Did God Forsake Jesus? (Matthew 27:46)

Matthew 27:46 records one of Jesus’ sayings while he was dying on the cross:

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?” (ESV)

From this alone, it might seem that God the Father had forsaken Jesus. However, Jesus was actually quoting Psalm 22:1:

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you far from saving me, the words of my groaning?

Psalm 22 was written by King David during a time that he was experiencing trouble. In verse 1, David expressed that he felt forsaken by God in his current situation. However, in the rest of Psalm 22, David expressed his trust that God will rescue him (vv. 19–21). He knew that as a result, people all around the world will come to worship God (vv. 29–31).

Jesus applied Psalm 22 to himself. While Jesus was dying on the cross, it might have seemed like God had forsaken him. Yet, he knew that this was not the end. God will rescue him from death by raising him back to life, and the Gospel will go forth into all the world to bring people from all nations to worship the true God.