Matthew 27:45-56
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
The Death of Jesus. 45 [a](A)From noon onward,(B) darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 46 (C)And about three o’clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?”[b] which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 47 [c]Some of the bystanders who heard it said, “This one is calling for Elijah.” 48 (D)Immediately one of them ran to get a sponge; he soaked it in wine, and putting it on a reed, gave it to him to drink. 49 But the rest said, “Wait, let us see if Elijah comes to save him.” 50 [d]But Jesus cried out again in a loud voice, and gave up his spirit. 51 (E)And behold, the veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom.[e] The earth quaked, rocks were split, 52 (F)tombs were opened, and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised. 53 And coming forth from their tombs after his resurrection, they entered the holy city and appeared to many. 54 [f]The centurion and the men with him who were keeping watch over Jesus feared greatly when they saw the earthquake and all that was happening, and they said, “Truly, this was the Son of God!” 55 There were many women there, looking on from a distance,[g] who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him. 56 (G)Among them were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.
The Burial of Jesus.[h]
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- 27:45 Cf. Am 8:9 where on the day of the Lord “the sun will set at midday.”
- 27:46 Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?: Jesus cries out in the words of Ps 22:2a, a psalm of lament that is the Old Testament passage most frequently drawn upon in this narrative. In Mark the verse is cited entirely in Aramaic, which Matthew partially retains but changes the invocation of God to the Hebrew Eli, possibly because that is more easily related to the statement of the following verse about Jesus’ calling for Elijah.
- 27:47 Elijah: see note on Mt 3:4. This prophet, taken up into heaven (2 Kgs 2:11), was believed to come to the help of those in distress, but the evidences of that belief are all later than the gospels.
- 27:50 Gave up his spirit: cf. the Marcan parallel (Mk 15:37), “breathed his last.” Matthew’s alteration expresses both Jesus’ control over his destiny and his obedient giving up of his life to God.
- 27:51–53 Veil of the sanctuary…bottom: cf. Mk 15:38; Lk 23:45. Luke puts this event immediately before the death of Jesus. There were two veils in the Mosaic tabernacle on the model of which the temple was constructed, the outer one before the entrance of the Holy Place and the inner one before the Holy of Holies (see Ex 26:31–36). Only the high priest could pass through the latter and that only on the Day of Atonement (see Lv 16:1–18). Probably the torn veil of the gospels is the inner one. The meaning of the scene may be that now, because of Jesus’ death, all people have access to the presence of God, or that the temple, its holiest part standing exposed, is now profaned and will soon be destroyed. The earth quaked…appeared to many: peculiar to Matthew. The earthquake, the splitting of the rocks, and especially the resurrection of the dead saints indicate the coming of the final age. In the Old Testament the coming of God is frequently portrayed with the imagery of an earthquake (see Ps 68:9; 77:19), and Jesus speaks of the earthquakes that will accompany the “labor pains” that signify the beginning of the dissolution of the old world (Mt 24:7–8). For the expectation of the resurrection of the dead at the coming of the new and final age, see Dn 12:1–3. Matthew knows that the end of the old age has not yet come (Mt 28:20), but the new age has broken in with the death (and resurrection; cf. the earthquake in Mt 28:2) of Jesus; see note on Mt 16:28. After his resurrection: this qualification seems to be due to Matthew’s wish to assert the primacy of Jesus’ resurrection even though he has placed the resurrection of the dead saints immediately after Jesus’ death.
- 27:54 Cf. Mk 15:39. The Christian confession of faith is made by Gentiles, not only the centurion, as in Mark, but the other soldiers who were keeping watch over Jesus (cf. Mt 27:36).
- 27:55–56 Looking on from a distance: cf. Ps 38:12. Mary Magdalene…Joseph: these two women are mentioned again in Mt 27:61 and Mt 28:1 and are important as witnesses of the reality of the empty tomb. A James and Joseph are referred to in Mt 13:55 as brothers of Jesus.
- 27:57–61 Cf. Mk 15:42–47. Matthew drops Mark’s designation of Joseph of Arimathea as “a distinguished member of the council” (the Sanhedrin), and makes him a rich man and a disciple of Jesus. The former may be an allusion to Is 53:9 (the Hebrew reading of that text is disputed and the one followed in the NAB OT has nothing about the rich, but they are mentioned in the LXX version). That the tomb was the new tomb of a rich man and that it was seen by the women are indications of an apologetic intent of Matthew; there could be no question about the identity of Jesus’ burial place. The other Mary: the mother of James and Joseph (Mt 27:56).
Mark 15:33-41
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
The Death of Jesus. 33 At noon darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 34 And at three o’clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?”[a] which is translated, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”(A) 35 [b]Some of the bystanders who heard it said, “Look, he is calling Elijah.” 36 One of them ran, soaked a sponge with wine, put it on a reed, and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see if Elijah comes to take him down.” 37 Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. 38 [c]The veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 [d](B)When the centurion who stood facing him saw how he breathed his last he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” 40 [e]There were also women looking on from a distance.(C) Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of the younger James and of Joses, and Salome. 41 These women had followed him when he was in Galilee and ministered to him. There were also many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem.
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- 15:34 An Aramaic rendering of Ps 22:2. See also note on Mt 27:46.
- 15:35 Elijah: a verbal link with Eloi (Mk 15:34). See note on Mk 9:9–13; cf. Mal 3:23–24. See also note on Mt 27:47.
- 15:38 See note on Mt 27:51–53.
- 15:39 The closing portion of Mark’s gospel returns to the theme of its beginning in the Gentile centurion’s climactic declaration of belief that Jesus was the Son of God. It indicates the fulfillment of the good news announced in the prologue (Mk 1:1) and may be regarded as the firstfruit of the passion and death of Jesus.
- 15:40–41 See note on Mt 27:55–56.
Luke 23:44-49
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
44 [a]It was now about noon(A) and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon 45 because of an eclipse of the sun. Then the veil of the temple was torn down the middle.(B) 46 Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit”; and when he had said this he breathed his last.(C) 47 The centurion who witnessed what had happened glorified God and said, “This man was innocent[b] beyond doubt.” 48 When all the people who had gathered for this spectacle saw what had happened, they returned home beating their breasts;(D) 49 but all his acquaintances stood at a distance, including the women who had followed him from Galilee and saw these events.(E)
The Burial of Jesus.(F)
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