Mark 15:33: The Crucifixion Darkness. Mark describes the mysterious darkness that fell over the whole land during Jesus's final three hours on the cross. This darkness symbolized the disorder, evil, mourning, and divine judgment associated with Jesus’s death and His bearing the sins of the world. The darkness also fulfilled numerous Old Testament prophecies and signaled the transition from the wrath of man against Jesus to the wrath of God against the sin which Jesus bore on humanity's behalf.
John 19:28-29 describes something Jesus said during the window of time Mark describes.
In Mark 15:33,darkness mysteriously falls overthe whole land from noon until three o'clock in the afternoon as Jesus suffers His final three hours upon the cross.
After describing how Jesus's mockers ridiculed and insulted Him as He hung from the cross (Mark 15:29-32), Mark describes an ominous darkness that overtook theland:
When the sixth hour came, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour (v 33).
Along with Matthew and Luke, Mark records that darkness fell over the whole land from thesixth houruntiltheninth hour (v 33) (Matthew 27:45,Luke 23:44). Converting these timeframes to contemporary timekeeping practices, the darkness first fell upon the land at 12:00 noon and lasted until 3:00 p.m.
Earlier, Mark wrote:
"It was the third hour when they crucified Him." (Mark 15:25)
The third hour was approximately 9:00 a.m. This means Jesus had already been hanging on the cross for around three hours whenthesixth hour came and the darkness began.
During Jesus's first three hours on the cross, He suffers abuse and insults from different groups of people. He was mocked by those passing by (Mark 15:29-30), the chief priests and scribes (Mark 15:31-32), and the criminals crucified beside Him (Mark 15:32). These insults continued the abuse Jesus had already endured from the Jewish religious leaders and Roman soldiers before His crucifixion.
Jesus's first three hours on the cross--from the third houruntilthe sixth hour (v 33)--are therefore sometimes called "the Wrath of Man." The subsequent three-hour period--from thesixth houruntiltheninth hour (v 33)--is sometimes called "the Wrath of God."
This description comes from the fact that darkness fell over the whole land (v 33) during this period, and from Jesus's desperate outcry at its conclusion:
"My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (Mark 15:34b)
As will be explained more fully in The Bible Says commentary for Mark 15:34, what Jesus suffered on the cross during these hours of darkness can be described as spiritual death--separation from God. This may have been when Jesus took upon Himself the sins of the world and suffered the judgment they deserved (2 Corinthians 5:21,Colossians 2:14,1 Peter 2:24).
Thedarkness itself was ominous and unsettling.
Luke adds that "the sun was obscured" (Luke 23:45). Normally, an expression like this might describe an eclipse. But Passover occurred in the middle of the lunar cycle when a natural solar eclipse was impossible. Thedarkness, therefore, appears to have resulted from some other cause, perhaps even supernatural.
Mark writes that darkness fell over the whole land (v 33). His expression--thewhole land--indicates that the darkness was widespread. Matthew similarly writes that "darknessfell upon all the land" (Matthew 27:45).
The expressions the whole land and "all the land" (Matthew 27:45) may be general descriptions applying to the broader area and region where Jesus was crucified or extending to the entire planet. At minimum, the darkness covered Jerusalem and its surrounding region. It may have extended throughout Judea or across significant portions of the Roman Empire. It is even possible that the crucifixion darkness covered the entire earth.
Mark does not select one of these themes or tell his readers precisely what thedarkness meant. By simply reporting the event, Mark allows all four biblical themes to apply to the crucifixion darkness.
1. The Crucifixion Darkness as an Image of Disorder and Emptiness
The crucifixion darkness mirrored the terrible disorder surrounding the death of the Son of God. The Creator was being killed by His creation. The innocent was being punished as guilty.
The righteous King was being murdered by those He came to save. And the eternal Son was experiencing the horror of separation from His Father.
At the conclusion of the darkness, Jesus cried out:
Mark translates Jesus's Aramaic words for his Gentile readers:
"My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (Mark 15:34b)
The timing of Jesus's cry connects the darkness with the isolation and emptiness He experienced.
The relationship of the Trinity is the most foundational order of reality. All creation came into being through the Son and is sustained through Him (John 1:3,Colossians 1:16-17). The darkness reflected the appalling disorder of the moment when God the Son, bearing the sins of the world, experienced separation from God the Father.
