Matthew 27:45-46 - "Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"
Prior to 1599 (the Geneva Bible) the Bible was not broken down into the common chapter and verse we have today. If you wanted to reference a scripture you had to quote a portion of the verse. The only book in the Bible that was broken into sections was Psalms.
What was Jesus saying as he died a painful agonizing death upon the cross. Was he begging God to rescue him? Was he crying in vain realizing he had made a horrible mistake trusting in God? Was he expressing the grief of knowing that he was dying for an impotent God that he trusted in to save him? NO!
While the death of the cross was more agonizing then anything we can every imagine. The suffering of Jesus was so great that I can not even comprehend it. The sin of the world was on his shoulders and He took on the wrath of God for us. But God did not forsake him any more then he forsakes us when we sin.
Jesus is quoting Psalm 22, which begins, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?". Jesus quotes Psalm 22 to draw the attention of the Aramaic speaking Jews to Psalm 22. This Psalm is a Messianic prophecy and the events of the crucifixion are fulfilling the Prophecy. Jesus is aying to the crowd. I am the Messiah. His last words on the cross "It is finished" echo the last words of Psalm 22 "He has done this."
Compare: Psalm 22:7-8 to Matthew 27:43Psalm 22:12-15 to Matthew 27:34, 48, John 19:29, Luke 22:36
Psalm 22:16-18 to Matthew 27:35-37
Psalm 22:25-31 to All of the Gospel
Jesus was making a final declaraton of his being the Messiah before his death.
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