Matthew 27:46
Bible verses · Also called: Matt. 27:46, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani, Why hast thou forsaken me?, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?, Cry of Dereliction, Seven Last Words of Christ
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And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
The text is the New Korean Revised Version (1998), shown under a licence from the Korean Bible Society. Wording may differ slightly from the Korean Revised Version and the Revised New Korean Standard Version. Read in the Korean Revised Version
The cry that Jesus uttered with a loud voice from the cross: "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" It is one of the Seven Last Words of Christ, and there has been profound theological discussion about what it means for the Son to have been forsaken on the cross.
Context
After Jesus was crucified, darkness came over all the land from the sixth hour (noon) until the ninth hour (3 p.m.), and about the ninth hour Jesus cried out these words. They are the opening words of Psalm 22:1. Matthew records the Hebrew form "Eli," while Mark gives the Aramaic form "Eloi" (Mark 15:34). Some of those standing nearby took the cry to be a call for Elijah (Matthew 27:47). Matthew and Mark record this as the only saying of Jesus from the cross, and shortly afterward Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last.
Interpretations
- As forsakenness in bearing sin: This view holds that Jesus, receiving God's judgment in the place of sinners, actually suffered the anguish of having his fellowship with the Father broken (2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:13). The verse is an important text for the doctrine of penal substitution in the Reformed tradition, and John Calvin is known to have explained the Apostles' Creed's phrase "he descended into hell" in connection with this anguish of soul.
- As a citation of the whole of Psalm 22: Noting that reciting the first line of a psalm was at that time a way of calling the entire psalm to mind, this view holds that the cry points to the whole of Psalm 22, which begins with a lament of suffering and ends with God's deliverance and praise. On this reading, the cry expresses not despair alone but a prayer of trust.
- As the suffering of true humanity: This view emphasizes that Jesus, as truly human, endured to the end the suffering of one who has been forsaken. The German theologian Jürgen Moltmann, in The Crucified God, interpreted this cry as an event revealing that God is present in suffering.
Debates and Controversies
There has been long-standing discussion of how the statement that the Father "forsook" the Son can be reconciled with the unity of the Trinity. Many hold that language implying an actual rupture within the Trinity should be avoided, explaining the forsakenness as something the Son experienced in his humanity. Others, however, object that diminishing the weight of this cry too much weakens the meaning of the atonement.
In the Korean Church
The verse is a central text for Good Friday services during Holy Week and for sermons on the Seven Last Words, and it is frequently meditated upon during special early-morning prayer meetings held during Holy Week.
Related Passages
- Psalm 22:1-31
- Mark 15:33-37
- 2 Corinthians 5:21
- Hebrews 5:7-9
See also 6
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