The Cry From the Cross in Its Historical Moment

Near the end of His suffering, Jesus cried out words recorded in the Gospel accounts: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34.) These are the opening words of Psalm 22:1. Jesus spoke them in a setting of intense physical agony, public humiliation, and spiritual assault. Yet the Gospels do not present His words as a collapse of faith. They present them as Scripture-anchored speech from the Messiah who understood why He came and what His death would accomplish.

Jesus had repeatedly taught that He must suffer and die and that His death would serve as a ransom “in behalf of many.” He did not stumble into the cross unaware. He walked toward it knowingly and willingly. His cry must therefore be interpreted in a way that honors His obedience, His clarity of mission, and His unwavering devotion to Jehovah.

Psalm 22 as Messianic Prophecy: The Righteous Sufferer Under Attack

Psalm 22 is not merely a private lament of David that later happened to resemble Jesus’ death. It is inspired prophecy that contains specific details fulfilled in the Messiah’s suffering. The psalm describes mockery and taunting that match the words spoken at the execution scene, the bodily effects of extreme distress, and the casting of lots for garments. The psalm also moves from suffering to vindication, from anguish to confidence, and from near-death to proclamation that reaches “to the ends of the earth.” The structure itself matters. Psalm 22 begins with the question of forsakenness, but it does not end there.

This is crucial: Psalm 22 includes the statement that Jehovah has not despised the afflicted one nor hidden His face from him, but has listened when he cried for help. That internal testimony within the same psalm guards the reader from the idea that the righteous sufferer has been abandoned in the sense of Jehovah withdrawing love, approval, or covenant loyalty. The “forsaken” language describes the experience of being left without immediate deliverance while surrounded by enemies, not the destruction of relationship between the faithful servant and Jehovah.

When Jesus quoted Psalm 22:1, He was not improvising words of despair. He was speaking as the promised Messiah whose death fulfilled the prophetic Scriptures.

What “Forsaken” Means Without Violating Jesus’ Faithfulness

The question “why have you forsaken me?” must be handled with biblical precision. Jehovah did not stop loving His Son. Jehovah did not reject His Son as wicked. Jehovah did not break fellowship with His Son in a way that turned righteousness into unrighteousness. Scripture affirms Jehovah’s approval of Jesus’ sinless life and obedience.

“Forsaken” here refers to Jehovah allowing His Son to endure the full weight of suffering and death without intervention to stop it. Jesus was not spared the cup. He was not rescued from execution. Jehovah permitted the powers of wicked humans, urged on by demonic influence, to carry the injustice through to its violent end. That permission meant that the protective restraint Jesus had known throughout His ministry was, at that moment, not exercised to deliver Him from death.

This is consistent with the biblical pattern in which Jehovah sometimes allows the righteous to suffer without immediate rescue while still hearing, still seeing, and still intending vindication. The absence of immediate deliverance is not the absence of divine care. Psalm 22 itself insists on that distinction. Jesus’ cry gives voice to the horror of being handed over to death, not the loss of trust in Jehovah.

The Ransom Purpose: Why Jehovah Allowed the Full Measure of Suffering

Jesus had to die as a true human, bearing the consequences that Adam’s sin brought upon mankind, in order to provide the ransom price. The ransom required a perfect human life given in exchange for what was lost. If Jesus had been rescued from death, the ransom would not have been paid. If He had been shielded from the reality of dying, the sacrifice would have been diminished into something other than what Scripture presents: a real death that satisfies justice and opens the way for forgiveness.

In that light, the cry of Psalm 22:1 marks the moment when the ransom work is reaching its climax. Jesus is not announcing confusion about Jehovah’s will. He is expressing, in Scripture’s own inspired language, the reality that He is being given over to death. The question “why” is the language of lament that the righteous use when suffering presses in and deliverance is not immediate. It is the language of the faithful who cry to Jehovah from within the darkness, not the language of the faithless who curse Him.

Jesus’ entire conduct at the cross supports this. He speaks with controlled purpose, extending compassion, fulfilling Scripture, and entrusting Himself to Jehovah. His final acts are not those of a man who has lost faith. They are those of a faithful Son completing His assignment.

Drawing Attention to the Whole Psalm: A Messianic Signal to Witnesses

In first-century Jewish practice, quoting the opening line of a psalm could function as a pointer to the entire composition. Many had the psalms memorized or could recall their themes when prompted by a familiar line. By speaking Psalm 22:1 aloud, Jesus identified His suffering with the righteous sufferer of that psalm and implicitly directed attentive listeners to the psalm’s later statements of vindication and victory.

