When Jesus was on the cross why did he ask God why has He forsaken Him?

Answer 1

God the Father turned from him because Jesus had all the sin of the world on him.

Answer 2

I wouldn't say his words were "why hast thou forsaken me".

That's an out of date translation; the words he used were "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabacthani"; this is, as others have noted, a quote from the psalms. Please remember that Jesus (Yeshuah) did not speak King James english.... That's just bad publicity from old people making Jesus seem like an antiquated, historical figure.

If you read the entire account, you will notice that before Jesus was taken to court in the night, he went to pray with his disciples. There, he expirienced an immense weight of what might be called stress- (I would be careful with my words here- I am not sure stress is entirely accurate. It is not a simple matter to asses the emotions of the son of G-d from a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy (et al) the autographs, eh?)- & even *sweat* *blood*, which I am told is an actual medical condition.

It almost seems Jesus had *fear*.

This seems very difficult to accept, at first blush. Jesus, the messiah of the Jews, the son of G-d, the king of heaven and earth, *afraid*? But take a closer look- *what* does it seem he was afraid of? Indeed, according to the quote I started this answer with, he would have been afraid of not being in intimate closeness with G-d. It would seem to me (and those who I have gained this opinion from) that Jesus, a divine part of G-d, had never expirienced this, this seperation from G-d.

BY THE WAY- Some people will say that Jesus descended into hell, or that not being in G-d's presence was the definition of hell, or both; these are unsupported and....extraneous statements without concrete evidence. The statement that hell is simply the absence of G-d is plainly ignorant of the scriptures. It sounds good in theory but does not hold up.

Continuing- I would hypothesize that seperation from G-d would be considered the worse thing you could ask someone to expirience who had lived in perfect communion with him for all of eternity. Imagine being completely isolated from your closest and purest lover; and imagine that on the scale of a deity. This context makes things a little more understandable, does it not?

Further, it is interesting to note- Jesus did many things out loud for the people's benefit. I cannot say that this was not an emotional outburst (which I do not believe would make him any less human or less theistic?), but if it did have external purpose... I might wonder what he was getting across? If he had kept this sorrow to himself, this conversation would never happen- it would never have been written in the Gospel accounts.

With that, I close my answer.

.L

Answer 3

Jesus knew the Hebrew scriptures and He was reciting one of them - Psalm 22. When the Jews that were around the cross heard Him reciting this prayer, they knew that He was truly the Son of God as He had said and many of them converted right there and then. Jesus didn't just say the first sentence of this prayer, He said the entire prayer while on the cross and when reading through all 4 gospels, you will see that while in the garden before the solider arrested Him and while hanging on the cross, Jesus said many prayers to His Father, ones that David wrote down that are our Psalms today.

Answer 4

The following is the context of the scripture you speak of:

"33 When it became the sixth hour a darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus called out with a loud voice: “E′li, E′li, la′ma sa·bach·tha′ni?” which means, when translated: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 35 And some of those standing near, on hearing it, began to say: “See! He is calling E·li′jah.” 36 But a certain one ran, soaked a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed, and began giving him a drink, saying: “LET [him] be! Let us see whether E·li′jah comes to take him down.” 37 But Jesus let out a loud cry and expired. 38 And the curtain of the sanctuary was rent in two from top to bottom. 39 Now, when the army officer that was standing by with him in view saw he had expired under these circumstances, he said: “Certainly this man was God’s Son.”" (Mark 15:33-39; New World Translation)

Jesus was dying and being in such a state of stress called out to his Creator and Father, God.

Answer 5

John the disciple said this in John 21:25 " And there are also many other things which Jesus did. If they should be all recorded one by one , I suppose that even the world itself could not contain (have room for) the books that would be written". What he was saying was that Jesus ministered day and night for 3 1/2 years. He did so many things and said so many things that there is no way that everything could be documented so the gospel writers picked and choosed what they thought was more important. The sermon on the mount is given in chapters 5,6 & 7 of the book of Mathew. Obviously, Mathew only reported on some of the things he said since he may have spoken for a couple of hours. I believe when Jesus said "my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me", He actually quoted the whole chapter of Psalms 22 and that one phrase is the only phrase Mathew and Mark reported in their gospels. It was prophecized 1000 years before He was born that Jesus would say that on the cross. Psalms 22 was written by David but he obviously was not talking about himself. That is Obvious from phrases like "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me(verse 1)"? Also, "All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads: "He trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him(verses 7,8)."
Verse 14 & 15 describe the physical torture of the cross "I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me.
My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death".
Verse 16 says " a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet"
Verse 18 says ". They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing".
The jews at the foot of the cross all knew the Old Testament. They knew that their ancient teachers had declared Psalms 22 to be a Messianic chapter(a chapter written about the future messiah). Jesus was just saying to them that this chapter was being fulfilled right before their very eyes.

http://www.johnankerberg.org/Articles/ATRJ/proof/ATRJ1103-7.htm

Answer 6

"My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?"



This line is seen one other place in the Bible; Psalm 22:1. Psalm 22 gives an account of the crucifixion...before it happened or was ever used as an execution. In times of trial, Jews would recite the psalms to themselves. Jesus was doing as was custom, and by speaking aloud this verse, he was not only calling attention to his action, but the Jews who were around him heard this and recognized it. The ones that continued from there began to see how the prophesy made in this psalm was coming true before their very eyes.

Answer 7

The Father God is holy and pure, and being so He cannot associate with sin.
Jesus had the sin of the world, our sin, burdened upon him as he died on the cross in our place. He had to be separated from the Father to do so.
Jesus had said that he and the Father are one, and it must have been agonizing to experince that separation as well. - therefore in agony He cried out to the Father "Why have you forsaken me?"
Another amazing part of God's love for us - that God, Father and Son, would endure seapartion from each other to save us.
This was foretold in Psalm 22.

Answer 8

Psa 22:1 [[To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar, A Psalm of David.]] My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? [why art thou so] far from helping me, [and from] the words of my roaring?

Mar 15:34 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?


pretty damn pathetic when so few Christians know anything about their own holy book.

Answer 9

Up until that point Jesus could feel the presence of God the Father. However, Jesus was required to go through His mortal death without that presence. God the Father withdrew His presence and Jesus faced death alone thus accomplishing the Atonement required to redeem mankind.

Answer 10

Because wanted to astound the mind of men. Just like they always trying the figure the trinity of 3 persons out. God Jesus and holy spirit is one. Also in the bible there is no mention of nothing called the trinity it is traditionally named by mankind. You are looking at the physical point of view and not the spiritual. No one has been able to really figure this one out and God knows mankind cannot or less he will be smarter than the creator and lifted up and God will have to do them like he did lucifer.

Answer 11

Yes, he did. You can read it in Matthew 27:46. His words were "My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?"

I've heard a number of apologists talk about this, but I don't fully understand. Some say it was his human side crying out in despair. I just don't understand if he was God, why he despaired. Then again, in his humanity, he was truly suffering.

Not a Christian, but still like to understand.