Mark 15:34: Jesus Cries Out, "My God, My God, Why have You forsaken Me?" At the conclusion of the three hours of crucifixion darkness, Jesus exclaims: "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" His words quote Psalm 22:1, which prophetically describes the Messiah's suffering, death, and ultimate vindication. His outcry also provides the Gospel's clearest glimpse into Jesus's spiritual suffering as He bore the sins of the world and endured separation from God.
In Mark 15:34,Jesus cries outwith a loud voiceat the ninth hour (v 34), quoting the opening words of Psalm 22: "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (v 34). His anguished cry expresses the terrible suffering He experienced after bearing the sins of the world and being forsaken by God.
Mark records Jesus's original Aramaic words before translating them for his Roman and Gentile readers.
After describing the crucifixion darkness in the previous verse, Mark writes:
At the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" which is translated, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (v 34).
Mark introduces Jesus's cry by first noting the time it was said: At the ninth hour.
This indicates that the timing of Jesus's outcry is significant. The significance is not difficult to see. Jesus's outcry is connected to the crucifixion darkness.
Mark ended the previous verse by noting that the crucifixion darkness lasted until the ninth hour (Mark 15:33). Mark begins the next verse with the expression: At the ninth hour.
The timing between the darkness and Jesus's outcry is hard to miss.
Jesus seems to have cried out just before the crucifixion darkness lifted, as it was lifting, or just after it lifted. But the timing of Jesus's outcry and the conclusion of the darkness seems to be more than a mere matter of coincidence. His cry appears to be Jesus's commentary about the darkness itself.
Moreover, Luke seems to indicate that Jesus "breathed His last" around the ninth hour (Luke 23:44-46), which makes this outcry, expressed at the ninth hour, one of the final things Jesus said on the cross.
The first part of Mark's introduction to Jesus's outcry tells us when Jesus cried out, and the second part tells us how He cried out--loudly.
Mark writes that Jesus cried out with a loud voice (v 34). This expression informs us that Jesus screamed or yelled this statement. He did not say it softly or quietly, but with a loud voice, for all to hear. The fact that Jesuscried out this statement suggests that it was a guttural lament or cry of deep agony and anguish.
Jesus anguished from the cross's physical torture, the emotional pain of Israel's rejection and scoffing, and His spiritual death when He was separated from God as He became an object of sin and wrath.
Jesuscried out with a loud voice: "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" (v 34).
This was spoken in Aramaic--the common tongue of the day. It is possible, if not likely, that all seven of Jesus's recorded statements from the cross were spoken in Aramaic, and not Hebrew--the religious language--or Greek--the language in which these events were written and have been passed down through the New Testament.
Mark records Jesus's Aramaic expression as: Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? (v 34). Matthew similarly records Jesus's words as: "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" (Matthew 27:46).
The slight difference between Mark's Eloi and Matthew's "Eli" does not represent a difference in meaning. Both expressions mean "My God." The variation likely reflects dialect or the way Jesus's Aramaic expression was represented for the respective audiences of the two Gospels.
Matthew's "Eli" more closely resembles the Hebrew wording of Psalm 22:1 and would have been immediately recognizable to his Jewish audience. Mark's Eloi represents the Aramaic form for his Gentile readers.
Both Gospel writers then translate Jesus's words identically: My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? (v 34).
The apparent reason Mark records this particular expression in Aramaic before translating its meaning was because there was evidently some confusion among those who were at the cross about what Jesus was actually saying.
Some in the crowd seemed to misinterpret Eloi as referring to the prophet Elijah instead of My God (Mark 15:35-36).
Mark sets the record straight. He correctly translates Christ's expression for his Roman and Gentile readers: which is translated, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (v 34).
Mark frequently translates Aramaic expressions for his Gentile audience. Earlier in his Gospel, Mark translated Jesus's words including: "Talitha kum!" as "Little girl, I say to you, get up!" (Mark 5:41). He translated "Corban" as "given to God" (Mark 7:11). He translated Jesus's command "Ephphatha!" as "Be opened!" (Mark 7:34). He explained that "Bartimaeus" meant "the son of Timaeus" (Mark 10:46).
And now, at one of the most significant moments in his Gospel, Mark preserves Jesus's original anguished cry before translating it for his readers: "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" which is translated, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (v 34).
The question--My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? (v 34)--is a direct quote from Psalm 22:1.
