In a pivotal passage in Galatians, Paul’s Christ accomplished a redemptive act in a Jewish tradition to set aside the Jewish law ---
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us; for it has been written: "Cursed is everyone hanging on a tree (wood, ξύλου)". (Galatians 3:13).
Paul constructed his argument from two verses in Deuteronomy ---
Accursed is every man whoever shall not adhere to all the words of this law … (Deuteronomy 27:26, LXX)
And directly pertinent to this post ---
And if there be any sin with the judgment of death upon him, and he should die, and you should hang (κρεμάσητε) him upon a tree (wood, ξύλου) … by burial you shall entomb him that day (ημέρα **[/b]), for being cursed by God is every one hanging (κρεμάμενος) upon a tree (wood, ξύλου); and in no way shall you defile the land which the LORD your God gives to you … (Deuteronomy 21:22-23, LXX)
And directly pertinent to this post ---
And if there be any sin with the judgment of death upon him, and he should die, and you should hang (κρεμάσητε) him upon a tree (wood, ξύλου) … by burial you shall entomb him that day (ημέρα **[/b]), for being cursed by God is every one hanging (κρεμάμενος) upon a tree (wood, ξύλου); and in no way shall you defile the land which the LORD your God gives to you … (Deuteronomy 21:22-23, LXX)
** And God called light, day (ημέραν), and the darkness he called night … (Genesis 1:5, LXX)
The author of GMark, using the terminology found in Paul (He was staked/suspended (ἐσταυρώθη), 2 Corinthians 13:4) --- and imagining how a story of Paul’s Jesus Christ might have played-out if set in the early 1st C. Roman-controlled Judea --- put the deed squarely on the shoulders of the Jewish establishment and the Romans ---
They crucified Him … (ἐσταύρωσαν αὐτόν.) … (Mark 15:25)
The author of GMark was very specific that Jesus remained on the stake while darkness fell over all the land, seemingly in violation of the requirement in Deuteronomy ---
When the sixth hour came, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour. At the ninth hour Jesus cried out … and breathed His last. (Mark 15:33-37)
With the typical understanding of Jewish time keeping, the darkness fell from noon to 3 in the afternoon. The author of GMark does not provide any explicit explanation for the darkness in the afternoon. The darkness can be seen as allegorical --- the darkness came over all the land as Jesus was dying --- the darkness was a result of Jesus dying. And in this manner, Mark laid blame on the Jewish establishment and on the Romans for defiling the land given by God with Deuteronomy in view.
But the disciple Joseph of Arimathea came to the rescue for Jesus, entombing him in the evening, thus preventing further defilement of the person of Jesus.
In Pauline fashion, the death and resurrection in GMark involved some interval of 3 days. And ‘Mark’ used the same term found about 24 times in Paul’s letters in relation to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And just like in Paul, God was the agent of the ultimate rescue ---
He is risen (ἠγέρθη) … (Mark 16:6).
… Christ was raised up (ἠγέρθη) out from the dead through the glory of the Father … (Romans 6:4)
For indeed He was staked/suspended (ἐσταυρώθη) in weakness, yet He lives by God's power … (2 Corinthians 13:4)
For indeed He was staked/suspended (ἐσταυρώθη) in weakness, yet He lives by God's power … (2 Corinthians 13:4)
robert j
ETA: I've done some significant editing here to provide more clarity on the nature of the darkness in the afternoon.