When Jesus cried out from the cross, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46), many people read it as only an expression of despair.
But Jesus was quoting Scripture. He was quoting Psalm 22, and every Jewish person standing there would have known it.
In Jewish teaching culture, rabbis often quoted the first line of a Psalm to point listeners to the entire passage. They didn’t have chapter numbers. The opening line was the reference. If you knew the Scriptures, you immediately knew where it came from. So when Jesus said those words, He wasn’t just expressing pain — He was directing them to Psalm 22.
And Psalm 22 describes crucifixion in stunning detail, written nearly 1,000 years before Jesus: “They pierced my hands and my feet” (Psalm 22:16), and “They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing” (Psalm 22:18). That is exactly what was happening at the cross. Anyone who knew the Psalms would have understood the connection. Jesus was identifying Himself as the righteous sufferer David wrote about.
But here’s what many miss: Psalm 22 does not end in abandonment. It ends in victory. “All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord…” (Psalm 22:27). When Jesus quoted the first line, He wasn’t declaring defeat — He was announcing fulfillment. What sounded like anguish was actually a prophetic signal. The cross was not chaos; it was Scripture unfolding in real time.
Even in suffering, He was pointing to the promise. He wasn’t abandoned. He was accomplishing exactly what had been written.
