Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Luke 23:44

"And it was now about the sixth hour, and a darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour," — Luke 23:44 (ASV)

Luke refrains from giving a precise time but does imply by the word “now” that the preceding events had filled the morning. There was darkness from about noon to three o’clock. The whole “land” could refer to all the “land” of Israel or, possibly, to the local area only. Luke does not say what caused the sun’s light to fail, nor does he say what significance should be given this fact. Certainly it emphasized the somberness of the event; it may also be linked with Jesus’ experiencing God’s judgment, for elsewhere the Scriptures link it with God’s judgment (e.g., Amos 5:8–10; Zephaniah 1:4–15).

Luke states that the temple curtain was torn apart—doubtless the one separating the Holy Place from the inner Most Holy Place (Exodus 26:31–33). Access to the most holy God is now open through the death of Christ (cf. Hebrews 10:19–22).

Normally a person in the last stages of crucifixion would not have the strength to speak beyond a weak groan, but Jesus is able to cry out with a “loud voice” (v.46) words from Ps 31:5. To the Christian reader who knows that Jesus’ death was a voluntary act, they are beautifully appropriate. All four gospels describe Jesus’ moment of death in terse, restrained words.