33 At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 34 And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).
35 When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.”
36 Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said.
37 With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.
38 The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”
40 Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joseph, and Salome. 41 In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there.
42 It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached, 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. 44 Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. 45 When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph.46 So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where he was laid.
After Jesus has been on the cross for three hours, a darkness covers the land as creation itself suffers with Jesus. And then at three, he cries out in Aramaic. Mark offers a translation suggesting again that his audience is not the Jewish community in Israel. "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" is his plaintive cry, a direct quote from Psalm 22. Mark draws no Pollyannaish interpretation of Jesus suffering (or for that matter our own). It is real and deep. Jesus' final words in Mark are a lament.
Not only does Mark not expect his readers to not understand Jesus' words, the crowd gathered misinterprets him as well. They understand him to call Elijah. In that day and time, Elijah was seen as the equivalent of the patron saint of lost causes. He had fed the widow when there was no other way out. The crowd believes that Jesus' only hope at this point is the return of Elijah.
Someone runs and gets a sponge to try to get Jesus to drink some vinegar. This would have a similar effect to smelling salts, returning Jesus to alertness. But the crowd's effort to revive him for their entertainment ends instead with a loud cry and Jesus' final breath.
At that moment the temple curtain that separated the holy of holies from the common area of the temple is torn from top to bottom. Beginning in heaven, the separation between God and humanity is removed with Jesus death. It also seems a symbol that the temple that Jesus has condemned has now been abandoned by its primary center. God has left the building.
We know from verse 1 in Mark that Jesus is the son of God. No one should be surprised. So far Mark has told us, a voice from heaven at Jesus baptism has said it, a demon has reiterated it, the voice at the transfiguration has confirmed it. But now, for the first time, it comes from the lips of a human being in the form of a confession. It is not the statement of the now long absent disciples, but from a bystander to the crucifixion, the centurion who stands guard. Jesus' way of dying is enough of a witness that he believes Mark's central thesis.
Mark rather abruptly brings our focus on some women who stand at a distance from Jesus (just as Simon Peter has done earlier). They are Mary, Mary, Salome and other women who have been with and met the needs of Jesus. These invisible disciples who have followed in service are now the only ones close enough to see what is happening. The named male disciples have all fled, but these women have such a strong attachment to their Lord that they have stayed through the crucifixion.
Joseph of Arimathea, another occasional character, approaches Pilate to make sure Jesus is buried before the Sabbath. He is noted for his prominence and his commitment to looking for the kingdom of God. He approaches Pilate "boldly" to ask for the body. In other words, he acts as a disciple would. Pilate is surprised that Jesus' death has been so rapid, but he is glad to have the worry of the disposal of Jesus body removed from his concern. Joseph provides a tomb and rolls a stone across its entrance. Is he the bookend of the anonymous woman who gives up her burial perfume giving up his burial place?
Mark really seems to want to emphasize Jesus abandonment by his inner circle and the twelve. They are replaced by Simon of Cyrene, the centurion, Mary, Mary, Salome, the other women and Joseph. Jesus is abandoned, but not alone.
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