[سواها قلبي]

Z - The Cry of Despair on the Cross:

Mark says 15 : (33 Now when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" which is translated, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?")

But Luke says 23 : (46 And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, "Father, 'into Your hands I commit My spirit.' " Having said this, He breathed His last.)

John says 19 : (30 So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.)

The cry of despair on the cross raises a number of issues that have been, and still are, a subject of debate among scholars. Some say: It seems that Saints Luke and John saw ambiguity and the possibility of misunderstanding in their words, and therefore they omitted them. Then one of them replaced them with the following:

( "Father, 'into Your hands I commit My spirit.' .. While the other said: "It is finished!" )

Conversely, such a view assumes that the narrator's primary concern was to state the historical truth and faithfully record for future generations disturbing and inexplicable statements.

Therefore, most modern scholars endorse a completely different interpretation, based on the fact that these (desperate) words are a quotation from Psalms 22 :

(1 My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?
Why are You so far from helping Me,)

If we take this psalms as a whole, it cannot be a cry of distress in any way. Rather, it is a prayer of a righteous servant who is suffering pains, but who trusts completely in God’s love and protection from evil, and is completely reassured by His protection.” (Commentary on the Gospel of Mark, pp. 427-428)

H- Following the crucifixion:

Mark says 15 : (38 Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 So when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, "Truly this Man was the Son of God!")

Matthew says 27: (51 Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, 52 and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; 53 and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.)

Luke says 22: ( Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two… So when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God, saying, "Certainly this was a righteous Man!"(45-47)

*** But John knows nothing about that.

George Caird says: The occurrence of a solar eclipse (according to Luke's account) while the moon is full, as was the case at the time of the crucifixion, is an astronomical phenomenon that is impossible to happen.

It was common in ancient times that great, tragic events were accompanied by bad omens... as if nature was consoling man because of his misery... (Interpretation of the Gospel of Luke: p. 253)

Nineham says: It has been said that such omens were observed at the death of some great priests and some great figures in ancient pagan times, especially at the death of Julius Caesar... (Commentary on the Gospel of Mark: p. 427)

John Fenton says: “Matthew added to what Mark mentioned the occurrence of the earthquake, the opening of the tombs, the resurrection of the saints from the dead, and their appearance to many in Jerusalem after the resurrection of Jesus. His intention in adding these events was to show that the death of Jesus was an act of God.”

*** The undeniable truth is that the sun and the moon are two signs from God… They do not eclipse for the death of a young or old person.

There's more to come... Your brother, Al-Athram