the salvation won by Christ.   My study Bible says that this guarantees the promise given to Ezekiel that God can and will one day open the graves of all humankind (Ezekiel 37:1-14).  The saints entering the holy city is an icon of resurrected humanity entering the heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 11:10, 12:22-23; Revelation 21:2-22:5).  

So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, "Truly this was the Son of God!"  My study Bible says that this Roman centurion, a Gentile, realizes that Jesus has dominion over nature, and therefore acknowledges Him as the Son of God.  In the tradition of the Church we know this soldier as St. Longinos.  

I am intrigued with the picture of the saints of the Old Testament walking through the holy city and appearing to many.  Surely it seems to give us a picture of the fullness of reconciliation between heaven and earth through Christ and His transfiguring death upon the Cross.  Just as the veil of the temple is torn in two, so that human beings may now more fully share in communion with God, so these saints appear visibly to human beings, as if heaven and earth are united in the same place.  Indeed, there are many who experience something similar at the death of a loved one, a glimpse or vision of the one recently passed, as if to reassure us that all live to Christ, and that our continuing prayers for those who have passed live also and are heard by God.  In Luke 20:38, Jesus explains to the Sadducees, who do not believe in resurrection, that God "is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him."   The veil of the temple torn in two, and the "thinness" of what is often called the veil between heaven and earth, affirm for us in additional ways the transfiguring power of Christ's voluntary death on the Cross, and its effect of reconciling God and humanity, bringing us into closer communion and therefore healing.  If hell is a state of separation of human beings from God, and if the problems of evil in our world are representative of the effects of separation, then Christ enters into death as both fully human and fully divine in order to conquer death and separation from God, for all of us.  This was the understanding of the early Church, and remains our powerful symbol of God's transfiguring love in the Cross.  In the Incarnation, all things are drawn into God's purview, even the gruesome events of the Crucifixion, even Christ's death on the Cross, so that all may be transfigured in the light of Christ, and so that we might have that veil torn in two, the curtain lifted for our own deep experience of God's love for us.  For Christ teaches us that despite the separation from God in our world and the evil that we experience, God is with us and asks us into a communion of love.  The early saints surely understood this, for in their own martyrdom they joined Christ as those who would live His faith in this world and become also those who transfigure death and suffering for the kingdom of God.  If this seems like too great a paradox to you, consider that walking through a hard or evil time with faith simply means that we bring God's love into it, for we seek Christ's way through it, thus gaining a spiritual victory for the kingdom of heaven, for which He instructed us to pray ("Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven").  The Cross of Christ runs more deeply within the realities of this world than anything and everything that will touch our lives; and just so, for this is its power for us.

If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross

 

 Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name.  Him they compelled to bear His cross.  And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull, they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink.  But when He had tasted it, He would not drink.  Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet:

"They divided My garments among them,

And for My clothing they cast lots."

Sitting down, they kept watch over Him there.  And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him:

THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS

Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left.  And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, "You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself!  If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross."  Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save.  If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.  He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him, for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'"  Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing.

 

- Matthew 27:32-44 

 

Yesterday we read that when Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all as he tried to have Jesus released instead of Barabbas, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, "I am innocent of the blood of this just Person.  You see to it."  And all the people answered and said, "His blood be on us and on our children."  Then he released Barabbas to them; and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified.  Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole garrison around Him.  And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him.  When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand.  And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!"  Then they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head.  And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified.   

 Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name.  Him they compelled to bear His cross.  And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull, they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink.  But when He had tasted it, He would not drink.  Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet:  "They divided My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots."  This quotation is from Psalm 22:18.  If we read the entire psalm, we see it is a picture of the Crucifixion.

Sitting down, they kept watch over Him there.  And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him:  THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.  Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left.  And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, "You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself!  If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross."  Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save.  If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.  He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him, for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'"  Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing.  Of today's entire reading, my study Bible comments that Jesus accepts mockery and endures the weakness of our body in His own in order to take upon Himself our sufferings.  This He accomplishes by uniting His divine nature to our human nature.  His humanity is indeed our humanity.  Although He has no sin, He was made to be sin for us, that through His flesh He might condemn sin itself (Romans 8:3; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 2:9).  Of the two robbers, we know that one would later repent (Luke 23:39-43), but at first both criminals mock Jesus, as Matthew notes.

