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what does jesus' experience of perceived absence offer to those grappling with similar feelings today?

Adds the setting and its conversation across both testaments.

Matthew 27:46

“About the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” That is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?””

This verse is found in Matthew's account of Jesus' crucifixion. It captures a moment of intense suffering and apparent despair as Jesus hangs on the cross, quoting the opening line of Psalm 22. It comes near the end of his life, shortly before his death.

How might acknowledging moments of profound struggle and perceived absence, even in sacred narratives, shape our own understanding of enduring difficult times?

Then — the setting

This cry from Jesus on the cross, recorded by Matthew and Mark, would have been deeply unsettling and profound for early Jewish and Gentile followers alike. In the 1st century CE Judean context, the crucifixion was a public spectacle of shame and defeat, not typically associated with divine power or victory. For Jesus to quote Psalm 22, a psalm that ultimately moves from lament to trust and praise, would have resonated with Jewish listeners familiar with the Psalms as a source for expressing the full range of human emotion in relation to God, even in perceived divine abandonment. The perception of God's absence was not alien to Jewish piety, but to hear it from one believed to be the Messiah was acutely challenging.

Across the Testaments

This passage from the New Testament Gospel of Matthew directly references an Old Testament psalm (Psalm 22). In the Old Testament, the laments often move from intense distress and perceived divine abandonment to expressions of hope and trust, suggesting that God hears and delivers. Jesus' cry on the cross connects his suffering directly to this ancient tradition of lament, yet his death marks a turning point. While the Old Testament often sees individual suffering as potentially linked to sin or a test, the New Testament frames Jesus' suffering as redemptive, a unique moment where he carries the burden of humanity's brokenness, experiencing a profound separation from the Father that redefines understanding of divine presence amidst human pain.

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Read alongside it

Psalm 22:1
The psalm Jesus quotes, expressing similar anguish and perceived abandonment.
Lamentations 3:1-20
A lament from Jeremiah reflecting deep suffering and a feeling of God's absence.
Mark 15:34
Mark's parallel account of Jesus' cry from the cross, highlighting its significance.

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