Matthew 27:45-56
When Jesus dies, heaven, earth, temple, tombs, and witnesses declare that the crucified King is truly the Son of God.
45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour.
46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lima sabachthani?” That is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
47 Some of them who stood there, when they heard it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.”
48 Immediately one of them ran, and took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him a drink.
49 The rest said, “Let him be. Let’s see whether Elijah comes to save him.”
50 Jesus cried again with a loud voice, and yielded up his spirit.
51 Behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom. The earth quaked and the rocks were split.
52 The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;
53 and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection, they entered into the holy city and appeared to many.
54 Now the centurion, and those who were with him watching Jesus, when they saw the earthquake, and the things that were done, feared exceedingly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God.”
55 Many women were there watching from afar, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, serving him.
56 Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.
When Jesus dies, heaven, earth, temple, tombs, and witnesses declare that the crucified King is truly the Son of God.
Matthew presents Jesus' death as the climactic passion event in which the crucified Messiah bears abandonment, yields up his spirit, opens access to God, shakes creation, and is confessed by Gentile witnesses as the Son of God.
Golgotha during the crucifixion of Jesus, from noon until about three in the afternoon and then immediately following his death.
Jesus Condemned, Crucified, Dead, Buried, and Guarded
The innocent King is condemned in place of the guilty, mocked as the Son of God while truly being the Son of God, crucified under the weight of forsakenness, and buried under guard, yet his death tears open access to God, shakes creation, fulfills Scripture, and prepares for resurrection.