Church Fathers Commentary Luke 23:44-46

"And it was now about the sixth hour, and a darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, the sun`s light failing: and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. And Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said this, he gave up the ghost." — Luke 23:44-46 (ASV)

St. Cyril of Alexandria: As soon as the Lord of all was handed over to be crucified, the whole framework of the world mourned its rightful Master. The light was darkened at midday, which was a clear sign that the souls of those who crucified Him would suffer darkness.

St. Augustine of Hippo: What is said here about the darkness is confirmed by the other two Evangelists, Matthew and Mark. But St. Luke adds the cause from which the darkness arose, saying, And the sun was darkened.

It is quite plain that this darkening of the sun did not happen in the regular and fixed course of the heavenly bodies, because it was the Passover, which is always celebrated at the full moon, whereas a regular eclipse of the sun only takes place during a new moon. [Citing Dionysius the Areopagite:] When we were both at Heliopolis together, we saw the moon miraculously meet the sun, even though it was not the time of the new moon. Then, from the ninth hour until evening, we saw it supernaturally brought back to the edge of the sun’s diameter. Furthermore, we observed that this darkening began from the east and, after reaching the sun’s western border, finally returned. The loss and restoration of light did not happen from the same side, but from opposite sides of the diameter. Such were the miraculous events of that time, possible only for Christ, who is the cause of all things.

Greek Expositors: This miracle, then, took place to make it known that He who had undergone death was the Ruler of the whole creation.

St. Ambrose of Milan: The sun is also eclipsed for the sacrilegious, so that it might overshadow the scene of their awful wickedness. Darkness was spread over the eyes of the unbelieving, so that the light of faith might rise again.

The Venerable Bede: But Luke, wishing to join miracle to miracle, adds, And the veil of the temple was torn in two. This took place when our Lord expired, as Matthew and Mark bear witness, but Luke related it by anticipation.

Theophylact of Ohrid: By this, then, our Lord showed that the Holy of Holies would no longer be inaccessible but, being handed over to the Romans, would be defiled and its entrance exposed.

St. Ambrose of Milan: The veil is also torn, which declares the division of the two peoples and the profanation of the synagogue. The old veil is torn so that the Church may hang up the new walls of faith. The covering of the synagogue is drawn back so that we may behold with the eyes of the mind the inner mysteries of religion, now revealed to us.

Theophylact of Ohrid: By this it is signified that the veil which separated us from the holy things in heaven—namely, enmity and sin—is broken through.

St. Ambrose of Milan: It also took place at the time when every mystery of Christ’s assumed mortality was fulfilled and His immortality alone remained, as it follows: And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said...

The Venerable Bede: By invoking the Father, He declares Himself to be the Son of God. But by commending His Spirit, He signifies not any weakness of His strength, but His confidence in having the same power as the Father.

St. Ambrose of Milan: The flesh dies so that the Spirit may rise again. The Spirit is commended to the Father so that heavenly things also may be freed from the chain of iniquity, and peace may be made in heaven—a peace that earthly things should then follow.

St. John Chrysostom: Now this voice teaches us that the souls of the saints are not, from now on, shut up in hell as before, but are with God, since Christ has become the beginning of this change.

St. Athanasius of Alexandria: For through Himself, He commends to His Father all mankind made alive in Him, for we are His members. As the Apostle says, You are all one in Christ.

Gregory of Nyssa: We should inquire how our Lord distributes Himself into three parts at once: into the heart of the earth, as He told the Pharisees; into the Paradise of God, as He told the thief; and into the hands of the Father, as it is said here. However, to those who consider it rightly, this is hardly a question, for He who by His divine power is everywhere is also present in any particular place.

St. Ambrose of Milan: His spirit, then, is commended to God, but though He is above, He still gives light to the regions below the earth, so that all things may be redeemed. For Christ is all things, and in Christ are all things.

Gregory of Nyssa: There is another explanation: at the time of His Passion, His Divinity, being united to His humanity, did not leave either part of it. Instead, it voluntarily separated the soul from the body, yet showed itself remaining in each. Through the body in which He suffered death, He vanquished the power of death; but through the soul, He prepared an entrance into Paradise for the thief.

Now Isaiah says of the heavenly Jerusalem, which is none other than Paradise, Upon my hands I have painted your walls. From this it is clear that he who is in Paradise dwells in the hands of the Father.

St. John of Damascus: Or to speak more precisely: regarding His body, He was in the grave; regarding His soul, He was in hell and with the thief in Paradise; but as God, He was on the throne with His Father and the Holy Spirit.

Theophylact of Ohrid: But by crying with a loud voice, He yields up His spirit, because He had in Himself the power to lay down His life and to take it up again.

St. Ambrose of Milan: He gave up His Spirit because He did not lose it unwillingly. For what a person gives up is voluntary, but what one loses is by compulsion.