Jesus is the Light of men (John 1:4) and the Light of the world (John 8:12). Revelation says that in the new earth there will be no need of the sun because the Lamb will be its light (Revelation 21:23). But at the cross, the Light of the world bore the darkness of the world.
Thedarkness that fell over the whole land reflected the emptiness, isolation, and inner darkness Jesus experienced as He bore humanity's sin.
2. The Crucifixion Darkness and the Theme of Sin and Evil
The crucifixion darkness was also emblematic of the evil of the cross.
The cross of Christ is associated with evil in at least three ways.
First, the crucifixion of Jesus was the most evil and unjust act ever committed in human history.
The Creator was murdered by His creation. The righteous Messiah was rejected by His own people (John 1:11). Jesus, the sinless Savior, was illegally condemned by His religious enemies and delivered to Pilate. Pilate repeatedly concluded that Jesus was innocent, but nevertheless had Him scourged and crucified (Mark 15:14-15,Luke 23:22).
The crucifixion of Jesus was the murder of the innocent Son of God by wicked men and thedarkness was an appropriate symbol for this terrible evil.
Second, thedarkness may have represented the spiritual conflict taking place as Jesus defeated the powers of evil.
The destiny of creation and the question of who would rule over it were being decided as Jesus suffered on the cross. Adam had surrendered humanity's dominion through sin, and Satan had become "the ruler of this world" (John 12:31). But through His suffering, death, and resurrection, Jesus defeated sin and death and regained humanity's right to rule (Hebrews 2:5-9).
Jesus was victorious over sin and death (1 Corinthians 15:56-57,Colossians 2:13-15). Thedarkness may therefore have been a physical manifestation of the spiritual war taking place as the obedient Servant defeated the powers of evil through His suffering.
Third, and most profoundly, thedarkness symbolized the sinless Jesus bearing humanity’s sin.
Paul writes:
"He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf." (2 Corinthians 5:21a)
The sinless One bore the sins of the world. Just as the righteousness and purity of Jesus stood in complete opposition to the evil He bore, so the brilliance of daylight was replaced by its opposite—darkness.
The course of nature itself seemed to reverse while the Holy One bore humanity's evil during those three terrible hours on the cross.
3. The Crucifixion Darkness as a Sign of Mourning
The crucifixion darkness was also a sign of divine grief.
Isaiah records the LORD saying:
"I clothe the heavens with blackness And make sackcloth their covering." (Isaiah 50:3)
Sackcloth was a garment of mourning. The darkened heavens can therefore be understood as creation clothed in mourning as the Father grieved the suffering and death of His Son.
The prophet Amos similarly associated supernatural darkness with mourning for an only son:
"And I will make it like a time of mourning for an only son, And the end of it will be like a bitter day." (Amos 8:10b)
Jesus was God's only begotten Son (John 3:16). As Jesus suffered and died upon the cross, darkness fell over the whole land. The blackened sky was a fitting expression of the sorrow surrounding the death of God's beloved Son.
4. The Crucifixion Darkness as a Display of God's Judgment and Wrath
Of the Bible's four major themes associated with darkness--disorder, evil, mourning, and divine wrath--the theme of God's judgment is the most prominent in the Old Testament.
The specific connection to divine wrath through the Old Testament scriptures would have been readily apparent to Matthew's Jewish audience, but the connection between darkness and divine wrath was not entirely foreign to Mark's Roman audience.
Ominous darkness itself would still have communicated divine displeasure and cosmic judgment to the Roman readers. The Roman world was highly attentive to signs and omens, particularly unusual disturbances in the natural world surrounding the deaths of rulers and other momentous events. The darkness surrounding the death of Jesus--the true King--would therefore have been interpreted as ominous to Mark's Roman readers.
There appear to be three ways the crucifixion darkness signified divine wrath and judgment.
The first way was as a warning of God's impending judgment upon Israel for rejecting its Messiah.
Israel's religious leaders condemned Jesus for confessing that He was the Messiah (Mark 14:61-64). They then manipulated Pilate and the crowd until Jesus was crucified (Mark 15:1-15).
Thedarkness was therefore an ominous warning of judgment against those who rejected God's Messiah.
