Mark 15:36, commentary and pictures

After three hours of darkness at the ninth hour He cried out in His forsakenness, and bystanders who misunderstood His words as a call for Elias ran to give Him vinegar on a sponge on a reed when He thirsted. One moved by pity for His suffering thirst offered the drink on a stalk of hyssop, while others said to leave Him alone to see whether Elijah would come to take Him down, still mocking and watching Him and refusing to relieve Him. After taking the vinegar and gall that added insult to His agony, He cried again with a loud voice, committed His spirit to the Father, and died sooner than crucified men commonly died. Outside the gate where felons were executed He suffered as substitute for the transgression that banished Adam and Eve, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood and redeem them from the curse of the law by being made a curse for them. What He endured in humiliation in the hands of wicked men shows the depth of His sacrifice for sinners, and His piercing cry and sudden death amid darkness, earthquake and torn rocks forced many to confess Him a righteous man and truly the Son of God.

Scene and Action at Calvary

After condemnation the procession moved from Pilate's court toward Calvary, with the cross that had been prepared for Barabbas laid upon bruised and bleeding shoulders, while two companions of Barabbas also bore their crosses. Since the Passover supper He had taken neither food nor drink. After agony in Gethsemane in conflict with satanic agencies, the anguish of betrayal, seeing His disciples forsake Him and flee, being taken to Annas then to Caiaphas then to Pilate then to Herod then again to Pilate, insult upon insult and mockery upon mockery, and being twice tortured by the scourge, human nature could bear no more and He fell fainting twice beneath the burden. The following crowd showed no compassion but taunted and reviled Him because He could not carry the heavy cross. His persecutors saw it was impossible for Him to carry it farther and were puzzled to find a bearer, since the Jews themselves could not bear the humiliating load because defilement would prevent them from keeping the Passover, and none even of the mob would stoop to bear it.

News of the condemnation had spread throughout Jerusalem, and people of all classes and all ranks flocked toward the place of crucifixion on the movement from the judgment-hall to Calvary. Because the priests and rulers were bound by a promise not to molest His followers if He Himself were delivered to them, the disciples and believers from the city and the surrounding region joined the vast multitude that followed Him. The crucifixion took place at the place called Calvary outside the gate, outside the boundaries of Jerusalem where felons and murderers were executed. At the ninth hour, after three hours of darkness over the cross, Jesus cried with a loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani, which some standing by misunderstood as calling for Elias.

After He said He was thirsty, a man, a bystander, ran and gave Him vinegar to drink on a sponge put on a reed. It was a Roman soldier, moved by pity for His suffering thirst, who offered Him the vinegar on a sponge fixed to a stalk, to a stalk of hyssop. In His thirsty agony He was thus given vinegar and gall, adding insult to His suffering before His death. The giver said to leave Him alone and wait to see whether Elijah would come to take Him down or save Him. The priests also mocked His cry, mistaking it as a call for Elijah, and refused to relieve His suffering, telling the bystanders to wait and see whether Elijah would come to save Him. Their words reflected lingering fear that He might escape them, and showed He was still mocked and watched in the moments before death.

Meaning and Response to Death

Through the disgraceful farce of a trial and the mockery at the cross He bore Himself with firmness and dignity, speaking no word but what tended to glorify God. He suffered silently at the vinegar and the taunt about Elijah, and did not answer His tormentors. The offering on the reed belongs to His descending into humiliation, into the hands of wicked men with His own nation clamoring for His blood, lifted up on the cross and dying as a malefactor. As substitute He suffered without the gate for the transgression that banished Adam and Eve from Eden, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood and redeem them from the curse of the law by being made a curse for them.

After the drink Jesus cried again with a loud voice, commended His spirit to the Father, and gave up the ghost when the mysterious darkness had passed. He died sooner than crucified people commonly did, as the centurion's report confirmed He was dead. His death was accompanied by darkness, earthquake, torn rocks, and His cry as He gave up His life, which troubled His enemies and made His murderers tremble. His piercing cry and sudden death with shaking earth and trembling rocks forced conviction on many already convicted at His trial and during the darkness, as seed that ripened into harvest when the disciples preached after His ascension. That conviction forced many at the cross to declare Him a righteous man and truly the Son of God, while many who had scoffed and jeered fled stumbling in awful terror lest the shaking earth and rent rocks end their lives.

The sight of the Bridegroom taken away gives His disciples cause to mourn and fast. Then their faith is tried, and their hope and courage fail. The crucifixion shows the depth of what Christ endured for people when He was mocked and offered vinegar, making any sacrifice required of His followers small by comparison.