This matters because the execution scene was designed to shame Jesus publicly and to portray Him as cursed and rejected. The authorities mocked Him, challenged Him to come down, and treated His suffering as proof that He was not favored by God. By invoking Psalm 22, Jesus reframed the meaning of what was happening. The suffering of the righteous in Psalm 22 is not evidence of divine disapproval; it is the arena in which Jehovah’s deliverance will be displayed. The psalm moves toward vindication and worldwide proclamation. That is exactly what followed: Jesus was resurrected, and the message about Him went outward to the nations.

Thus, the quotation served as a theological signal: what looks like defeat is the path Jehovah is using to accomplish salvation and to expose the emptiness of Satan’s accusations.

Innocence Under Unjust Condemnation: The Lament of the Righteous

Psalm 22 is the voice of an innocent sufferer. Jesus was condemned in an atmosphere of manipulated testimony and political pressure. He endured mockery, violence, and public scorn. In that setting, quoting Psalm 22:1 declared His innocence in a way anchored in Scripture. It placed His suffering in the category of the righteous man oppressed by wicked men, not the guilty criminal receiving just punishment.

This is not self-pity. It is the biblical protest of righteousness against wickedness, expressed to Jehovah in the vocabulary Jehovah Himself inspired. The lament does not deny Jehovah’s sovereignty or goodness; it appeals to Him. It says, in effect, “I am Yours, I have trusted You, and yet I am being handed over.” That kind of lament is faith speaking under pressure, not unbelief.

The Momentary Withdrawal of Protection and the Answer to Satan’s Accusations

The biblical worldview includes the reality of Satan and demons opposing Jehovah’s purpose and attacking Jehovah’s servants. Jesus’ life and ministry were marked by conflict with demonic forces. At the end, that conflict sharpened. Jehovah permitted Jesus to face the full intensity of hostile human and demonic opposition without being rescued from death, so that Jesus’ faithfulness would be displayed beyond any dispute.

This does not mean Jehovah was absent. It means Jehovah allowed the suffering to proceed to its appointed end for the sake of the ransom and for the vindication of righteousness. Jesus remained faithful. He did not sin. He did not retaliate with evil. He continued to entrust Himself to Jehovah. The cry of Psalm 22:1 fits that framework: it is the faithful sufferer calling out to God while the enemies appear to triumph.

The Psalm’s Inner Testimony: Jehovah Heard, Jehovah Vindicated

A decisive safeguard against misunderstanding Jesus’ words is Psalm 22’s own development. The psalm does not leave the sufferer in abandonment. It moves into confidence, praise, and proclamation. It explicitly denies that Jehovah has hidden His face from the afflicted one and affirms that Jehovah listened when he cried. That is the inspired interpretation of the lament itself.

Jesus’ quotation therefore cannot be treated as a declaration that Jehovah had stopped caring for Him or had rejected Him as unworthy. The very psalm Jesus invoked teaches the opposite: the righteous sufferer feels forsaken because rescue is delayed, yet Jehovah hears and will act.

Jehovah’s answer came in the most decisive way possible: resurrection. Death is cessation of personhood, not a conscious transition into another realm of life. Jesus truly died. Jehovah then restored Him to life, not by preserving an immortal soul, but by resurrecting Him, re-creating life in Him. That vindication is the Father’s public declaration that the Son’s obedience was accepted and that the ransom work was effective.

The Curse Language and the Weight of Being Counted With Sinners

Scripture teaches that Jesus bore sins in the sense of carrying the judicial burden as the ransom sacrifice. He was treated as the sin-bearer, though He was sinless. He was executed in a manner associated with being cursed under the Law. The public shame and the manner of death were part of the suffering He endured to complete His assignment. That added moral and spiritual weight to the physical agony. The cry of Psalm 22:1 expresses the anguish of that moment when the Holy One is being treated as though He were the condemned.

This must be stated carefully. Jesus did not become sinful, and Jehovah did not view Him as personally wicked. Yet Jesus accepted the role of the substitute ransom, standing in the place of sinners to bear what justice required. The sense of forsakenness belongs to that judicial situation: the Father allowed the suffering to run its course and did not intervene to stop the death that the ransom required.

The Purpose for Disciples: Preventing Stumbling and Interpreting the Cross

The shameful manner of Jesus’ death created a severe obstacle for many. A crucified Messiah was deeply offensive to common expectations. Jesus’ use of Psalm 22 served to interpret His death for those with ears to hear. It said: this scene is not the collapse of God’s plan; it is the fulfillment of God’s Word. It is not proof that Jesus is a fraud; it is proof that Scripture is being accomplished.

By anchoring the moment in Psalm 22, Jesus provided His followers a scriptural framework that would later make sense of the horror. After His resurrection, His disciples would recognize that the Scriptures had foretold both the suffering and the vindication. The psalm that begins with “why have you forsaken me” moves toward worship, proclamation, and the extension of Jehovah’s kingship. That arc matched the story Jehovah was writing through the Messiah: suffering unto death, followed by resurrection and the global spread of the good news.

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