He is quoting the beginning of Psalm 22! It's almost like a title.
Before Jesus cries this though, they had already...
- "divided his garments among them, casting lots for them"
- "wagging their heads and saying, “Aha!..."
- "He trusts in God; let God deliver him now"
Then Jesus cries out ...
"My God, my God why have you forsaken me?" the beginning of Psalm 22. But as you go on to read the rest of Psalm 22 it says:
:7 All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;
:8 “He trusts in the LORD; let him deliver him;
let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”
:18 they divide my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.
Things that have already happened, was Jesus late on cue? Maybe Jesus' cry "my God, my God why have you forsaken me" was merely to identify himself as the man in all of Psalm 22. Those watching would have seen these things take place and at the sound of the cry, the flash of the Psalm to mind, they would know the ending.
And if that's the case then the entirety of Psalm 22 doesn't leave us with God abandoning his Son on the cross. It takes us on a journey, as do most of the other Psalms, look at Psalm 10! Jesus dieing on the cross looks like God has abandoned him, because he took on all the sin of the world (maybe theologically he does for a minute? I don't know) but then we get to verse 24! Victorious verse 24! It's where the psalmist is leading us, it may seem bad and bleak but don't stop reading at verse one, don't stop believing because we see that:
:24 For he (God) has not despised or abhorred
the affliction of the afflicted,
and he has not hidden his face from him,
but has heard, when he cried to him.
My God, my God why have you forsaken me? The answer is He hasn't!
and then the Psalm ends with ... "that he has done it." which could also be translated "it is finished" and Jesus cries out "it is finished". So a Psalm ain't over til it's over, just like the circumstances in our life lead us down all kinds of crazy twists and turns, it's not over until He has done it! It may be dark and look like God has abandoned you but in that cry following the Psalms you will find out that he hasn't, he has heard and seen. That's good news.
