Church Fathers Commentary Mark 15:33-37

"And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, he calleth Elijah. And one ran, and filling a sponge full of vinegar, put it on a reed, and gave him to drink, saying, Let be; let us see whether Elijah cometh to take him down. And Jesus uttered a loud voice, and gave up the ghost." — Mark 15:33-37 (ASV)

The Venerable Bede: This most glorious light withdrew its rays from the world, so that it would not see the Lord hanging, and so that the blasphemers would not have the benefit of its light.

Therefore, it goes on: And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Luke added the cause of the darkness to this account: the darkening of the sun.¹

Theophylact of Ohrid: If this had been the time for an eclipse, someone might have said that this event was natural. However, it was the fourteenth day of the lunar month, when no eclipse can take place.

There follows: And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”

Pseudo-Jerome: At the ninth hour, the tenth coin that had been lost is found by turning the house upside down.

The Venerable Bede: For when Adam sinned, it is also written that he heard the voice of the Lord walking in paradise in the cool of the day (Genesis 3:8). In the same hour that the first Adam brought death into the world by sinning, the second Adam destroyed death by dying. We must also observe that our Lord was crucified as the sun was setting, but He celebrated the mysteries of His Resurrection at sunrise. This is because He died for our sins but rose again for our justification.

Nor should you wonder at the humility of His words—at His complaints as one forsaken—when you look upon the offense of the cross, knowing He took the form of a servant. For just as hunger, thirst, and fatigue were not proper to His divinity but were afflictions of the body, so His saying, Why have You forsaken me? was proper to a bodily voice. The body is never naturally inclined to wish for separation from the life to which it is joined.

Although our Savior Himself said this, He was truly showing the weakness of His body. He spoke, therefore, as a man, bearing my feelings within Himself, for when we are in danger, we imagine that we have been deserted by God.

Theophylact of Ohrid: Alternatively, He speaks this as a man crucified by God for my sake. For we humans have been forsaken by the Father, but He never has. For hear what He says: I am not alone, because the Father is with me (John 16:32). He may also have said this as a Jew according to the flesh, as if He were saying, “Why have You forsaken the Jewish people, so that they have crucified Your Son?” For just as we sometimes say, “God has put on me”—that is, my human nature—so here we must also understand You have forsaken me to refer to my nature, or to the Jewish people.

It goes on: And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, “Behold, he is calling for Elijah.”

The Venerable Bede: I suppose, however, that these were Roman soldiers who did not understand the specific Hebrew dialect, and from His cry of “Eloi,” they thought He was calling for Elijah. But if we understand the Jews to have said this, they must be supposed to have done so to accuse Him of foolishly calling for Elijah’s help.

It goes on: And one ran and filled a sponge full of vinegar, put it on a reed, and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Let him alone; let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.”

John shows more fully the reason the vinegar was given to the Lord to drink, saying that Jesus said, I thirst (John 19:28), so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled. They then applied a sponge full of vinegar to His mouth.

Pseudo-Jerome: Here he points out a likeness to the Jews: a sponge on a reed—weak, dry, and fit for burning. They fill it with vinegar, that is, with wickedness and deceit.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Matthew did not report that the man who brought the sponge filled with vinegar was the one who spoke about Elijah, but that the others did. From this, we gather that both groups said it.

Pseudo-Jerome: Though the flesh was weak, the heavenly voice that said, Open to me the gates of righteousness (Psalm 118:19), grew strong.

Therefore, there follows: And Jesus cried with a loud voice and breathed His last.

We who are of the earth die with a very low voice, or with no voice at all, but He who descended from heaven breathed His last with a loud voice.

Theophylact of Ohrid: He who both rules over death and commands it dies with power, as its Lord. Luke declares what this voice said: Father, into Your hands I commend My Spirit. By this, Christ would have us understand that from that time on, the souls of the saints go into the hands of God. For previously, the souls of all were held in hell until He came, who preached the opening of the prison to the captives.

1. de. Con. Evan. 3, 17