Three hours of agony beyond what we can imagine passed slowly away; and then, "at the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"—the very words which stand, at the beginning of the 22nd Psalm, wherein David foretells many things that would happen at this time. "Some of them that stood by," not understanding Hebrew, "when they heard the words spoken by Jesus, said, Behold, he calleth Elias. After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished," and that His release was at hand, "that the Scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and straightway one" of the by-standers, more humane than the others, "ran, and took a spunge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it on a reed," with which he raised it high enough "to put it to his mouth, and (so) gave him to drink. The rest said, Let be; let us see whether Elias will come to take him down."

The common drink of the Roman soldiers was "posea," a poor kind of wine, often called vinegar, but not like what we mean by vinegar. This "posea" was now offered to Jesus. "When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished." All was now accomplished; every prediction uttered by the Prophets concerning the Messiah, had been fulfilled; the Redemption of man was completed. Let the cost of that Redemption make us give ourselves to our Redeemer, to be His faithful followers and servants.

"Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost,"—he yielded up his life, according to his own words, "I lay down my life for the sheep. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself." The sacrifice was voluntary, otherwise it could have availed us nothing. Jesus died: His spirit departed from the body; and His last words prove that the mysterious suffering had passed away, that He again felt the comfort of His Father's love, and that He was no longer forsaken.

The Almighty God now again bore testimony to the Divine nature of Him who had just yielded up his human life: heaven and earth alike testified that this was indeed the Son of God. During the time of His deepest agony, "the sun was darkened"; now that He had given up the ghost, "the earth did quake, and the rocks rent, and the graves were opened. And behold the veil of the temple was rent in twain, in the midst, from the top to the bottom."

The veil which divided the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple, was a thick curtain, something like a worked carpet. The tearing of this down the middle was a very significant action, showing that the death of Jesus had done away with all the ceremonial observances established by the Law of Moses. A new Covenant, the Covenant of Grace, was now to replace the old Covenant of Works.

The Holy of Holies was looked upon by the Jews as a type of heaven; and only the High Priest was allowed to enter into it. Christ died to open the way into heaven to all mankind, whether Jews or Gentiles; thus the veil was rent, to show that through the mediation of Jesus, all might have access to God the Father.

"Now when the centurion which stood over against him, watching Jesus, and they that were with him, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, and that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God."

The Roman centurion had witnessed many executions, and the wonderful events attendant upon this one had convinced him of the truth of all that Jesus had said; "and he glorified God, saying, Certainly, this was a righteous man." The very people, who had been persuaded by the Priests to ask for the release of Barabbas and the crucifixion of Jesus, now shared the feelings of the centurion; for we read that "all the people that came together to that sight, beholding the things which were done, smote their breasts," in token of remorse and grief, "and returned."

"And all his acquaintance, and the women that followed him from Galilee," "among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joses, and Salome" "the mother of Zebedee's children," "and many other women which came up with him unto Jerusalem," "stood afar off, beholding these things."

The ninth hour, after which our Saviour breathed His last, answers to our 3 o'clock p.m., and a new day, according to the Jewish mode of reckoning, would begin at 6 o'clock p.m. As Jesus was crucified on Friday morning, the day now about to begin, was the Sabbath; and being the Sabbath in the Passover week, it was a particularly solemn, or "high day," to be observed with special reverence. On the morrow after that Sabbath, the Jewish people, according to the ordinances of the Mosaical Law, were accustomed to assemble in the temple, bringing with them, as a thank-offering to the Lord, a sheaf of corn, the "first fruits" of the harvest, which began at this season of the year. At the same time, particular sacrifices were to be offered, all in thanksgiving to Him who giveth us the fruits of the earth in due season.

Crucifixion, as we have said, was often a lingering death: and sometimes, to hasten the end, the legs of the poor wretches hanging upon the cross were broken. The beginning of the Passover Sabbath was now fast approaching: it was not lawful, according to the Jewish Law, for any criminal who had been hanged, to be left hanging all night; that is, beyond the close of the day of their execution. The bodies of criminals who had been executed, were usually buried without any form or ceremonies; but sometimes, at the earnest entreaty of the family, they were allowed to take the body, and bury it with funeral honours.

The Jewish priests and rulers were very particular in observing all outward rites and ceremonies, even when they had just been guilty of a fearful sin; and "therefore, because it was the preparation," the time for preparing for the coming Sabbath, "that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day (for that sabbath day was an high day)" the Jews "besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: but one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came thereout blood and water": this water, proved that the heart had been actually pierced, so that none could doubt that Jesus was really and truly dead. It was very necessary that the fact of His death should be clearly established, so that men might afterwards have no doubt as to His "Resurrection from the dead." Amongst those who saw the water and blood flowing from the wound made by the spear, was the beloved disciple, St. John; for in his Gospel, he tells us, "And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe." In this treatment of the body of Jesus by the Roman soldiers, two prophecies concerning our Saviour, the true Paschal Lamb, were fulfilled. "For these things were done, that the Scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken," and "They shall look on him whom they pierced."

"And after this, when the evening was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath, there came a rich man of ArimathÆa, a city of the Jews: named Joseph, an honourable counsellor," who "had not consented to the counsel and deed of them" in putting Jesus to death. "He was a good man, and a just: who also himself waited for the kingdom of God: being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews." Anxious to save the sacred body of Him in Whom he believed, from further injury or insult, this man "came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus: and besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus."

ArimathÆa, supposed to be the same as Rama, where Samuel dwelt in the time of Saul, lay to the N.W. of Jerusalem, on the way to Joppa. Joseph, as a man of wealth and influence, must have been known to the Roman governor, who would be willing to oblige him, especially in such a matter, since he himself was convinced that Jesus was no malefactor. His only hesitation arose from his doubt as to whether Jesus was at that time dead; "Pilate marvelled if he were already dead: and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead. And when he knew it of the centurion, Pilate gave him leave; and commanded the body to be delivered to Joseph." Joseph having obtained Pilate's leave to remove the body of Jesus, "bought fine linen" to wrap it in, according to custom. "He came therefore," and with the help of others, "took the body of Jesus" down from the cross.

"And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth: there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury." This was all that the time allowed to be done then, in the way of embalming.

"Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new sepulchre, and Joseph laid the body in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock, wherein was man never yet laid." It was a custom in those days, for the rich, with whom Christ was to be in his death (as Isaiah had said), to form their tombs, by having a sort of small room cut out of the solid rock; leaving a narrow door, which was the only possible way by which any one could go in or out. This door or entrance was always closed by a large stone. Within the room or cave, was a sepulchre or sepulchres, in which the body was laid. In such a sepulchre "they laid Jesus therefore, because of the Jews' preparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand: and the sabbath drew on." And they rolled a great stone to the door "of the sepulchre, and departed."