Matthew 27:45 says, Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.  The earth was dark for three hours, and without Jesus' sacrifice, the world would be in complete spiritual darkness today.  I have heard some people say that if the earth was dark for this period that there must have been an eclipse, but the God Who created light certainly can control it without needing help.  Verse forty-six states, And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?  Jesus cried out to the heavenly Father asking why He had forsaken Jesus.  I cannot imagine how Jesus, Who was guilty of no sin, felt when He took the sins of the whole world upon Himself.  Since sin separates us from God, Jesus at that point would have indeed felt separated from God.  Still, when we are separated from God, it is we who have forsaken God, and not God Who has forsaken us.  Verse forty-seven states, Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias.  Even at this point, those gathered for His crucifixion failed to understand what Jesus was saying.  I believe they thought Jesus was delirious and calling on Elias, or Elijah.  We must first understand Who Jesus is and what He did on the cross in order to understand what He is saying to us today.  We must come to God through the cross of Jesus in order to be restored to a right relationship with God.  Until we do, the Bible will never make sense.  Verse forty-eight says, And straightway one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink.  Some took Jesus a sponge soaked with vinegar to drink from.  I don't believe that this was an act of compassion though.  Verse forty-nine declares, The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him.  The rest of the people said to just let Jesus be and see if Elias, or Elijah, would save Jesus.  Not only did they not understand Who Jesus was and what He was saying, but they failed to understand who Elias, or Elijah was.  The prophets never had any saving power, but could only point people to God, Who alone can save anyone.  Verse fifty then declares, Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.  Jesus cried out once more, then yielded up the ghost.  Jesus' life was never taken from Him, but He willingly gave it up for all who will place their faith in Him.  Verse fifty-one says, And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;  The veil of the temple, which separated the people from God, was torn from the top to the bottom.  Now, instead of only the high priest entering into the presence of God on special occasions to represent the people, all people were given access to God at any time.  Jesus removed the need to go through anyone in the world to get to the heavenly Father.  The earth itself was shaken by the death of Christ.  Verse fifty-two states, And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,  Then verse fifty-three continues,  And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.  Many of the dead saints were resurrected and went into Jerusalem and appeared to many people.  I don't know who they were or how long they stayed, but we are told this did happen.  The death of Jesus was not just a quiet event.  The people of the world had to take notice whether they wanted to or not, and especially the religious leaders.  Verse thirty-four declares, Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.  We are not told how the religious leaders reacted, but when the soldiers watching Jesus saw what was happening, they declared that Jesus was indeed the Son of God.  After His crucifixion, people began to understand Who Jesus really is.  The only way that we can meet Jesus is after His crucifixion, and even without the earthquakes and the dead rising around us, we must accept that He is the only begotten Son of God and the Savior of all who believe.  We have no other High Priest but Jesus, and through Him we have direct access to the heavenly Father.