In other words, this psalm ends with a note of triumph. I will tell of your name to my brothers in the midst of the congregation I will praise you: 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! 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. That seems to be right at the heart of what is going on. And if it is in you, then you give vent at the worst moment of your life with the appointment of your Father scripted in Psalm 22. It either is in you as the very essence of your messianic calling or it is not. But when you are hanging on the cross you don’t say: “Oh, I think I am going to quote some Scripture here.” Third, the fact that he is not asking a question so much as expressing a horror is that the words are a reflex of immersion in Psalm 22, it seems. He knew everything.Īnother reason is the moment was one of agony, not theological curiosity.

Listen to these words: “Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, ‘Whom do you seek?’” (John 18:4). And he had agreed to come, knowing all that would happen.

Jesus knew ahead of time what he was doing and what would happen to him and why he was doing it. “The judgment was to have God the Father pour out his wrath, and instead of pouring it out on us, he pours it out on his Son.” I have a couple of reasons for thinking this. Second, the why, it seems to me, is not a question looking for an answer, but a way of expressing the horrors of abandonment. So he used these words because there was a real forsakenness. To be forsaken by God is the cry of the damned, and he was damned for us. We cannot begin to fathom all that this would mean between the Father and the Son. He gave him up to suffer the weight of all the sins of all of his people and the judgment for those sins. That necessarily involves a kind of abandonment. The judgment was to have God the Father pour out his wrath, and instead of pouring it out on us, he pours it out on him. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” means he really did. Truly Abandonedįirst, this was a real forsakenness. Why did he say it? And here is a three-part answer. Now, why did he say it? She wants to know why. So the words, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” are part of this psalm that contains, as it were, a script for Jesus’s last hours. In verse 16 of the psalm we read, “They have pierced my hands and feet.” And in verse 18, “They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.” “They wag their heads,” quoted in Matthew 27:39: “And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads” to show that this psalm is being played out in the death of Jesus.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”Īnd in verse 7: “All who see me mock me they make mouths at me they wag their heads” - and those are exact words. This is what the psalm says: “Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest. And that is important because Jesus seems to have known that the whole psalm, in some way or other, was about him.Īt least three other parts of this psalm are quoted in the story of his death. Now, one very important fact to remember is that these words are the exact first words of Psalm 22. How did he have any strength to do it with a loud voice? - “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” - the Aramaic form - “that is, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’” (Matthew 27:46). It says, “About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice,” - Amazing. “Jesus seems to have known that the whole of Psalm 22, in some way or other, was about him.” “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Those terrifying words occur in two Gospels - Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34 - as Jesus is hanging on the cross near death.

Why would Jesus call out to the Father, ‘Why have you forsaken me?’ when he knew the answer? It was for this very reason Jesus came - to be forsaken on our behalf! Could you give insight into this, so that this hurdle in my faith can be removed?” Psalm 22 Podcast listener Bridgette writes in to say: “Pastor John, I love the Lord deeply and my faith continues to grow, but I’ve always struggled with Matthew 27:45–46. Welcome back to the Ask Pastor John podcast.

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