Why has thou forsaken me? Mark 15:34

The Final Hours (15:33–41)

Mark presents the final hours of Jesus’ earthly life as dominated by darkness and the weight of abandonment: where is the Father?

15:33 Darkness is an OT symbol of evil but also of God’s wrath (e.g., Joel 2:2). Given that the darkness ends with the cry of dereliction (15:34), the darkness is best interpreted as reflecting Jesus’ bearing sin and the wrath of God for it.

15:34 Jesus is abandoned on the cross so that believers in him will never be abandoned. The so-called “cry of dereliction” (meaning abandonment) shows that Christ is made sin at the cross (2 Cor 5:21) and that he bears the wrath of God for sinners (Isa 53:6, 10). It also shows the depths of agony that such abandonment costs the Son of God. Though the Father does not abandon the Son completely or finally, Christ certainly is deprived of the comfort of his felt presence and love.

15:35–36 The onlookers are typical in their spiritual deadness. They think Jesus is calling for Elijah and give him some vinegar, to assist him and see whether Elijah will come. This may simply be further mockery of Jesus.

The Gospel according to Mark The Son of God (15:33–39)

Rejected and scorned by Israel, sacrificed as a political pawn by Rome, denied and abandoned by his own followers, Jesus is wholly forsaken and exposed to the horror of humanity’s sin. Its horror is so total that in his dying breath he senses his separation from God.