One event, four witnesses
The Death of Jesus
After hours on the cross Jesus cries out and yields up His spirit, and signs accompany His death. All four Gospels record it; the recorded last words differ, because each Evangelist preserves different true sayings of Jesus from the cross.
“Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.”Matthew 27:45
“And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.”Mark 15:33
“And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.”Luke 23:44
“After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.”John 19:28
The event
The event. From about the sixth hour, darkness falls over all the land until the ninth hour. Near the end, in Matthew and Mark, Jesus cries with a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani," that is, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me," the opening of Psalm 22. Some think He calls for Elijah, and one runs to give Him vinegar on a sponge. In John, Jesus says, "I thirst," and after receiving the vinegar declares, "It is finished," and bows His head. In Luke, He cries with a loud voice, "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit," and gives up the ghost, having earlier prayed, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." At the moment of His death the veil of the temple is torn in two from top to bottom; Matthew adds an earthquake, the splitting of rocks, and the opening of tombs. The centurion who stands watch, seeing how He died, confesses, "Truly this man was the Son of God," or in Luke, "Certainly this was a righteous man." The people who had gathered to the sight return smiting their breasts, and those who knew Him, including the women who followed from Galilee, stand watching from afar. The Son of God dies, and creation itself testifies.
Read side by side: what is the same, what differs
Read side by side: what is the same, what differs. All four agree that Jesus died on the cross after a period of suffering, that He cried out with a loud voice, that He was offered vinegar, and that His death was attended by signs and by the testimony of witnesses. The most discussed difference is the recorded last words, and it is straightforward: each Evangelist records different true sayings that Jesus spoke from the cross. Matthew and Mark preserve the cry of forsakenness, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me." Luke preserves "Father, forgive them" and the final "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit." John preserves "I thirst" and "It is finished." These do not contradict; taken together they form the seven sayings from the cross that the church has long treasured. Jesus spoke more than one word in His hours of dying, and no Gospel claims to record them all; each selects those that serve its portrait. Matthew and Mark also record the torn veil, and Matthew alone the earthquake, the split rocks, and the opened tombs. The centurion's confession is reported as "the Son of God" in Matthew and Mark and as "a righteous man" in Luke; a Roman soldier's exclamation may be faithfully rendered by both, or he said more than one thing. The one death, attended by darkness and the rent veil, is the shared witness of all four.
What it shows of Christ
What it shows of Christ. In His death Jesus is revealed as the sin-bearer, the righteous One who is forsaken so that His people need never be, and the sovereign Lord who lays down His life in perfect obedience. Matthew and Mark's cry of forsakenness, the opening of Psalm 22, uncovers the depth of what He bore, the weight of judgment falling on Him in the sinner's place. Luke's words, "Father, forgive them" and "into thy hands I commend my spirit," reveal the merciful and trusting Son, praying for His enemies and dying in filial peace, ever Luke's emphasis. John's "It is finished" declares the work of redemption completed, not a defeat but a triumphant accomplishment, the last "I am" of the Word made flesh. The torn veil proclaims that the way into God's presence is now open through His death. The centurion, a Gentile at the foot of the cross, confesses Him, foreshadowing the nations coming to faith. Each true saying, held together, shows the fullness of the Savior who died: forsaken, forgiving, finishing the work, and yielding His spirit to the Father.
Questions people ask
Why do the Gospels record different last words of Jesus?
Because Jesus spoke more than one saying from the cross, and each Evangelist preserves different true words rather than all of them. Matthew and Mark record the cry of forsakenness; Luke records "Father, forgive them" and "into thy hands I commend my spirit"; John records "I thirst" and "It is finished." Taken together they form the seven sayings from the cross the church has long treasured. No Gospel claims to record them all; each selects those that serve its portrait of Christ.
Did the centurion say "the Son of God" or "a righteous man"?
Matthew and Mark report his confession as "Truly this man was the Son of God," and Luke as "Certainly this was a righteous man." Both may faithfully render one exclamation, or the soldier said more than one thing as he watched Jesus die. There is no contradiction; a Roman witness, awed by what he saw, could well have voiced both the innocence and the divine sonship of the One he had helped crucify.