Matthew 27:50 - Exposition

When he had cried again. He had cried aloud once before ( Matthew 27:46 ). But he does not repeat the former words; the horror of great darkness was past. Probably the cry here resolved itself into the words recorded by St. Luke, "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit." With a loud voice. This loud cry at the moment of death proved that he laid down his life voluntarily; no man could take it from him ( John 10:17 , John 10:18 ); he himself willed to die; and this preternatural voice proceeded from one who died not altogether from physical exhaustion, but from determined purpose. Yielded up the ghost ( ἀφῆκε το Ì πνεῦμα ); literally, dismissed his spirit ; emisit spiritum ) . The phrase has been interpreted to signify that Christ exerted his power to anticipate the actual moment of dissolution; but there is no necessity of importing this idea into the expression. It is used ordinarily to denote the act of dying, as we say, "He expired." Perhaps the exertion of uttering this great cry ruptured some organ of the body. We know from the effect of the piercing of his side that his sacred heart was previously broken; and thus he verily and really died upon the cross. He, being in the form of God, and equal with God, became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, suffered death forevery man. It is to be noted that the death of Christ occurred at 3 p.m., the very time when the Paschal lambs began to be slain in the temple courts. Thus the long prepared type was at last fulfilled, when "Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us."