Psalm 22 describes the unjust suffering and divine rescue and vindication of David. Psalm 22 is also prophetic of Jesus the Messiah’s suffering and death on the cross, and of His resurrection from the dead.
Jesus's enemies mocked Him and challenged Him to prove His identity by saving Himself. (Mark 15:29-32--see Psalm 22:7-8)
Now Jesus Himself quotes the opening line of Psalm 22:My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? (v 34).
For Jewish listeners who were familiar with the Scriptures, Jesus's words would have immediately evoked the entire psalm. The reference to Psalm 22 would have been as immediate to them as when someone in modern America says, "Four score and seven years ago" and people automatically recognize this as Abraham Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address."
Mark's Roman readers may have been less likely to recognize the allusion, but would recognize it as soon as it was made.
Jesus's quotation of Psalm 22 demonstrates that His suffering and death did not disqualify Him from being the Messiah. The cross was not evidence that Jesus had failed His Messianic mission.
In addition to being an allusion to Messianic prophecy, Jesus's outcry--My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? (v 34)--also provides personal commentary on the crucifixion darkness from the perspective of Jesus.
From Jesus's perspective, this darkness seems to represent the emptiness He felt when God forsook Him in wrath as the sinless Lamb of God became the incarnation of every human transgression.
Jesus's outcry was His agonizing response to this terrible moment. For what was possibly the first time in eternity, God was forsaken of Himself. The Son of God was isolated from the Father in His most desperate hour of suffering. The apparent reason God forsook the Son was because the Son sacrificially allowed Himself to become the sin of the world and an object of wrath.
Despite knowing in advance what the Scriptures said about how terrible His suffering would be, Jesus still cried out to God--asking Why?
"Why did saving the world have to hurt so much?"
"Why did the world’s redemption have to be like this?"
Jesus was always in prayer with His Father, and this outpouring of anguish was part of the larger conversation between the Son of God and God the Father that took place the night before in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Mark records Jesus praying: "Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will" (Mark 14:36). Jesus may have been asking His Father: "Why does bearing the sins of the world and receiving Your wrath mean that I must be forsaken by You, God?"
That the Messiah would sacrificially bear the sins of the people and suffer the wrath of God was prophesied by Isaiah time and again in his fourth Servant Song (Isaiah 52:10 - 53:12):
"Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted." (Isaiah 53:4)
"But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him." (Isaiah 53:6b)
"But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering." (Isaiah 53:10a)
"My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities." (Isaiah 53:11b)
Peter, Mark's primary apostolic source, references Isaiah's Servant Song as he explains how Jesus was the foretold Servant who bore the penalty of our sins on the cross, absorbing God's wrath on our behalf and providing redemption and salvation for all who believe in Him:
"and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed." (1 Peter 2:24)
Paul and John also explained and elaborated upon this mysterious transaction:
"He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Corinthians 5:21)
"Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us." (Galatians 3:13)
"He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world." (1 John 2:2)
During those three hours of darkness, Jesus the Son of God and Messiah willingly suffered God's wrath and judgment upon sin, so that He would be able to save us from the wrath to come (1 Thessalonians 1:10).
Jesus was likely expressing the profound anguish and effects of enduring God's wrath during the three hours of darkness when He cried out with a loud voice: My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? (v 34).
Jesus was, in effect, describing His own spiritual death--His separation from the intimacy with His Father He had always known.
Separation defines death. Death is a form of separation. In physical death, we witness the departure of the spirit and soul from the physical body, severing our spirit's connection with our body. James makes this point when he describes the body without the spirit as "dead" (James 2:26)
However, spiritual death transcends mere physicality. Spiritual death occurs when our soul has no connection with God--the source of life itself. The Scriptures equate sin with death, suggesting a twofold separation: separation from God and separation from His intended design for humanity (Genesis 2:16-17,Romans 6:23,James 1:15).
Even though Jesus knew no sin, when He became sin on our behalf we can infer that sin had the same deadly effect upon Jesus's human spirit as it did upon Adam's spirit.
Adam's spiritual death occurred when he hid from God and was subsequently expelled from Eden (Genesis 3:7-8, 23-24). Thus, his untainted relationship with God was broken.
And similar to Adam, Jesus first encountered spiritual death, immediately followed by His physical demise. When Jesus became sin during the crucifixion darkness, His human spirit died by being separated from and forsaken by God.
On the cross, Jesus endured both spiritual and physical death.
