Understanding Matthew 27:46 in Depth: Forsaken for Our Sins

The Ninth Hour and the Cry of Abandonment

This cry from the cross occurs at the darkest moment of Jesus’ suffering, hours after he was mocked, beaten, and nailed between two criminals.

The ninth hour means about 3 p.m., a significant time in Jewish daily life because it was when the evening temple sacrifice was offered - often a moment of prayer and reflection for devout Jews. Jesus’ loud cry shows this wasn’t weakness but a deliberate, powerful expression of deep spiritual agony. Though He felt utterly abandoned, He still cried out to God, quoting the opening line of Psalm 22, which begins in despair but ends in trust and victory.

His words, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' reveal the real cost of our sin - Jesus, who had always been one with God, now bore the full weight of human rebellion and experienced separation so we could be brought near.

The Weight of Abandonment: Language, Psalm, and Paradox

This cry in Aramaic - 'Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?It is a cry of pain and a profound moment rooted in Scripture, culture, and divine mystery.

Jesus spoke these words in a form of Aramaic common among Jews of His time, making His cry both personal and public - everyone nearby would have recognized the emotional weight of crying out to God in distress. By quoting Psalm 22:1 - 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?He was not merely expressing despair. He was invoking the entire psalm, which moves from agony to trust and ends with victory: 'Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord' (Psalm 22:30). In Jewish tradition, quoting the first line of a Scripture passage meant calling to mind the whole passage, so Jesus was declaring both His suffering and the coming triumph. This also shows that even in His deepest agony, Jesus was clinging to God’s Word, trusting what Scripture promised even when He couldn’t feel it.

Theologically, it’s staggering: Jesus, the Son of God who had always lived in perfect unity with the Father, experienced separation for the first time. This wasn’t because He sinned - He lived a sinless life - but because, as 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, 'God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.' In that moment, He took the full weight of human rebellion, becoming the target of God’s judgment against sin, so we wouldn’t have to. It’s a divine paradox: the one who never sinned was treated as if He were sin itself, so we who are sinful could be seen as righteous in God’s eyes.

This moment also fulfills what was symbolized in the temple: at the ninth hour, the evening sacrifice was offered for sins, and now Jesus, the true Lamb of God, was offering Himself. The curtain in the temple would soon tear in two, showing that the old system of sacrifices was complete in Him.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

His cry of abandonment was not the end, but the turning point - through this darkness, light would rise.

The Good News in the Cry of Abandonment

Jesus’ cry of abandonment shows how deeply He identified with us - not only in suffering but also in feeling cut off from God, as sin often leaves us feeling alone and far from heaven.

He took that separation so we never have to be permanently cut off. Because of His sacrifice, even in our darkest moments we can know God is with us, drawing us back - as Psalm 22 ends in victory and 2 Corinthians 4:6 says, 'For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.'

This moment, recorded in Matthew, fits his theme of Jesus as the promised Messiah who fulfills Scripture and suffers for His people - showing both His humanity and divine mission - so we can be sure that no pain, not even feeling forsaken, is beyond His understanding or redemption.

Fulfilling the Pattern: From Psalm 22 to Perfect Sacrifice

This cry of Jesus is recorded nearly word for word in Mark 15:34, reinforcing its significance across the Gospels and anchoring it firmly in the real, historical moment of the crucifixion.

By quoting Psalm 22:1, Jesus not only expressed His anguish but also pointed to the full story of that psalm - one that moves from deep suffering to triumphant trust, showing that God hears the cry of the righteous. Hebrews 5:7-10 later reflects on these moments, saying, 'During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.'

In this, we see how Jesus fulfills the pattern of the suffering servant - He endures the ultimate trial, not in failure, but in faithful obedience, becoming the perfect and final sacrifice that the old system could only point to.

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