So why does Jesus endure all of this at the Cross?  Why has He gone through scourging and mocking and cursing and all the rest of it?  He has said Himself that He could pray to the Father and be given twelve legions of angels to stop what is happening to Him (Matthew 26:53).  In every way, the Gospels teach us that this is a voluntary place that Christ goes to, even this horrible miscarriage of justice, with intentional violations of the Mosaic law at every turn in His trial, from false witnesses to a night trial to all the rest of it.  Even to be "betrayed into the hands of sinners" (Matthew 26:45) is part of what He voluntarily undergoes.  None of this takes away the sin of those who commit such acts (Matthew 26:24).  But the deliberate cruelty and injustice that Christ endures here tells us a story for all of us and for all time, about the power of God for transcendence and Resurrection, about divinity and goodness that are nonetheless not impaired through bad treatment, and especially about the power of God that goes first before us into a deeply sinful world and shows us the way through.  But even more powerfully, we are to understand holiness through Christ and through the gift of the Spirit.  Resurrection, for example, is a mystery far beyond some sort of rational explanation or moral aphorism.  It is the same with the Cross, and all of these aspects of Christ's Crucifixion.  Jesus as both God and Man enters into the territory of the worst of human sin and atrocities of injustice, unrighteousness.  As the Son of God He is blasphemed, tempted, mocked, scourged, derided, and treated to behavior meant to number Him among the lowest criminals, worthy only of cruelty and contempt.  But none of these actions change who Christ is.  There is no injustice or lie that can actually change the truth about Jesus Christ, that He is both divine in origin and sinless as human being.  This alone is a powerful lesson and inspiration to any of us who have experienced injustice in our lives, for we look to Him as the example of righteousness.  Rather, we look to Christ's faith as an example of how we ourselves should endure in a sinful world.  We hold fast to what is good.  It is the transforming power of the divine, of the very mission of Incarnate Christ, that turns the Cross into a way to redeem our lives and to fill even the worst of times with meaning and mission.  For what the divine has touched and endures through Christ sanctifies and heals our lives, even in the worst of what we do or what is done to us.  It is He who went to the Cross voluntarily who has the power to reach into our deepest places, and to teach us what needs to be changed and healed, to teach us what is properly love, to radically transform what needs transforming, and to teach us His love and redeem us through it.  Only through "becoming sin" -- this image of the worst of the worst, the One who was numbered among the transgressors, among the lowest criminals, who appears to the world as cursed (Galatians 3:13), and reviled, and all the rest of the things we see in today's reading -- can Christ's divinity touch us in all our most difficult and dark places.  For if He came to the world in the image of the all-powerful glorious majesty that is truly the Son of God, what would that have done to lift us up with Him?  What would that have done to make us come to Him and reveal our most shameful secrets so that they may be healed in His love?  The beloved disciple writes:  "We love him, because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19), and that is what this story truly tells us today.  This is the answer to those who taunt Him to come down from the Cross.

Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachtani?

 Now when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.  And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachtani?" which is translated, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?"  Some of those who stood by, when they heard that, said, "Look, He is calling for Elijah!"  Then someone ran and filled a sponge full of sour wine, put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink, saying, "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to take Him down."  And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last.  Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.  So when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, "Truly this Man was the Son of God!"

- Mark 15:33-39

 Yesterday we read that the soldiers brought Jesus to Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull.  Then they gave Him wine mingled with myrrh to drink, but He did not take it.  And when they crucified Him, they divided His garments, casting lots for them to determine what every man should take.  Now it was the third hour, and they crucified Him.  And the inscription of His accusation was written above:  THE KING OF THE JEWS.  With Him they also crucified two robbers, one on His right and the other on His left.  So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "And He was numbered with the transgressors."  And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, "Aha!  You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself, come down from the cross!"  Likewise the chief priests also, mocking among themselves with the scribes, said, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save.  Let the Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe."  Even those who were crucified with Him reviled Him.

  Now when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.   The sixth hour is noon; the ninth hour is three o'clock in the afternoon.  My study bible refers us to Zechariah 14:6-7 and Amos 8:9, which are fulfilled in the darkness at noon.

And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachtani?" which is translated, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?"   Jesus prays Psalm 22.  This psalm foretells the details of the Crucifixion, another fulfillment of prophecy.  If this cry is taken without the rest of the psalm, my study bible points out, "Why have you forsaken me?" could be misinterpreted as a cry of despair.  Christ took on our nature, and Jesus experiences our own alienation from God in His humanity.  He knows completely our suffering and distress, but He does not despair.  According to my study bible, He speaks these words in the name of humanity, a complete identification with us in our condition.  But in His divinity, He is never forsaken by the Father. 

