And that is how he died–amid a cacophany of insults; his head, hands, feet and back aching from their multiple wounds; delirious from hunger, thirst, sleeplessness and blood loss; almost suffocating. It had to be an excruciating death, to be an expiation in full for the sins of the world.
ESV A supernatural act of God declaring his displeasure with humanity for crucifying his son.
46 About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" (which means "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?").
Jesus maintains an exhausted and noble silence, speaking 7 brief sentences in 3 hours or so. In this sentence, his sense of utter abandonment by his father bursts forth from him.
ESV In some sense, Jesus had to be cut off from the favor of and fellowship with the Father that had been his eternally, because he was bearing the suns of the people and therefore enduring God's wrath.
51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
The curtain which separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place. The tearing of the curtain signified Christ's making it possible for believers to go directly into God's presence.
The curtain between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place was an elaborately woven fabric of 72 twisted plaits of 24 threads each. It was 60 feet high and 30 feet wide. No one was allowed to enter the Most Holy Place behind the curtain except the High Priest, and he only once a year, on the Day of Atonement.
The earth shook, the rocks split 52 and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53 They came out of the tombs after Jesus' resurrection ande]">[e] went into the holy city and appeared to many people.
ESV–Palestine sits on a major seismic rift, so earthquakes were not uncommon, but the splitting of rocks, and the opening of tombs make this a major testimony to the meaning of Jesus' resurrection.
The centurion and his guards were accustomed to seeing crucifixions, but these cataclysmic events, coupled with the extraordinary self-control, purity and love shown by Jesus in his death made the centurion realize that there was something very special indeed about Jesus.
ESV–A series of testimonies–from the temple, the dead and Gentiles–indicate the historical and theological impact of the death of Jesus.
Women played a significant role in the ministry of Jesus and his disciples.
These women accompanied Jesus as his disciples, witnessed the crucifixion, and will be the first witnesses to the resurrection.
Transfiguration, Jesus Reveals his Glory, Matthew 17, Day 39, Feb 18th, Blog Through the Bible Project.