What did Jesus do at three o'clock in the afternoon on the cross?
At three o'clock in the afternoon, Jesus spoke His final statements from the cross, then voluntarily gave up His spirit and died. This came after three hours of absolute silence while darkness enveloped the earth, following several statements He had made from the time He was placed on the cross until high noon.
Les explains that while Jesus was on the cross, there were three hours in which nothing was spoken. From the time He was put on the cross until high noon, He made several statements. At high noon, absolute darkness fell upon the earth. Then at three o'clock in the afternoon, He spoke again the final statements from the cross. That is when He gave up the ghost of His own volition and died. During that three-hour period, there was absolute silence, and the earth was enveloped in darkness. Les connects this to the scapegoat: just as the live goat was sent away into the wilderness bearing Israel's iniquities, transgressions, and sins, so Christ's death pictured carrying sins away where there was no record or geographical pinpoint.