The Cry of Jesus on the Cross

A Biblical Approach

Abstract

This article looks to the death of Jesus by crucifixion – mors turpissima. It begins by considering the impact such a death would have had upon public opinion in Palestine, based on the text of Deut 21:22-23, and how it appears in the Pauline writings (in particular 1 Cor 1:18ff) and in the first account of the passion (citing Ps 22:1 in Mk 15:34). The use of Ps 22 is then situated in the overall context of Mark’s account of the passion, and in the immediate context of the Markan presentation of the crucifixion with its numerous references to the Old Testament (Mk 15:21-37), and taking into account post-paschal theological reflection as it appears in Mk 15:38 and 39. A final paragraph looks at the effect of Jesus’ cry of forsakenness in the early Church, following the Pauline and the Markan account of the passion, in the gospels of Matthew, Luke and John, in the Letter to the Hebrews and in some apocryphal gospels such as Peter and Philip.