My God, My God…

“My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” Psalm 22:1

They knew those words.

They had sung them in the Temple, repeated them in worship, and carried them in memory from childhood.

In Jesus’s day, Scripture wasn’t divided into chapters and verses the way we know it now. The psalms were songs, and they were known by heart—identified by their opening line, the way we recognize a song from the first few words. So when Jesus spoke those words from the cross, He wasn’t simply expressing anguish.

He was intentionally pointing everyone within earshot to the entire psalm.

And Psalm 22 tells a story.

When Jesus cried out that opening line, He was pointing them to something they already knew—a song that paints one of the clearest pictures of who He is. This wasn’t a vague connection.

It was unmistakable—and unfolding right before their eyes.

The psalm describes a man scorned and mocked, with people shaking their heads and saying, He trusts in the Lord; let Him rescue him (Psalm 22:7–8). The same words were spoken at the cross (Matthew 27:39–43). It speaks of physical agony—bones out of joint, heart pouring out, strength dried up, tongue clinging in thirst (Psalm 22:14–15), and from the cross, Jesus said, “I thirst.” (John 19:28)

It even says, they have pierced my hands and feet (Psalm 22:16)—written centuries before crucifixion even existed. And they divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing (Psalm 22:18). The exact scene played out at the foot of the cross (John 19:23–24).

These weren’t general themes of suffering. They were specific details—fulfilled in real time.

Jesus wasn’t trying to explain Himself in that moment. He was revealing what had already been written, sung, and known for centuries.

The One the Scriptures had been pointing to all along was not coming someday—He was hanging right there in front of them, fulfilling every word.

The beginning mirrors His suffering, but the ending shows it was always leading to victory.

It didn’t stop at the cross. It points forward to a living Savior and a story that keeps being told—even those not yet born will hear what He has done.

When Jesus spoke, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” He was pointing to what they couldn’t yet see—that He would not remain in the grave and that His authority would never end.

And they knew how the psalm ends.

Because Psalm 22 doesn’t end in defeat.

It ends in victory that reaches all the way to you.

You are loved!