Some of those who stood by, when they heard that, said, "Look, He is calling for Elijah!"  Then someone ran and filled a sponge full of sour wine, put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink, saying, "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to take Him down."  And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last.   In Matthew's Gospel, we're told that Jesus "yielded up His spirit."  My study bible says that His death was voluntary to the very end, because even on the Cross, His life could not be taken from Him against His will.  He accepted His death neither to receive the Father's punishment on our behalf, nor to satisfy the Father's need for blood-justice (which really makes no sense as a demand from God), but rather by entering death as the divine Son of God, He can destroy the final enemy -- death itself (1 Corinthians 15:20-28).  We should understand this event as transfiguring everything we experience, a profound redemption.  As my study bible puts it, whatever divinity touches is healed.  He accepts our nature in order to sanctify it, our weakness in order to strengthen us, our sin to free us from sin, our suffering in order to transfigure suffering -- and our death in order to destroy death.

Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.   My study bible tells us that the veil that separated the Most Holy Place from the rest of the temple was a symbol of the separation between God and man.  The death of Christ opens up the way into the presence of God for all, giving human beings access to what is in fact the most holy of all, which is God.  In many Orthodox churches, one sees a curtain between the altar and nave which is opened during services to emphasize the communion with God, which at one time was sealed off from human beings, and is now available to all who approach in faith.

So when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, "Truly this Man was the Son of God!"   Although the centurion is a Gentile, according to my study bible he realizes that Christ has dominion over nature.   Therefore he acknowledges Him as the Son of God.  Tradition knows this particular soldier as St. Longinos.


 Jesus dies on the Cross.   It is a voluntary death.  He has experienced all the suffering of human beings, all of the life that we live, and including our death -- even the most ignominious of deaths as He is executed in a manner fit for the worst of criminals.  From the earliest centuries of Christianity, the Church has understood that in uniting His divinity to our humanity, Christ is the very instrument of salvation.  St. Gregory of Nazianzus wrote in the 4th century:  "For that which He has not assumed He has not healed; but that which is united to His Godhead is also saved" (Critique of Apollinarius and Apollinarianism, Epistle 101).    From the beginnings of the establishment of the Church, and through all its subsequent foundational Councils, the fundamental viewpoint on the unity, in Christ, of humanity and God is the stone on which the Church was built and refined.  That is, each new controversy in some way touched upon this issue, and has been resolved with a return to its basic truth:  that God's divinity, touching and assuming our humanity, is the very action of redemption, of salvation.  As St. Gregory says, whatever is not assumed by Christ can't be healed; what He has assumed is saved.  In the story of the Cross, humanity's suffering, pain, death, isolation, injustice, and all the rest of the things that we can read into the experience of Jesus is transfigured.  It is the way to defeat evil at its root.  Salvation does not come from manipulation, it doesn't come from "blood justice," and it doesn't come from human or worldly force.  It comes through this unification of God and humanity.  Christ, through all things, has given over His human will to the Father's will, and the result is this death on the Cross, at which even the centurion -- no doubt one who has witnessed many crucifixions -- comes to faith.  In the story of our faith, it really isn't what we do and what our lives look like from the outside that makes all the difference.  It is how we live them, how we come through whatever it is we experience or are given, and how we come to those decisions about what we will do in life.  Like Christ, we must find the key to redemption and salvation through this union of energies of God and our humanity, and through faith.  Whatever we see in this scene is redeemed through the voluntary act of Christ.  When He is raised, so will be all the things He has experienced, God touching the worst and the ugliest of evils in the world.  In the Orthodox hymn of Easter, it is sung repeatedly that Christ trampled down death by death.  When we go through suffering of any kind in our own lives, let us follow where He leads.  The very cross, instrument of death, is transformed into an instrument of the deepest strength and power to save and to redeem.  Whatever it is, let us turn it over to Him and find our own way to that salvation; let Him take on the suffering He has voluntarily endured for us, and give it back to us in His own way for our healing.

Truly this was the Son of God!

 Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land.  And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"  Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, "This Man is calling for Elijah!"  Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink.  The rest said, "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him."  And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.  Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, an the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.  So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, "Truly this was the Son of God!"

- Matthew 27:45-54

Yesterday we read that as Jesus and the soldiers came out from the Praetorium, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name.  Him they compelled to bear His cross.  And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull, they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink.  But when He had tasted it, He would not drink.  Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet:  "They divided My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots."  Sitting down, they kept watch over Him there.  And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him:  THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.  Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left.  And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, "You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself!  If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross."  Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save.  If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.  He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'"  Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing.

 Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land.  And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"  Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, "This Man is calling for Elijah!"  Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink.  The rest said, "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him."   The sixth hour to the ninth hour is between noon and three o'clock in the afternoon.  The prophecies of Zechariah and Amos tell us of this phenomenon of darkness in "that day" (Zechariah 14:6-7, Amos 8:9).  The words of Jesus tell us something important:  He is praying.  These are the first words of Psalm 22, which tells the story of the Crucifixion.  My study bible warns that if we don't understand that these words begin the Psalm, the words, "Why have You forsaken me?" could be misinterpreted as a cry of despair.  The truth is here that Jesus has taken on our nature fully, experiencing our alienation from God in His humanity.  He knows our suffering and distress.  But He does not despair.  He speaks these words, my study bible says, in the name of humanity, completely identifying with us in our condition, for in his divinity, He is never forsaken by the Father.  Indeed, the Psalm itself tells the story of terrible distress and suffering for a human being, but also of response by God, and praise.  Those nearby fail to recognize the prayer; they believe He is calling for Elijah, who was prophesied to return at the time of the Messiah (see 11:12-14, 17:12).

And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.  My study bible comments that Christ's death was voluntary to the very end.  Even on the Cross, His life could not be taken from Him against His will.  He accepts death on the Cross not to receive the Father's punishment on our behalf, nor is this a satisfaction of the Father's need for blood-justice (does God demand such things?).  Rather, by entering death as divine Son of God, He is able to destroy this last enemy -- death itself (1 Corinthians 15:20-28).  As Son, He has entered fully and completely into humanity, even into death, in order to transfigure everything for us by bringing His full divinity into our human experience.

Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; . . ..  The veil that separated the Most Holy Place from the rest of the temple was a symbol of the separation between God and man.  Christ's death, my study bible explains, opens the presence of God for all people, giving human beings access to that which is the most holy of all:  God Himself.  In many Eastern churches, there is a curtain between the altar and the nave, which is drawn open during liturgical services in order to emphasize this communion with God, which was at one time sealed off from humanity and is now available to all who approach in faith.

. . . and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, an the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.  My study bible says that completeness of the salvation won by Christ is signified in the resurrection of the saints from the Old Testament.  This guarantees the promise that was given to Ezekiel, that God can and will one day open the graves of all mankind (Ezekiel 37:1-14).  The saints entering the holy city, my study bible adds, is an icon of resurrected humanity entering the heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 11:10, 12:22-23; Revelation 21:2-22:5). 

 So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, "Truly this was the Son of God!"  The centurion, who is a Gentile, witnesses the dominion over nature present with Jesus, my study bible comments.  He acknowledges Him, therefore, as the Son of God.  By tradition, we know this soldier as St. Longinos.

Why this end?  Why this result?  The death of Jesus is a powerful story of sacrifice and heroism, of love, and finally of the cruelty that the world will hand out even to the most innocent among us -- to the One who is most innocent of all and without sin.  This is the story that we are given for our faith.  How are we to understand it?  We can look around at our world and see the cries for vengeance all around us, when someone is left out, loses out on a job, perceives that someone else has gotten what they want.  The Gospel tells us that Pilate understood that Jesus was delivered over to him because of envy (27:17-18, see Saturday's reading).  In some sense, it is fitting to understand this punishment meted out with its not-quite-so-well-hidden motivation of envy, as envy is the archetypal sin of evil.  We're told that the devil envies humanity, as humanity was created by God just so that this story of the Christ could be told -- Creator coming to creature and becoming one of us so that we may become "like Him."  Our collective sin is on display in the treatment of our Lord, our injustice and vengeance.  But Jesus does not take on this sin simply to show us that we are sinful.  The crucifixion, and indeed the Cross, is all about transfiguration, redemption.  He not only challenges the narratives of the world by His death, but challenges our very understanding of ourselves.  What are our lives really all about?  What are they for?  Is our place in the world all that we are?  He asks us what justice is.  His death on the Cross begs us to ask of ourselves what we can achieve if our sense of ourselves does not also include mercy.  He shows us our blindness, and perhaps most of all calls us more deeply to faith than any single event or action in human history -- because without Him, we don't really know at all what we do (Luke 23:34).  But beyond any of those things, Jesus goes through death for us, as an act of love, and transfigures death forever.  He asks us also to take up His cross, and to follow Him, because our lives may also become acts of exchange and transformation:  the false for the true, sin for redemption, death for life.  He opens us up to God, to a kind of communion not possible without the Cross, by completely becoming one of us and even experiencing death for us.  Jesus' transfiguring power is the ultimate call of hope when there is no hope, of life where we think life cannot be.  In the Orthodox Church, the hymn of Resurrection says that "by death, He tramples death."  What does this mean, but that the very things given to us by evil are used by God to destroy evil.  By His death, He destroys death.  In taking on the sin of the world, He offers us transfiguration, cleansing, redemption -- and the same becomes true of our own suffering through injustice and cruelty.  Only God could have such power to transform and transfigure, to change our suffering into something that gives life, to show us the way first to redeem our own lives with beauty even through suffering.  With faith, we may transcend whatever the world will give us, the way that He does, and return to the world His glory, His love instead.  This is the story of Jesus.   In John's Gospel, He tells Nicodemus, "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:14-15).  He offers us the answer of life, the only answer of life even in the face of evil and death.  This is the answer that only He can give to us.

