"My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me?"

As we continue our journey through Lent, we arrive at one of the most haunting and honest moments in the story of the cross. In Matthew 27:45–46, Jesus cries out from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” These words, drawn from Psalm 22, give voice to a depth of suffering that many of us recognize but often struggle to express.

At first glance, this cry can be unsettling. How could the Son of God feel forsaken? Yet these words reveal something deeply comforting about our Savior. Jesus did not remain distant from the pain of the human experience. He stepped fully into it. On the cross, Jesus entered the darkness of suffering, loneliness, and abandonment that so many people face in this broken world.

The Bible does not pretend that life is always easy or that faith eliminates hardship. In fact, Scripture gives us an entire language for bringing our pain honestly before God. The Psalms are filled with prayers of lament—raw cries of confusion, grief, and longing. Psalm 22 begins with the same words Jesus spoke from the cross, reminding us that lament is not a failure of faith. Instead, it is faith that refuses to let go of God even when life feels overwhelming.

Notice that even in His anguish, Jesus still says, “My God.” Though He feels abandoned, the relationship remains. His cry is not one of disbelief but of honest trust. He is holding on to the Father even in the darkest moment.

There is another important truth hidden in this cry. When Jesus quotes Psalm 22, He is pointing to a psalm that not only begins in suffering but ends in hope. What appears to be defeat on the cross is actually the unfolding of God’s redemptive plan. The suffering Messiah described in Psalm 22 is the Savior who brings salvation to the world.

For us, this means that the moments when God seems silent or distant are not necessarily moments when He is absent. The cross reminds us that God is often doing His deepest work in places we least expect.

During this Lenten season, I invite you to practice honest prayer. Take time to bring your real struggles before God. Write them down. Speak them aloud. Trust that the God who heard the cry of His Son also hears the cries of His people.

Lent prepares our hearts for Easter by reminding us that suffering is not the end of the story. Because Jesus entered our darkness, we can trust that light and hope are always on the horizon.