first three gospels speak had
overshadowed the land. Of the cause of that darkness they give no hint,
for Luke's expression cannot mean an eclipse, since an eclipse at Passover
time, that is, at full moon, is an impossibility. The conjecture that
dense clouds hid the sun is common, and is as suitable as any other.
Whatever the cause, the evangelists saw in it a token of nature's awe at
the death of the Son of God. During the hours of the darkness the waves
swept over his soul, as the cry "my God" shows to our reverent thought.
But the last word of trust proves that the dying Jesus was not forsaken,
and that Calvary, like Gethsemane, was a battle won. The earlier sayings
all express Jesus' continued spirit of ministry, showing even in his
bitter pain his accustomed thoughtfulness for others' need.

206. It is futile to speculate on the cause of Jesus' early death. He
certainly suffered a much shorter time than was ordinarily the case, as
appears in the fact that at sunset it was necessary to break the legs of
the robbers so as to hasten death, Jesus having already been some time
dead. There is something attractive in the theory of Dr. Stroud (The
Physical Cause of Christ's Death) that Jesus died of rupture of the heart.
It may have been true, but the evidences on which he based his argument
are insufficient for proof. To the Jews the death of their victim did not
give all the satisfaction they desired. In the first place, Pilate
insisted on mocking them by posting over the head of Jesus the placard,
"The King of the Jews" (see John xix. 19-22); moreover, their haste had
brought the crime into close proximity to the feast which they were eager
to keep from defilement; so that they had still to beg of Pilate that he
would hasten the death of the victims, that their bodies might not remain
to desecrate the following Sabbath sanctity (John xix. 31-37); while for
those who witnessed it the death of Jesus deepened the impression that a
hideous crime had been committed in the slaughter of an innocent man (Mark
xv. 39).

207. Among the bystanders few of the disciples of Jesus were to be
found--they were hiding in fear. Yet some faithful women, and two
courageous councillors of Jerusalem, were bold enough to make their
loyalty known. These two men, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, were
members of the sanhedrin, but they had had no part in the condemnation of
Jesus; and after knowing that he was dead, Joseph begged of Pilate th