The second way the crucifixion darkness signified divine judgment was that it symbolized the replacement of the old sacrificial system by the perfect sacrifice of Jesus.
At the very time priests were performing sacrifices in the temple, Jesus was offering Himself as the true and final sacrifice for sin. The author of Hebrews explains:
"By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." (Hebrews 10:10)
The sacrifices of the priests could never take away sins. Jesus's sacrifice was offered once for all time (Hebrews 10:11-14).
While religious sacrifices were being offered in Jerusalem, darkness covered the land as the true Lamb of God offered Himself upon the cross.
The third, and perhaps the most profound, way the crucifixion darkness displayed divine wrath was as God's judgment against the sins Jesus bore on humanity's behalf.
Thedarkness from thesixth houruntiltheninth hour (v 33) depicted the cup of God’s wrath which Jesus had prayed about in Gethsemane. Jesus prayed:
"Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will." (Mark 14:36)
Jesus chose to drink the cup. He faithfully fulfilled His duty and mission as God's Servant, obeying His Father even to the point of death. During these three hours of darkness, Jesus bore the judgment of humanity's sins.
Isaiah prophesied:
"All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him." (Isaiah 53:6)
Thedarkness was a visible expression of the judgment against sin which Jesus endured in humanity's place. The wrath of God against sin fell upon the Son of God who willingly stood in the place of sinners.
The Crucifixion Darkness as Fulfillment of Prophecy
Thedarkness that fell over the whole land also fulfilled numerous Old Testament prophecies.
One of the most striking comes from the prophet Amos:
"'It will come about in that day,' declares the Lord GOD, 'That I will make the sun go down at noon And make the earth dark in broad daylight.'" (Amos 8:9)
Amos's prophecy corresponds remarkably with Mark's account. Mark says that when the sixth hour came--noon--darkness fell over the whole land (v 33). Amos continues:
"Then I will turn your festivals into mourning And all your songs into lamentation." (Amos 8:10a)
Jesus was crucified during the Jewish festival of Passover and Unleavened Bread. Amos then describes this darkness as mourning for an only son:
"And I will make it like a time of mourning for an only son, And the end of it will be like a bitter day." (Amos 8:10b)
Other Old Testament prophecies also associate supernatural darkness with God's judgment:
"For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not flash forth their light; The sun will be dark when it rises And the moon will not shed its light." (Isaiah 13:10)
"For behold, darkness will cover the earth And deep darkness the peoples." (Isaiah 60:2a)
"Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, For the day of the LORD is coming; Surely it is near, A day of darkness and gloom, A day of clouds and thick darkness." (Joel 2:1b-2a)
"A day of wrath is that day, A day of trouble and distress, A day of destruction and desolation, A day of darkness and gloom, A day of clouds and thick darkness." (Zephaniah 1:15)
Mark does not explicitly identify the crucifixion darkness as a fulfillment of these prophecies.
Matthew also records the darkness without explicitly connecting it to the prophetic texts, apparently trusting his Jewish readers to recognize these scriptural patterns.
Mark, likewise, keeps his account concise and action oriented. And Mark's Roman readers would not have missed that the darkness that fell over the whole land itself was a sign that represented the awful injustice and horror as the Son of God hung on the cross, dying for the sins of the world.
The crucifixion darkness was not a random occurrence. It was a prophetic sign that represented:
The disorder of the cosmos as the Son of God suffered;
The evil of humanity murdering its Creator;
The sin of the world which the sinless Jesus bore;
The mourning of the Father over His beloved Son;
God's judgment against those who rejected His Messiah;
God's wrath against sin which Jesus willingly endured on humanity's behalf.
Jesus experienced the darkness of judgment so that those who believe in Him can live in the light. As He Himself said: "I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness" (John 12:46).
At the conclusion of the three hours of darkness, Jesus personally expressed the horror of what He had experienced: "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" (Mark 15:34a). Jesus's terrible cry and its meaning are the subject of the next section of Mark's account.
Mark 15:33
33 When the sixth hour came, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour.
Set to dark mode
Mark 15:33 meaning
The parallel gospel accounts of Mark 15:33 are found in Matthew 27:45 and Luke 23:44-45.
John 19:28-29 describes something Jesus said during the window of time Mark describes.