Truly this Man was the Son of God!

 Now when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.  And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" which is translated, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"  Some of those who stood by, when they heard that, said, "Look, He is calling for Elijah!"  Then someone ran and filled a sponge full of sour wine, put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink, saying, "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to take Him down."  And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last.  Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.  So when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, "Truly this Man was the Son of God!" 

- Mark 15:33-39

Yesterday we read that they brought Jesus to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull.  Then they gave Him wine mingled with myrrh to drink, but He did not take it.  And when they crucified Him, they divided His garments, casting lots for them to determine what every man should take.  Now it was the third hour, and they crucified Him.  And the inscription of His accusation was written above:  THE KING OF THE JEWS.  With Him they also crucified two robbers, one on His right and the other on His left.  So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "And He was numbered with the transgressors."  And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, "Aha!  You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself, and come down from the cross!"  Likewise the chief priests also, mocking among themselves with the scribes, said, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save.  Let the Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe."  Even those who were crucified with Him reviled Him.

  Now when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.  And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" which is translated, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"  Some of those who stood by, when they heard that, said, "Look, He is calling for Elijah!"  Then someone ran and filled a sponge full of sour wine, put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink, saying, "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to take Him down."   This sixth hour is noon; the ninth hour is 3:00 PM.  My study bible refers us to the prophesies of Zechariah and Amos (see Zechariah 14:6-7; Amos 8:9).   Jesus is praying Psalm 22, which foretells even the details of the Crucifixion.  If we take Jesus' words without the rest of the psalm, we would understand this only as a cry of despair.  But if we see Christ in His true identity, as both fully human and fully God, we understand Him to have taken on all of human nature, and here He experiences our alienation from God.  He therefore knows our suffering and distress, but He is not despairing.  These words, my study bible says, are spoken in the name of humanity, completely identifying with us in our condition, but in His divinity He is never forsaken by the Father.  It was prophesied that before the Messiah came into His Kingdom, Elijah would return first.  Jesus Himself referred to John the Baptist as Elijah, returned in spirit (see Matthew 17:12-13, Mark 9:11-13).

  And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last.  Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.  So when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, "Truly this Man was the Son of God!"  Jesus' death on the Cross is voluntary to the very end, my study bible notes.  Even at until this point of death, His life could not be taken from Him against His will.  He accepts death on the Cross neither to receive punishment on our behalf, nor to satisfy the Father's need for blood-justice, my study bible says (for why would God demand this?), but so that entering death as the divine Son He can destroy the final enemy -- which is death itself (1 Corinthians 15:20-28).  It is the veil of the temple, torn in two from top to bottom, that tells us of the significance of this death on the Cross:  the veil was a symbol of the separation between God and man.   Christ's death opens up for all human beings the access to the most holy of all:  God Himself.  This centurion is identified by tradition as St. Longinos.

