"Forsaken”

And Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Matthew 27:45-56

March 29, 2026

Dr. Todd R Wright

This is what Holy Week has been leading to; this is the moment Jesus has been predicting!

When the moment comes, the sky goes dark, just as Amos predicted the Lord would do in judgment on the great and terrible Day of the Lord:

“I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight.

I will turn your feasts into mourning and your songs into lamentations.”[1]

And Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

He is quoting Psalm 22 and the reference fits, for later the psalmist describes …

“They divide my clothes among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots.” and

“All who see me mock me; they sneer at me; they shake their heads; [saying]

‘Commit your cause to the Lord; let him deliver – let him rescue the one in whom he delights!’”

That is the gist of the taunt of the people passing by; and the chief priests; and the bandits crucified with him – save yourself, if you can! It’s an echo of the devil’s temptation: if you are the Son of God, save yourself – change stones to bread, call on the angels, claim the kingdom!

We know all this. We should be ready for it. But that cry of abandonment is still unsettling.

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Max Lucado protests that this doesn’t sound like how God usually speaks – calling creation into existence, stilling storms, casting out demons – sentences with an exclamation point!

“[Divine] words deserve an exclamation point,” Lucado gushes. “[They] form canyons and ignite disciples. So why the question mark hovering at the end of [Jesus’] words [here]? Frail. Bent and bowed. Stooped as if weary. [Why doesn’t he] straighten it? Stretch it? Make it stand tall?”[2]

Maybe you too have trouble squaring this beaten, frightened, anguished language from the one you believed could answer your prayers, the one who worked miracles, who forgave sins.

Or maybe it’s a simple matter of vocabulary. Substitute afflict for abandon – “Why have you afflicted me?” – and Jesus is a martyr taking a stand for holiness; a good man battered and bruised, but unbroken; a noble soldier fighting for the right cause. Affliction can be endured. He can still win!

Or maybe you are confused about the inner workings of the Trinity. How can one member be abandoned by the other two and still be one God? Like Siamese triplets vacationing separately – it doesn’t make sense! He cannot really be abandoned, can he?

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Some explain that Jesus is quoting the whole psalm, so while it begins with abandonment, it ends with the psalmist rejoicing that God heard those cries of forsakenness and rescued him!

The thinking goes that Jesus knows that rescue is coming all along.

The problem, of course, is that it doesn’t happen.

The bystanders misunderstand Jesus’ cry in Aramaic. They think he is calling for Elijah.

He isn’t.

Tom Long puts it this way: “There will be no Elijah swinging down from heaven brandishing a sword and cutting Jesus loose from the cross just in the nick of time. There will be no squadron of angels, no army of liberation, no last-minute surprises from Peter and the disciples. This is not a Hollywood movie; this is the story of Jesus the Messiah who must ‘undergo great suffering … and be killed.’”[3] Jesus himself said so to anybody who would listen.

No, this is the bitter cup Jesus prayed he would not have to drink. This is a shameful death.

Jesus suffers all of it ... knowing it must happen. Scripture says so. He must.

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Jesus took on all our sin –

sin that leaves our relationships shipwrecked and our dreams in tatters;

sin that pushes both our loved ones and our God away;

sin that shouts I don’t need help from anyone, and thus cuts each of us off from the vine of life.

We cannot fix the mess we’ve made.

Jesus shouldered all that sin for three long hours, for us.

And he did it alone, so we would be forgiven, healed, washed clean, welcomed home, rescued, ransomed, restored, freed from sin!

Remember that as you meditate on this scene. Amen

[1] Amos 8:9-10

[2] From And the Angels Were Silent, pages 194-195

[3] From Matthew, page 3182026/3/17/the-first-night-by-billy-collins