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Jesus Dies on Calvary
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executioners, the mob, all thought their time to be punished had
come. Some whispered that Jesus would now come down from the
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cross.
At the ninth hour, the darkness lifted from the people but still
enclosed the Savior. No eye could penetrate the deep gloom that
enshrouded Christ’s suffering. Then “Jesus cried out with a loud
voice, saying, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, My
God, why have You forsaken Me?’” Many voices exclaimed, “The
vengeance of heaven is upon Him because He claimed to be the Son
of God!” Many who believed on Him heard His cry of despair. Hope
left them. If God had forsaken Jesus, in what could His followers
trust?
Last Chance to Show Human Pity
When the darkness lifted, Christ became aware again of His
physical suffering and said, “I thirst!” One of the Roman soldiers,
touched with pity, took a sponge, dipped it in vinegar, and offered it
to Him. But the priests mocked His agony. His words, “Eloi, Eloi,
lama sabachthani?” they misinterpreted. They said, “This Man is
calling for Elijah!” They refused the last opportunity to relieve His
sufferings. “Let Him alone,” they said, “let us see if Elijah will come
to save Him.”
The spotless Son of God hung upon the cross, His flesh lacerated
with stripes, His hands nailed to the wooden bars, His feet spiked to
the tree, His royal head pierced by thorns. And all that He endured—
the agony that racked His body, and the unutterable anguish that
filled His soul at the hiding of His Father’s face—speaks to each
child of humanity, declaring, For you the Son of God consents to
bear this burden of guilt; for you He plunders the domain of death;
for you He opens the gates of Paradise; for you He offers Himself
as a sacrifice—from love to you.
Christ Dies Triumphant
Suddenly the gloom lifted from the cross. In trumpetlike tones
that seemed to echo throughout creation, Jesus cried, “It is finished!”
“Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’” A light encircled the