In Mark 15:33, darkness mysteriously falls over the whole land from noon until three o'clock in the afternoon as Jesus suffers His final three hours upon the cross.
After describing how Jesus's mockers ridiculed and insulted Him as He hung from the cross (Mark 15:29-32), Mark describes an ominous darkness that overtook the land:
When the sixth hour came, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour (v 33).
Along with Matthew and Luke, Mark records that darkness fell over the whole land from the sixth hour until the ninth hour (v 33) (Matthew 27:45, Luke 23:44). Converting these timeframes to contemporary timekeeping practices, the darkness first fell upon the land at 12:00 noon and lasted until 3:00 p.m.
Earlier, Mark wrote:
"It was the third hour when they crucified Him."
(Mark 15:25)
The third hour was approximately 9:00 a.m. This means Jesus had already been hanging on the cross for around three hours when the sixth hour came and the darkness began.
To learn more about the timing of the cross, see The Bible Says "Timeline: The Final 24 Hours of the Life of Jesus."
During Jesus's first three hours on the cross, He suffers abuse and insults from different groups of people. He was mocked by those passing by (Mark 15:29-30), the chief priests and scribes (Mark 15:31-32), and the criminals crucified beside Him (Mark 15:32). These insults continued the abuse Jesus had already endured from the Jewish religious leaders and Roman soldiers before His crucifixion.
Jesus's first three hours on the cross--from the third hour until the sixth hour (v 33)--are therefore sometimes called "the Wrath of Man." The subsequent three-hour period--from the sixth hour until the ninth hour (v 33)--is sometimes called "the Wrath of God."
This description comes from the fact that darkness fell over the whole land (v 33) during this period, and from Jesus's desperate outcry at its conclusion:
"My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"
(Mark 15:34b)
To learn more about this statement, see The Bible Says article, "Why did Jesus Cry, 'My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me?'"
As will be explained more fully in The Bible Says commentary for Mark 15:34, what Jesus suffered on the cross during these hours of darkness can be described as spiritual death--separation from God. This may have been when Jesus took upon Himself the sins of the world and suffered the judgment they deserved (2 Corinthians 5:21, Colossians 2:14, 1 Peter 2:24).
The darkness itself was ominous and unsettling.
Luke adds that "the sun was obscured" (Luke 23:45). Normally, an expression like this might describe an eclipse. But Passover occurred in the middle of the lunar cycle when a natural solar eclipse was impossible. The darkness, therefore, appears to have resulted from some other cause, perhaps even supernatural.
Mark writes that darkness fell over the whole land (v 33). His expression--the whole land--indicates that the darkness was widespread. Matthew similarly writes that "darkness fell upon all the land" (Matthew 27:45).
The expressions the whole land and "all the land" (Matthew 27:45) may be general descriptions applying to the broader area and region where Jesus was crucified or extending to the entire planet. At minimum, the darkness covered Jerusalem and its surrounding region. It may have extended throughout Judea or across significant portions of the Roman Empire. It is even possible that the crucifixion darkness covered the entire earth.
And other people across the world may have recorded this darkness. See The Bible Says article: "Are There Extra-Biblical Accounts that Describe the Crucifixion Darkness?"
Mark does not explicitly explain the meaning of the darkness. He simply records three facts:
The Bible uses the imagery of darkness to signify at least four major themes:
(Genesis 1:2, Jeremiah 4:23)
(Isaiah 5:20, John 3:19, Colossians 1:13)
(Job 30:26, Lamentations 3:2, Amos 5:20)
(Exodus 10:21-23, Isaiah 5:30, 8:22, 13:10, Joel 2:1-2, Amos 5:18, 8:9-10, Zephaniah 1:15)
Mark does not select one of these themes or tell his readers precisely what the darkness meant. By simply reporting the event, Mark allows all four biblical themes to apply to the crucifixion darkness.
1. The Crucifixion Darkness as an Image of Disorder and Emptiness
The crucifixion darkness mirrored the terrible disorder surrounding the death of the Son of God. The Creator was being killed by His creation. The innocent was being punished as guilty.
The righteous King was being murdered by those He came to save. And the eternal Son was experiencing the horror of separation from His Father.