St. Longinos is an interesting character of the Gospels.  He has presumably seen the display of darkness from noon to 3:00 PM.  He has stood keeping watch directly opposite Christ.  One presumes that he has seen many crucifixions and many die on their cross.  But what the text tells us literally is that he watched as Christ breathed His last.  In the Greek, this word translated as "breathed His last" is ἐξέπνευσεν/exepneusen).  That word is interesting for us, because the word for breath, πνευνα/pneuma, also means "spirit."  He has watched Christ exhale His "spirit," so to speak.  The word here implies a deepening of the sense of voluntary giving up on the part of Christ.  The centurion has watched Him die -- as He cried out with a loud voice, He gave up His spirit to God.  One can imagine that this image of Christ, praying the psalm, accepting His death, giving up His spirit to the Father, marks a severely powerful way of dying, one that so impresses the centurion that he exclaims, "Truly this Man was the Son of God!"  In Luke's Gospel, we are told that at this very end Jesus was praying Psalm 31, saying, "Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit" (Luke 23:46).  It must be extremely hard for us to really imagine the gruesomeness of a death by crucifixion, especially the final moments of a man's life.  Psalm 22 gives us something of a description of what the effects of this sort of a death must be like:  "I am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; it has melted within Me.  My strength is dried up like a potsherd,and My tongue clings to My jaws; You have brought Me to the dust of death."  But added to the physical effects of crucifixion are the torments of this time for Jesus, which the rest of the Psalm also describes well:  "Be not far from Me, for trouble is near; for there is none to help.  Many bulls have surrounded Me; strong bulls of Bashan have encircled Me. They gape at Me with their mouths, like a raging and roaring lion. . . . For dogs have surrounded Me; the congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me.  They pierced My hands and My feet; I can count all My bones.  They look and stare at Me. They divide My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots.  But You, O Lord, do not be far from Me; O My Strength, hasten to help Me!
Deliver Me from the sword, My precious life from the power of the dog.  Save Me from the lion’s mouth and from the horns of the wild oxen!"  And the next line of the psalm replies:  "You have answered Me. I will declare Your name to My brethren; in the midst of the assembly I will praise You."  To transcend everything on the Cross, to die as He did, surely impressed this centurion who has no doubt witnessed many scenes of death on Golgotha.  Once again we take careful note that Christ does not gloss over His human feelings; instead, He prays them.  Everything here is also a sacrament, a gift to God -- it is all given to the Father for His way.  To understand this scene it is necessary to know that Christ took on all of human nature so that it is all transfigured, even our experience of death.  This is the one way in which death has been defeated, so that He being lifted up, lifts all the rest of us with Him (see John 3:14-18, 12:32).  The reality of this transcendence and transfiguration lies in one place:  our faith.  We go through what the world does and will do, but we are saved with our faith.  We may be changed by all that we experience, and rightly so.  We learn lessons, we take strengths, we become more aware and alert.  It is He who has taught us to be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves (Matthew 10:16).  But through all things, we give up our experience even as a kind of sacrament to God, even as thanksgiving, we pray, we hold fast to the work of our faith -- and on the other end is transcendence, transfiguration, the life that persists through all things, the "lifting up" with Him that He promises us.  

Truly this was the Son of God!

 Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land.  And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"  Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, "This Man is calling for Elijah!"  Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink.  The rest said, "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him."  And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.

Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.  So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, thy feared greatly, saying, "Truly this was the Son of God!"

- Matthew 27:45-54

 In our current readings, it is Holy Week, and Jesus has been convicted of blasphemy by the Council.  He has been denied three times by Peter, and Judas has committed suicide.  He has appeared before Pilate, and been rejected by the crowds.  He's been scourged, mocked and spat on by the Roman soldiers, and taken for crucifixion.  Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name.  Him they compelled to bear His cross.  And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull, they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink.  But when He had tasted it, He would not drink.  Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet:  "They divided My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots."  Sitting down, they kept watch over Him there.  And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him:  THIS IS JESUS - THE KING OF THE JEWS.  Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left.  And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, "You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself!  If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross."  Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save.  If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.  He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'"

 Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land.  And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"  Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, "This Man is calling for Elijah!"  Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink.  The rest said, "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him."  And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.    From the sixth hour until the ninth hour is approximately from noon to three o'clock in the afternoon.  This darkness in the brightest times of the day reflects prophecies found in Jeremiah and Amos.   When Jesus asks, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" He is beginning to pray Psalm 22, which prophesied even details of the Crucifixion.  Without knowledge of the psalm, this could be taken for a cry of despair.  He took on our nature, explains my study bible, and so experiences in His humanity our alienation from God -- He fully knows our suffering and distress.  But there is not despair here.  These words can be spoken in the name of humanity, completely identifying with us in our condition.  But in His divinity, He's never forsaken by the Father.  In fact, the words seem to be a signal that He knows the time to go to the Father has arrived.    The text tells us He's yielded up His spirit.  This is a voluntary death.  My study bible says that even on the Cross, His life could not be taken from Him against His will.  He accepts death on the Cross not to receive punishment instead of us, nor to satisfy a need for blood-justice (God does not need nor demand such).  Rather, by entering human death as divine Son of God, He destroys the last enemy, which is death itself  (1 Corinthians 15:20-28). 

Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.   So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, thy feared greatly, saying, "Truly this was the Son of God!"   The veil of the temple separated the Most Holy Place from the rest of the temple.  It was a symbol of the separation between God and man.  Christ's death opens the way into the presence of God for all.  Through Him, we have access to the most holy of all: God Himself.  In many Orthodox churches, there is a curtain between the altar and the nave which is drawn open during the liturgical services;  this emphasizes that communion with God, at one time sealed off from humanity, is now available to all who approach in faith.  My study bible says that the completeness of the salvation won by Christ is seen in the resurrection of the saints from the Old Testament.  It is a guarantee of the promise given to Ezekiel that God can and will open the graves of all mankind (Ezekiel 37:1-14).  This image in Jerusalem is an icon of the resurrection of all humanity entering the heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 11:10, 12:22-23; Revelation 21:2-22:5).   The centurion is a Gentile who recognizes that Jesus has dominion over nature through witnessing these events, calling Him the Son of God.  By tradition, the Church knows him as St. Longinos. 

It's, to say the least, a strange time described here.  Christ is killed on a cross, mocked  and ridiculed and reviled by everyone, even the robbers crucified with Him.  It is an absolute bottoming out of all one could wish for in life, not just 'the end of the road,' so to speak, but one of complete humiliation.  This is a total self-emptying.  But here, at the time of His death, with His remarkable prayer of prophesy in Psalm 22, we have an image of heaven and earth turned upside down:  there is first darkness from noon to three, and after He gives up His spirit, the saints walk as if alive again on earth and we have an icon - like a superlain image - of the heavenly Jerusalem in the time of eternity.  Here at the Crucifixion, the human Jesus' entire community joins in His humiliation.  But it is first a Gentile soldier who recognizes His divinity.  Just after His death, the crisis is past and a sudden clarity is here.  The events of resurrection are stirred, and His death happens voluntarily, even as He prays the Psalm that prophesies what is happening and ends with praise and confidence in God and God's kingdom for all posterity.  It seems to me that we would do well to remember that these events may go unnoticed by the world at the time they occur.  Crucifixions were not one-time events at this time in Jerusalem.  Surely many knew of Jesus, but the violence and upheavals of this time period characterize its history.  Those who mocked Jesus or sought to have Him put to death do not immediately understand the effects of what they do.  And that is somehow what life is like:  the holy isn't something that screams out at everyone.  It doesn't "prove" itself with effects that are available or understood by all.  Those whose hearts and minds are not open to it will rarely perceive or receive it.  And even that perception is a great mystery; the depths of the heart work in strange ways that are not really known to us or up to us.  All of this is to say that tremendous and world-shattering realities may be hidden and contained in the most mundane of times and circumstances, and their effects and truths realized only much, much later and perhaps by those who can understand them.  In our lives, the one way to take this lesson to heart is to know His words to the disciples before being betrayed and taken away, and that is to "watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation."   These words have the effect of telling us, perhaps warning us, that it's always going to be our job to be aware and alert (the word for "watch" in Greek is also about wakefulness, being roused from sleep).   Coupled with prayer, it's an admonition that we're always to know what we're about, where we are spiritually, where we stand with God.  Events we're going to encounter or be surrounded by in life may ask us for all kinds of things -- and if we're not aware of where we are and who we are, we may be blind to what we enter into and blind to their temptations for us.  As such, Jesus calls us always to a consciousness of the spiritual realities of our lives, not to be asleep, not to be just drifting along with 'the world,' but to make the effort to know what we're about, and to serve in our ways as disciples.  These events may go unnoticed by all kinds of people and unknown by humanity everywhere.   But to watch and pray is to be reminded that we're here for a purpose, that our lives are not meaningless, that this great drama of Passion, Crucifixion and death is one played out for us -- and that His very life is something in which we, too, participate via our own existence as His followers and disciples.  That participation is what we do when we watch and pray, when we follow His commands (such as participation in the Eucharist, for example).  We commune in His life; we live our lives with Him.   Let us be aware that we need His life, and live as if every single moment were important.

When the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, "Truly this Man was the Son of God!"

 Now when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.  And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" which is translated, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"  Some of those who stood by, when they heard that, said, "Look, He is calling for Elijah!"  Then someone ran and filled a sponge full of sour wine, put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink, saying, "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to take Him down."  And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last.  Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.  So when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, "Truly this Man was the Son of God!"

- Mark 15:33-39

Yesterday, we read that Jesus was brought to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull.  Then they gave Him wine mingled with myrrh to drink, but He did not take it.  And when they crucified Him, they divided His garments, casting lots for them to determine what every man should take.  Now it was the third hour, and they crucified Him.  And the inscription of His accusation was written above:  THE KING OF THE JEWS.  With Him they also crucified two robbers, one on His right and the other on His left.  So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "And He was numbered with the transgressors."  And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, "Aha!  You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself, and come down from the cross!"  Likewise the chief priests also, mocking among themselves with the scribes said, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save.  Let the Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe."  Even those who were crucified with Him reviled Him.

