Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up his spirit.
All Commentaries on Matthew 27:50 Go To Matthew 27
John Chrysostom
AD 407
In Hom. de Cruce et Latr.: Creation could not bear the outrage offered to the Creator; whence the sun withdrew his beams, that he might not look upon the crime of these impious men.
Hom. lxxxviii: This darkness lasted three hours, whereas an eclipse is transient, and not enduring, as they know who have studied the matter.
Or otherwise; The wonder was in this, that the darkness was over the whole earth, which had never come to pass before, save only in Egypt what time the Passover was celebrated; for the things done then were a type of these. And consider the time when this is done; at mid-day, while over the whole world it was day, that all the dwellers on the earth might perceive it. This is the sign He promised to them that asked Him, “An evil and adulterous generation seeketha sign, and there shall no sign be given it save the sign of Jonas the Prophet,” alluding to His cross and resurrection. And it was amuch greater marvel that this should come to pass when He was fastened to the cross, than when He was walking at large on the earth. Surely here was enough to convert them, not by the greatness of the miracle alone, but because it was done not till after all these instances of their frenzy, when their passion was past, when they had uttered all that they would, and were satiated with taunts and gibes. But how did they not all marvel and conclude Him to be God? Because the human race was at that time plunged in exceeding sluggishness and vice, and this wonder was but one, and quickly past away, and none cared to search out its cause, or perhaps they attributed it to eclipse, or some other physical consequence. And on this account He shortly afterwards lifts up His voice to show that He yet lives, and Himself wrought this miracle; "And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice,”
He uttered this word of prophecy, that He might bear witness to the very last hour to the Old Testament, and that they might see that He honours the Father, and is not against God. And therefore too, He used the Hebrew tongue, that what He said might be intelligible to them.
Also for this reason He cried out with a loud voice to show that this is done by His own power. For by crying out with a loud voice when dying, He shewedincontestably that He was the true God; because a man in dying can scarcely utter even a feeble sound.
