And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Matthew 27:46 ESV
Shortly before his death on the cross, Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” What Jesus meant by this has been understood in several ways. Some have taken it to mean that the divine nature of Jesus left him at this point, a view that most Christians over the ages have taken as heretical.
Some have understood this to be the point at which the sins of the world were placed on Jesus, and God, who cannot look on sin, turned away from him. But God can look on sin, although not with favor.
This is also commonly understood as a cry of anguish from the cross. The human Jesus felt abandoned by God, left all alone to die. And, without question, the agony of the cross was intense.
An Affirmation of Trust
But could this cry from the cross be more than that? It is the first verse of Psalm 22. This psalm is the cry of one who is suffering tremendously. And contained within the psalm is what appears to be a description of a person being crucified (Ps. 22:11-18) long before crucifixion was practiced.
But this psalm is more than just a cry of anguish. It is also a statement of trust in the one who is able to deliver (Ps. 22:3-5, 9-11, 19-21). And it ends with a statement of confidence that God, and the one suffering, will be glorified (Ps. 22:22-31).
I believe that Jesus’ cry from the cross is more than a cry of anguish. It is also an affirmation of trust in the one who will deliver him. And an expression of confidence in what will come from his death on the cross. The psalm closes with “He has done it” (Ps. 22:31), echoing Jesus’ cry from the cross, “It is finished” (Jn. 19:30).