  Now when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.   These are Roman hours, translated into roughly noon until three o'clock in the afternoon, normally the brightest hours of the day.  My study bible notes the words of two prophets.  The first is Zechariah 14:6-7:  "And in that day, it shall be that there will not be any light, but there shall be cold and frost for one day, and that day shall be known to the Lord.  It will be neither a day nor a night, but towards evening there will be light."  The second is Amos 8:9:  "'And it will come to pass in that day,' says the Lord God, 'the sun will set at noon, and the light of day will grow dark over the land.'"

 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" which is translated, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"  Jesus is praying Psalm 22, which foretells the details of the Crucifixion.  Without the context of the rest of the Psalm He prays, His words could be interpreted as a cry of despair.  But what is happening is Jesus' experience of human nature in full -- an alienation from God in His humanity, knowing our suffering and distress.  But this prayer is not despair, the Psalm isn't a prayer of despair.  These words are spoken, as my study bible puts it, "in the name of humanity."  That is, they are expressive of the place He finds Himself as human being, identifying Himself completely with us in our condition.  But in His divinity, He's never forsaken by the Father -- and neither does the Psalm suggest this is the whole story.

 Some of those who stood by, when they heard that, said, "Look, He is calling for Elijah!"  Then someone ran and filled a sponge full of sour wine, put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink, saying, "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to take Him down."  And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last.  The Gospel teaches us that there are true and false witnesses, some understand and some do not.  These at the Cross do not even know the prayer, the Psalm.  This is a voluntary death, foretold in the Psalm about the Messiah.  My study bible says that His life could not be taken from Him against His will, even here at the Cross.   Jesus enters death as divine Son of God, destroying this last enemy, death itself (see 1 Corinthians 15:20-28). 

Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.   This is the veil that separates the Most Holy Place from the rest of the temple.  My study bible says the veil was a symbol of the separation between God and man.  It notes, "Christ's death opens the way into the presence of God for all people, giving people access to that which is most holy of all:  God Himself."  In many Eastern Churches, there is a type of curtain between the altar and the nave, which is opened during services -- the emphasis is that communion with God is now available to all who approach in faith.

 So when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, "Truly this Man was the Son of God!"  And here, finally, is an event of enormous significance.  There is faith at the Cross.  This centurion is a Gentile, but he realizes that Christ has dominion over nature and therefore acknowledges Him as the Son of God.  We know this soldier by tradition as St. Longinos.

We can already see in this scene Jesus' effect on death itself.  Things are being transformed.  This isn't business as usual, so to speak, at Golgotha.  The centurion and his response is evidence of that.  Something remarkable is happening.  Jesus doesn't meet His death the way most human beings do in the experience of the centurion.  This is completely different.  He prays a Psalm, a prophesy of the Crucifixion in all its details (see Psalm 22).  His cry is not that of total despair, but rather of the experience of death on the Cross, with faith, in relationship to God.  It's also a voluntary death He goes to without fear, with Christ having spent six hours on the Cross, a relatively quick death, as Pilate notes, which we'll read in Monday's reading.  All of these things distinguish Christ as Son of God, evident to the centurion.  Although fully human, in the full experiential act of this painful, drawn out, intentionally-horrific and torturous kind of death, Jesus remains Son of God -- His relationship to God and to death itself transcends everything that is happening here.  And that teaches us so much, about how much really depends on relationship, our relationship to God.  That's really what Jesus is here for, to change that relationship and to open it up for all of us, expressed in the curtain being torn from top to bottom.  It reminds us that, as Jesus told the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well in John's Gospel, "The hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."  The power of such worship is the power of the transcendence of Christ on the Cross.  It is the power of the Cross itself, what it symbolizes and means for us, that Christ defeats death through His experience of it as Son and human, changing for all of us the relationship that we have to God, and to death.  This is no ordinary crucifixion, and it's perfectly plain to the centurion.  But it's no ordinary crucifixion because it's done for us, and for all time, to tear away the veil between ourselves and our Creator who loves us, who defeats our enemies for us.  This is a love which we share through our faith and that most important of all relationships, the one that comes first and defines everything else, sets the tone for what it means to understand worship and love and relatedness in all its depth.  This is where we are here, and it is the power of the Cross, the one we know that stands for the defeat of death and the embrace of God.