Short answer
On the Gospels' own account, it is the cry of a man who did not know why he was left. The Gospels say Jesus cried out "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46). That is a question from someone who cannot see the reason, not from One who knows all things. Christians say the Father turned away because Jesus carried the sins of the world. If so, Jesus knew the reason all along, and would not ask why. The cry also says the Father had left the one on the cross. Yet the Trinity says Father and Son are one God who can never be parted. The night before, he had asked to be spared. The Qur'an says it was only made to appear that he was crucified, and Allah (﷾) raised him up to Himself.
Full explanation
The cry and how Christians read it
Matthew and Mark record the cry in the words Jesus spoke, with a translation. Christians read it as the moment the Father turned away from the Son, because the Son was carrying the sin of the world. Paul, a Christian missionary of the first century, says God (﷾) made him to be sin for us. The Psalms and the prophets say that sin hides God's (﷾) face and stops Him from hearing.
“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?”
“And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
“But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.”
“If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:”
“Then shall they cry unto the Lord, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings.”
Why ask a question you know the answer to?
"Why" asks for a reason. On the Christian reading the reason was already known. The verses about sin hiding God's (﷾) face were in the Bible Jesus read. The plan to carry sin was, on that reading, his own from the start. One who shares all of God's (﷾) knowledge would not cry out on the cross asking why. The Gospels themselves record things the Son did not know, such as the day and hour of the end.
“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?”
“But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.”
Father and Son apart
The Trinity is the Christian teaching of one God in three persons. It holds that the Father and the Son are one undivided God (﷾) who can never be separated. The cry says the opposite. One calls out to the other, "my God", and says he has been left. On the Christian reading, God (﷾) forsook God (﷾). In Luke he commits his spirit into the Father's hands: one hands himself over to the other.
“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?”
“And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.”
The Gospels do not agree on the last words
Only Matthew and Mark have the cry. Luke has no cry of being forsaken. His last words are a prayer committing the spirit into the Father's hands. John's last words are "It is finished". The four accounts do not record the same final words.
“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?”
“And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.”
“When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.”
| Gospel | The last words |
|---|---|
| Matthew | "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" |
| Mark | The same cry |
| Luke | "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit" |
| John | "It is finished" |
A man who prayed to be spared, and was heard
In Matthew, the night before, Jesus fell on his face in a garden called Gethsemane and asked for the cup to pass from him. Luke also says that an angel from heaven appeared to him, strengthening him. He had said at the grave of Lazarus that God (﷾) always hears him. The letter to the Hebrews says he prayed with tears to the one able to save him from death, and was heard.
“And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.”
“And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.”
“And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.”
“Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;”
The psalm he quoted ends in rescue
The cry is the first line of Psalm 22. The same psalm goes on to say that God (﷾) did not hide His face from the one who suffered. It says that when he cried, God (﷾) heard. Read as a whole, the psalm is about a righteous man whom God (﷾) hears and saves.
“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?”
“For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.”
What the Qur'an says happened
The Qur'an states that they did not kill Jesus or crucify him. It was only made to appear so, and those who argue about it follow guesswork. Allah (﷾) raised him up to Himself. His enemies made their plan, and Allah's (﷾) plan was the better one. Many classical scholars explain that another man was made to look like him. Two of them are al-Tabari, of the ninth and tenth centuries, and Ibn Kathir, of the fourteenth.
“That they said (in boast), "We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah";- but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not:-”
“Nay, Allah raised him up unto Himself; and Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise;-”
“And (the unbelievers) plotted and planned, and Allah too planned, and the best of planners is Allah.”
Verse by verse
Isaiah 59:2 — Nevi'im, Yeshayahu, chapter 59, verse 2
“But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.”
Cited for
Sin separates a person from God. Jesus carried the sin of the world, so the Father turned away from him, and he cried out.
The response
Then Jesus knew the reason long before the cross Christians speak of. These verses were in his own scripture, and the plan, on this reading, was his own. A man who knows the reason does not ask why. And Ezekiel, a Hebrew prophet of the sixth century BCE, says that no one carries another's sin. The son does not bear the iniquity of the father.
Where it lands — This reading explains a separation, but not the question. On it, Jesus would have had no need to ask.
Psalms 22:1 — Ketuvim, Tehillim, chapter 22, verse 1
“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?”
Cited for
Jesus was quoting Psalm 22, which begins in anguish and ends in victory. So the cry is not despair but a pointer to the whole psalm.
The response
Then read the whole psalm. It says God (﷾) did not hide His face from the sufferer, and when he cried, God (﷾) heard. Hebrews says the same of Jesus: he prayed to the one able to save him from death, and was heard.
Where it lands — If the psalm is the key, it says God (﷾) did not hide His face from the sufferer. That is the opposite of the reading that the Father turned away.
Matthew 27:46 — Gospel of Matthew, chapter 27, verse 46
“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?”
Cited for
Jesus spoke these words in his human nature. As man he truly felt abandoned, while as God he still knew all things.
The response
Then the words on the cross are the words of a man who did not know why he was there. The one who cried out is the one who suffered, and he is shown asking, not knowing.
Where it lands — This answer grants the point: the cry belongs to a man, and nothing in it shows God (﷾) on the cross.
Genesis 3:9 — Torah, Bereshit, chapter 3, verse 9
“And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?”
Cited for
God asks questions He knows the answer to, so "why" does not show ignorance.
The response
God's (﷾) question to Adam calls a man to account. It is not a cry of pain. The cry from the cross is a complaint of being left, from one who says he has been forsaken. A being who is God cannot be forsaken by God (﷾).
Where it lands — Whether or not he knew the reason, the one who cried out was left by his God. That is a man, not God.
Perspectives
Mainstream Christian
Christians say that on the cross Jesus carried the sin of the world, and the Father turned His face from him. In his human nature he truly felt that abandonment. By quoting the opening of Psalm 22 he also pointed to the psalm's ending in victory.
Paul says God made Jesus to be sin for us. The prophets say sin hides God's face. So at the cross the Father turned away from the Son.
Rebuttal
Grant that sin hides God's (﷾) face. Then Jesus knew the reason from his own scripture, and a man who knows the reason does not ask why. And the prophet Ezekiel says no one carries another's sin.
By quoting the first line of Psalm 22, Jesus pointed to the whole psalm, which ends in praise and victory.
Rebuttal
Then read the whole psalm. It says God (﷾) did not hide His face from the sufferer, and heard him when he cried. Hebrews says the same of Jesus: he prayed to the one able to save him from death, and was heard.
The Islamic perspective
Taken on the Gospels' own terms, the cry is the question of a man who did not know why he was there. He had prayed to be spared. It cannot be the voice of One who knows all things. The Qur'an says Jesus was neither killed nor crucified, and that Allah (﷾) raised him to Himself.
In Matthew and Mark, Jesus asks God (﷾) why he has been forsaken.
"Why" is asked by one who does not know the reason. One who shares all of God's (﷾) knowledge would have known it.
The Gospels themselves say the Son did not know the day and hour of the end.
On the Christian reading, the Father and the Son were separated at the cross. The doctrine of the Trinity says that cannot happen.
Jesus prayed to be spared. Hebrews says his prayer to the one able to save him from death was heard.
The cry quotes Psalm 22. That psalm says God (﷾) did not hide His face from the sufferer, and heard him when he cried.
Only Matthew and Mark record the cry. Luke and John give different last words.
The Qur'an teaches that Jesus was neither killed nor crucified, and that Allah (﷾) raised him up to Himself.