When Jesus is dying on the cross, why does he yell “my God, why have you foresaken me?” . It seems as though Jesus is doubting his mission at the end of his life. Do you have any insight into this, I’ve just always wondered and have never heard an explanation. Thanks.
Signed, Looking for Insight

Dear “Looking for Insight”,

Your question is about words which only appear in St. Matthew’s version of the passion story. St. Matthew wrote his Gospel in such a way to encourage the connection of Jesus to all of the Jewish community before. The Gospel begins with the genealogy of Christ and his family tree, people like King David, to show how God has been present through all time and will continue to be present always. God and therefore His son, are connected to the past and therefore deserve all of the respect of the people. As Jesus gave His life on the cross it is thought that He called out to Elijah (a connection with the Old Testament and the past ) as He called out “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” What is actually happening is that Jesus’ words are referring back to Psalm 22 which you would have heard on Palm Sunday as the Responsorial Psalm. This Psalm sings of one who is utterly abandoned, like Jesus was. However, the Psalm does not end with destitution, but with hope. The fact that the onlookers at the cross did not make the connection with the words of Psalm 22, but thought that it was a call to Elijah, they misunderstood the movement towards hope that was before them through the death of Jesus. Scripture Scholars agree that this was not a moment of despair for Jesus, nor meant by the Gospel writer to portray despair, but to make the link to scripture, and to the hope contained in Psalm 22. If you look up Psalm 22, some of the images will be a bit shocking, while at the same time verse 25 and following provides us with the hope that seems to reflect more of the image of what happened that day on the cross.

aka Fr. Santo C.Ss.R. and Fr. Steve C.Ss.R.