At the conclusion of the darkness, Jesus cried out:
"Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"
(Mark 15:34)
Mark translates Jesus's Aramaic words for his Gentile readers:
"My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"
(Mark 15:34b)
The timing of Jesus's cry connects the darkness with the isolation and emptiness He experienced.
The relationship of the Trinity is the most foundational order of reality. All creation came into being through the Son and is sustained through Him (John 1:3, Colossians 1:16-17). The darkness reflected the appalling disorder of the moment when God the Son, bearing the sins of the world, experienced separation from God the Father.
Jesus is the Light of men (John 1:4) and the Light of the world (John 8:12). Revelation says that in the new earth there will be no need of the sun because the Lamb will be its light (Revelation 21:23). But at the cross, the Light of the world bore the darkness of the world.
The darkness that fell over the whole land reflected the emptiness, isolation, and inner darkness Jesus experienced as He bore humanity's sin.
2. The Crucifixion Darkness and the Theme of Sin and Evil
The crucifixion darkness was also emblematic of the evil of the cross.
The cross of Christ is associated with evil in at least three ways.
First, the crucifixion of Jesus was the most evil and unjust act ever committed in human history.
The Creator was murdered by His creation. The righteous Messiah was rejected by His own people (John 1:11). Jesus, the sinless Savior, was illegally condemned by His religious enemies and delivered to Pilate. Pilate repeatedly concluded that Jesus was innocent, but nevertheless had Him scourged and crucified (Mark 15:14-15, Luke 23:22).
The crucifixion of Jesus was the murder of the innocent Son of God by wicked men and the darkness was an appropriate symbol for this terrible evil.
Second, the darkness may have represented the spiritual conflict taking place as Jesus defeated the powers of evil.
The destiny of creation and the question of who would rule over it were being decided as Jesus suffered on the cross. Adam had surrendered humanity's dominion through sin, and Satan had become "the ruler of this world" (John 12:31). But through His suffering, death, and resurrection, Jesus defeated sin and death and regained humanity's right to rule (Hebrews 2:5-9).
Jesus was victorious over sin and death (1 Corinthians 15:56-57, Colossians 2:13-15). The darkness may therefore have been a physical manifestation of the spiritual war taking place as the obedient Servant defeated the powers of evil through His suffering.
Third, and most profoundly, the darkness symbolized the sinless Jesus bearing humanity’s sin.
Paul writes:
"He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf."
(2 Corinthians 5:21a)
The sinless One bore the sins of the world. Just as the righteousness and purity of Jesus stood in complete opposition to the evil He bore, so the brilliance of daylight was replaced by its opposite—darkness.
The course of nature itself seemed to reverse while the Holy One bore humanity's evil during those three terrible hours on the cross.
3. The Crucifixion Darkness as a Sign of Mourning
The crucifixion darkness was also a sign of divine grief.
Isaiah records the LORD saying:
"I clothe the heavens with blackness
And make sackcloth their covering."
(Isaiah 50:3)
Sackcloth was a garment of mourning. The darkened heavens can therefore be understood as creation clothed in mourning as the Father grieved the suffering and death of His Son.
The prophet Amos similarly associated supernatural darkness with mourning for an only son:
"And I will make it like a time of mourning for an only son,
And the end of it will be like a bitter day."
(Amos 8:10b)
Jesus was God's only begotten Son (John 3:16). As Jesus suffered and died upon the cross, darkness fell over the whole land. The blackened sky was a fitting expression of the sorrow surrounding the death of God's beloved Son.
4. The Crucifixion Darkness as a Display of God's Judgment and Wrath
Of the Bible's four major themes associated with darkness--disorder, evil, mourning, and divine wrath--the theme of God's judgment is the most prominent in the Old Testament.
The specific connection to divine wrath through the Old Testament scriptures would have been readily apparent to Matthew's Jewish audience, but the connection between darkness and divine wrath was not entirely foreign to Mark's Roman audience.
Ominous darkness itself would still have communicated divine displeasure and cosmic judgment to the Roman readers. The Roman world was highly attentive to signs and omens, particularly unusual disturbances in the natural world surrounding the deaths of rulers and other momentous events. The darkness surrounding the death of Jesus--the true King--would therefore have been interpreted as ominous to Mark's Roman readers.
There appear to be three ways the crucifixion darkness signified divine wrath and judgment.
The first way was as a warning of God's impending judgment upon Israel for rejecting its Messiah.
