Why did he say this and what did he mean? Did God really forsake him? And if he is God, how does that all work?
It began when Jesus was nailed to the cross at the third hour. During the sixth hour, the earth went dark. And it was more than an eclipse. It lasted for 3 hours until the ninth hour.
Then Jesus cried, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Did you notice it? In the 9th hour Jesus cried out. And in the 9th hour the darkness ended. Then he wet his tongue with sour wine, uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. The end had come.
And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”
What was Jesus doing? What was happening?
Jesus was quoting the first line of Psalm 22. The Jews would have instantly recognized this psalm. It was a Messianic Psalm of the Messiah and of the deliverance of God. But if you just focus on the first line, you miss the point. He did that to bring to their mind the whole psalm.
In Psalm 22 David is crying out to God. This is both for David’s situation and has a layer of the prophet for the Messiah which is true of all the Messianic verses.
Anyway as David is crying out, he is asking God, where is he? Where are the miracles of old? Why don’t you come? The people are mocking him. He is crying out for salvation from wicked people.
The Lord actually does answer. Not in David’s time, but in the Lord’s time. And the Lord says he will not forsake him (vv. 22-24).
David was in a moment feeling like the Lord was far off. But it was not the case. In the Lord’s timing, the LORD delivered. And David worshiped.
This was always seen as a Messianic psalm. And clearly this refers to Jesus.
7 All who see me mock me;
they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;
8 “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him;
let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”
For dogs encompass me;
a company of evildoers encircles me;
they have pierced my hands and feet—
17 I can count all my bones—
they stare and gloat over me;
18 they divide my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.
These describe exactly the crucifixion of Jesus. And we see the fulfillment.
| Psalm 22 | The Fulfillment |
| “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Ps 22:1) | “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46). |
| 4 “In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them.5 To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.” | “He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” (Mt 27:43) |
| 6 “But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people.” | 30 “And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. 31 And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him” (Mt 27:30-31) |
| 7 “All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads“ | 9 “And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads” (Mt 27:39) |
| 8 “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!” | 35 “And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!”” (Luke 23:35) |
| 14″ I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast;” | 34 “But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water” (John 19:34) |
| 15 “my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death.” | 28 “After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst”” (John 19:28). |
| 16 “For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet“ | Chief priests, elders and others circled and mocked him – Mt 27:20-44 |
| 16 “they have pierced my hands and feet“ | 35 “And when they had crucified him” (Mt 27:35) |
| 17 “I can count all my bones— they stare and gloat over me;” | This would have been the result of the flogging. “Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him” (John 19:1) |
| 18 “they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.” | 35 “And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots (Mt 27:35). |
What Jesus is doing by quoting this Psalm and bringing it to memory is several things.
1) He is saying he is the fulfillment of these verses
It didn’t take a genius to see that Jesus was the fulfillment of these very verses. It is very specific in how he died.
2) He was identifying with humanity
The Father could not look upon him as he had sin. But even more contextually, he was despised by humanity. He understood.
3) He brought them to remember the conclusion of the matter, that is that the LORD would NOT forsake him or them.
I will tell of your name to my brothers;
in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
23 You who fear the Lord, praise him!
All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him,
and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or abhorred
the affliction of the afflicted,
and he has not hidden his face from him,
but has heard, when he cried to him.
The LORD has heart the cries of the suffering and has answered. The condition of feeling forsaken was only a temporary reality. God still hears.
4) Because of what he did on the cross, all the nations will worship the LORD
27 All the ends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
shall worship before you.
28 For kingship belongs to the Lord,
and he rules over the nations.
29 All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship;
before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,
even the one who could not keep himself alive.
30 Posterity shall serve him;
it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation;
31 they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn,
that he has done it.
This is a glorious proclamation of his fulfillment of Psalm 22 and his deity. But this still doesn’t answer the question of some, how can Jesus pray to God on the cross if he was God? That will be the next post.