The Father inflicted spiritual death, forsaking Jesus during the darkness and placing the world's sins upon Him (Isaiah 53:10a, Colossians 2:14). Shortly afterward, Jesus surrendered His life physically, yielding His spirit (John 10:17-18,Luke 23:46).
Jesus's spirit was resurrected on the cross before He physically died. We know this because the divine relationship between Father and Son was restored before Jesus yielded up His spirit.
Jesus's final words were addressed not to My God but rather to "Father":
"Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit." (Luke 23:46b)
All of these things suggest the following sequence:
Jesus spiritually died on the cross during the crucifixion darkness as He became the sin of the world and was separated from and forsaken by God.
Jesus's spirit was resurrected on the cross when the divine relationship was restored, as signified by His final statement: "Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit" (Luke 23:46b).
Jesus physically died on the cross: "And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed His last" (Mark 15:37).
The abyss of emotional, mental, psychological, and spiritual agony hinted at by this expression is unfathomable. Perhaps the most we can discern is that Jesus endured the utmost suffering within human capability.
Although Jesus comprehended His mission clearly (Mark 8:31, 9:31, 10:33-34) and willingly embraced His cross in obedience to His Father, drinking the bitter cup of God's wrath (Mark 8:34, 14:36, Philippians 2:5-8), this did not alleviate the emotional anguish and existential torment of spiritual death.
Jesus's loud cry revealed the terrible cost of His service. Mark's Gospel has presented Jesus as the powerful and obedient Servant of God who came to fulfill His Father's will. Jesus explained His mission to His disciples: "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45).
Atthe ninth hour, Jesus was fulfilling this mission. The One who came to serve was giving His life. The One who came to give His life a ransom for many was bearing the sins of the world.
The powerful Son of God did not use His power to escape His mission. He faithfully fulfilled His duty to His Father and His service to humanity, even when that obedience led Him through the darkness of divine wrath and the agony expressed in His terrible cry: My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? (v 34).
Mark next describes how some of the bystanders misunderstood Jesus's cry and thought He was calling for Elijah (Mark 15:35-36).
Mark 15:34
34 At the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
Set to dark mode
Mark 15:34 meaning
The parallel gospel account of Mark 15:34 is found in Matthew 27:46.
In Mark 15:34, Jesus cries out with a loud voice at the ninth hour (v 34), quoting the opening words of Psalm 22: "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (v 34). His anguished cry expresses the terrible suffering He experienced after bearing the sins of the world and being forsaken by God.
Mark records Jesus's original Aramaic words before translating them for his Roman and Gentile readers.
After describing the crucifixion darkness in the previous verse, Mark writes:
At the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" which is translated, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (v 34).
Mark introduces Jesus's cry by first noting the time it was said: At the ninth hour.
This indicates that the timing of Jesus's outcry is significant. The significance is not difficult to see. Jesus's outcry is connected to the crucifixion darkness.
Mark ended the previous verse by noting that the crucifixion darkness lasted until the ninth hour (Mark 15:33). Mark begins the next verse with the expression: At the ninth hour.
The timing between the darkness and Jesus's outcry is hard to miss.
Jesus seems to have cried out just before the crucifixion darkness lifted, as it was lifting, or just after it lifted. But the timing of Jesus's outcry and the conclusion of the darkness seems to be more than a mere matter of coincidence. His cry appears to be Jesus's commentary about the darkness itself.
Moreover, Luke seems to indicate that Jesus "breathed His last" around the ninth hour (Luke 23:44-46), which makes this outcry, expressed at the ninth hour, one of the final things Jesus said on the cross.
The first part of Mark's introduction to Jesus's outcry tells us when Jesus cried out, and the second part tells us how He cried out--loudly.
Mark writes that Jesus cried out with a loud voice (v 34). This expression informs us that Jesus screamed or yelled this statement. He did not say it softly or quietly, but with a loud voice, for all to hear. The fact that Jesus cried out this statement suggests that it was a guttural lament or cry of deep agony and anguish.
Jesus anguished from the cross's physical torture, the emotional pain of Israel's rejection and scoffing, and His spiritual death when He was separated from God as He became an object of sin and wrath.
Jesus cried out with a loud voice: "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" (v 34).
This was spoken in Aramaic--the common tongue of the day. It is possible, if not likely, that all seven of Jesus's recorded statements from the cross were spoken in Aramaic, and not Hebrew--the religious language--or Greek--the language in which these events were written and have been passed down through the New Testament.
