Why did Jesus say 'My God, why have you forsaken me'?

Jesus cried these words (Matthew 27:46), the opening of Psalm 22, in the darkness at the ninth hour. Christians understand that he was bearing the sin of the world and entering the God-forsakenness our sin deserved, so that those who trust him would never be finally forsaken.

Was Jesus really forsaken by God?

His cry was real anguish, not performance. Yet he was quoting Psalm 22, which begins in desolation and ends in rescue, showing he had not lost faith. In that hour he stood in the place of the guilty, tasting abandonment so that we would never have to face God's absence alone.

A word from the cross

My God, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me

The word of abandonment · Matthew 27:46

In darkness at the ninth hour, Jesus cried, 'My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?' (Matthew 27:46), the opening line of Psalm 22. He entered the full horror of God-forsakenness, bearing our sin, so that those who trust him would never be finally forsaken.

The word

“Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

Matthew 27:46

What it means

Of the seven words, this one is the hardest to hear. Darkness had covered the land for three hours, and out of it came a cry, in his own Aramaic, that tears at everything in us: 'My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?' The Son who had never known a moment's distance from the Father now cries out into what feels like his absence. Whatever else is happening in that darkness, this is real anguish, not performed but felt, the sound of abandonment itself.

He is quoting Scripture as he says it, the first line of Psalm 22, a psalm that begins in utter desolation and ends in triumph and rescue, which tells us he had not lost his grip even here. But we must not soften the horror to comfort ourselves. Christians have long understood that in this hour he was bearing our sin, standing in the place of the guilty, tasting the God-forsakenness that our sin deserved, so that we would never have to. He went into the outer darkness of abandonment, and closed the door behind him, so that for those who are his, that door is now shut forever.

He cried into the darkness so that your cries would never go into the dark alone. He was forsaken so that you never will be.

For you, at the foot of the crossWhen you feel abandoned by God, when heaven seems shut and your prayers seem to fall into silence, hear this: Jesus has been there, in a forsakenness deeper than yours, and he has been there for you. Your feeling of God's absence is not proof he has left you. It may be the very place where Christ is nearest, because it is the place he entered himself, so that even there you would not be alone. Psalm 22 begins in that cry. It does not end there, and neither will you.

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He said it for you

Every one of these words was spoken over the very people who put him there, which means they were spoken over you and me. The cross is not a tragedy to admire from a distance; it is a door held open. The Living Bread is a quiet place to come and stand at the foot of it, read the Gospels, and pray, and find that the arms were spread open for you.

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Frequently asked questions

Why did Jesus say 'My God, why have you forsaken me'?: Jesus cried these words (Matthew 27:46), the opening of Psalm 22, in the darkness at the ninth hour. Christians understand that he was bearing the sin of the world and entering the God-forsakenness our sin deserved, so that those who trust him would never be finally forsaken.
Was Jesus really forsaken by God?: His cry was real anguish, not performance. Yet he was quoting Psalm 22, which begins in desolation and ends in rescue, showing he had not lost faith. In that hour he stood in the place of the guilty, tasting abandonment so that we would never have to face God's absence alone.