Israel's religious leaders condemned Jesus for confessing that He was the Messiah (Mark 14:61-64). They then manipulated Pilate and the crowd until Jesus was crucified (Mark 15:1-15).
Within approximately forty years, Jerusalem would be destroyed by Roman armies in 70 A.D. Jesus had predicted this devastation and warned that the temple would be torn down (Mark 13:1-2).
The darkness was therefore an ominous warning of judgment against those who rejected God's Messiah.
The second way the crucifixion darkness signified divine judgment was that it symbolized the replacement of the old sacrificial system by the perfect sacrifice of Jesus.
At the very time priests were performing sacrifices in the temple, Jesus was offering Himself as the true and final sacrifice for sin. The author of Hebrews explains:
"By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."
(Hebrews 10:10)
The sacrifices of the priests could never take away sins. Jesus's sacrifice was offered once for all time (Hebrews 10:11-14).
While religious sacrifices were being offered in Jerusalem, darkness covered the land as the true Lamb of God offered Himself upon the cross.
The third, and perhaps the most profound, way the crucifixion darkness displayed divine wrath was as God's judgment against the sins Jesus bore on humanity's behalf.
The darkness from the sixth hour until the ninth hour (v 33) depicted the cup of God’s wrath which Jesus had prayed about in Gethsemane. Jesus prayed:
"Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will."
(Mark 14:36)
Jesus chose to drink the cup. He faithfully fulfilled His duty and mission as God's Servant, obeying His Father even to the point of death. During these three hours of darkness, Jesus bore the judgment of humanity's sins.
Isaiah prophesied:
"All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him."
(Isaiah 53:6)
The darkness was a visible expression of the judgment against sin which Jesus endured in humanity's place. The wrath of God against sin fell upon the Son of God who willingly stood in the place of sinners.
The Crucifixion Darkness as Fulfillment of Prophecy
The darkness that fell over the whole land also fulfilled numerous Old Testament prophecies.
One of the most striking comes from the prophet Amos:
"'It will come about in that day,' declares the Lord GOD,
'That I will make the sun go down at noon
And make the earth dark in broad daylight.'"
(Amos 8:9)
Amos's prophecy corresponds remarkably with Mark's account. Mark says that when the sixth hour came--noon--darkness fell over the whole land (v 33). Amos continues:
"Then I will turn your festivals into mourning
And all your songs into lamentation."
(Amos 8:10a)
Jesus was crucified during the Jewish festival of Passover and Unleavened Bread. Amos then describes this darkness as mourning for an only son:
"And I will make it like a time of mourning for an only son,
And the end of it will be like a bitter day."
(Amos 8:10b)
Jesus was God's only begotten Son (John 3:16).
Other Old Testament prophecies also associate supernatural darkness with God's judgment:
"For the stars of heaven and their constellations
Will not flash forth their light;
The sun will be dark when it rises
And the moon will not shed its light."
(Isaiah 13:10)
"For behold, darkness will cover the earth
And deep darkness the peoples."
(Isaiah 60:2a)
"Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
For the day of the LORD is coming;
Surely it is near,
A day of darkness and gloom,
A day of clouds and thick darkness."
(Joel 2:1b-2a)
"A day of wrath is that day,
A day of trouble and distress,
A day of destruction and desolation,
A day of darkness and gloom,
A day of clouds and thick darkness."
(Zephaniah 1:15)
Mark does not explicitly identify the crucifixion darkness as a fulfillment of these prophecies.
Matthew also records the darkness without explicitly connecting it to the prophetic texts, apparently trusting his Jewish readers to recognize these scriptural patterns.
Mark, likewise, keeps his account concise and action oriented. And Mark's Roman readers would not have missed that the darkness that fell over the whole land itself was a sign that represented the awful injustice and horror as the Son of God hung on the cross, dying for the sins of the world.
The crucifixion darkness was not a random occurrence. It was a prophetic sign that represented:
Jesus experienced the darkness of judgment so that those who believe in Him can live in the light. As He Himself said: "I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness" (John 12:46).
At the conclusion of the three hours of darkness, Jesus personally expressed the horror of what He had experienced: "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" (Mark 15:34a). Jesus's terrible cry and its meaning are the subject of the next section of Mark's account.