39. Matthew 27:45-64: Jesus Dies
Matthew 27:45-56: The Death of Jesus Did God Abandon Jesus? (Mt.27:45-46) “Creation begins with darkness giving way to light, and when lights go out and the world goes back into darkness, it is a signal that creation is being undone.” [1] And that what we find Matthew telling us in the buildup to Jesus’ death. Nothing more or stronger could express the unthinkable horror of what was happening on Skull Hill that fateful day. Little wonder Jesus cried out from the cross “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (v.46). What else could he have said given the enormity of this event? This quotation from Psa.22:1 sets his travail within the tradition of righteous suffers in Israel. As creation unravels the divine voice sounds again as it did over the watery chaos of the first stage of creation (Gen.1:2). But this is not a calm voice of settled declaration. It is a cry of agony. This is the end of all things. Not the end of the world as we might think about it but the end...