The crucifixion of Jesus is attended by several portents, the first being darkness from “noon . . . until three in the afternoon” (15:33). The darkness covers “the whole land,” symbolizing the universal and cosmic rejection of Jesus. It appears to express God’s eschatological judgment, “In that day . . . I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight” (Amos 8:9). Although Jesus was silent before the Sanhedrin and Pilate, he cries out from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (15:34; Ps. 22:1). His rejection by Rome, Israel, and even his own followers is so total that in his dying breath he senses separation from God. The bystanders mistake Jesus’s cry “my God” (Aramaic eloi) for “Elijah” (Hebrew eliyyahu), the name of one who was taken bodily …