Mark records Jesus's Aramaic expression as: Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? (v 34). Matthew similarly records Jesus's words as: "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" (Matthew 27:46).
The slight difference between Mark's Eloi and Matthew's "Eli" does not represent a difference in meaning. Both expressions mean "My God." The variation likely reflects dialect or the way Jesus's Aramaic expression was represented for the respective audiences of the two Gospels.
Matthew's "Eli" more closely resembles the Hebrew wording of Psalm 22:1 and would have been immediately recognizable to his Jewish audience. Mark's Eloi represents the Aramaic form for his Gentile readers.
Both Gospel writers then translate Jesus's words identically: My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? (v 34).
The apparent reason Mark records this particular expression in Aramaic before translating its meaning was because there was evidently some confusion among those who were at the cross about what Jesus was actually saying.
Some in the crowd seemed to misinterpret Eloi as referring to the prophet Elijah instead of My God (Mark 15:35-36).
Mark sets the record straight. He correctly translates Christ's expression for his Roman and Gentile readers: which is translated, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (v 34).
Mark frequently translates Aramaic expressions for his Gentile audience. Earlier in his Gospel, Mark translated Jesus's words including: "Talitha kum!" as "Little girl, I say to you, get up!" (Mark 5:41). He translated "Corban" as "given to God" (Mark 7:11). He translated Jesus's command "Ephphatha!" as "Be opened!" (Mark 7:34). He explained that "Bartimaeus" meant "the son of Timaeus" (Mark 10:46).
And now, at one of the most significant moments in his Gospel, Mark preserves Jesus's original anguished cry before translating it for his readers: "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" which is translated, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (v 34).
The question--My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? (v 34)--is a direct quote from Psalm 22:1.
Psalm 22 describes the unjust suffering and divine rescue and vindication of David. Psalm 22 is also prophetic of Jesus the Messiah’s suffering and death on the cross, and of His resurrection from the dead.
To learn more about Psalm 22 and its prophecies concerning Jesus the Messiah, see The Bible Says commentary for Psalm 22.
Jesus's quotation of Psalm 22:1 is Mark's latest reference to this Messianic psalm in his account of the crucifixion.
Mark has already described two events which correspond directly with Psalm 22:
(Mark 15:24--see Psalm 22:18)
(Mark 15:29-32--see Psalm 22:7-8)
Now Jesus Himself quotes the opening line of Psalm 22: My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? (v 34).
For Jewish listeners who were familiar with the Scriptures, Jesus's words would have immediately evoked the entire psalm. The reference to Psalm 22 would have been as immediate to them as when someone in modern America says, "Four score and seven years ago" and people automatically recognize this as Abraham Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address."
Mark's Roman readers may have been less likely to recognize the allusion, but would recognize it as soon as it was made.
Jesus's quotation of Psalm 22 demonstrates that His suffering and death did not disqualify Him from being the Messiah. The cross was not evidence that Jesus had failed His Messianic mission.
The cross fulfilled it.
Jesus becoming a curse for us on a tree does not disqualify Him from being the Messiah (Deuteronomy 21:23, 1 Corinthians 1:23a, Galatians 3:13). Psalm 22 and other prophecies, including Isaiah 52:10 - 53:12, demonstrate that the Messiah would suffer before He was vindicated and exalted.
In addition to being an allusion to Messianic prophecy, Jesus's outcry--My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? (v 34)--also provides personal commentary on the crucifixion darkness from the perspective of Jesus.
From Jesus's perspective, this darkness seems to represent the emptiness He felt when God forsook Him in wrath as the sinless Lamb of God became the incarnation of every human transgression.
Jesus's outcry was His agonizing response to this terrible moment. For what was possibly the first time in eternity, God was forsaken of Himself. The Son of God was isolated from the Father in His most desperate hour of suffering. The apparent reason God forsook the Son was because the Son sacrificially allowed Himself to become the sin of the world and an object of wrath.
Despite knowing in advance what the Scriptures said about how terrible His suffering would be, Jesus still cried out to God--asking Why?
Jesus was always in prayer with His Father, and this outpouring of anguish was part of the larger conversation between the Son of God and God the Father that took place the night before in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Mark records Jesus praying: "Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will" (Mark 14:36). Jesus may have been asking His Father: "Why does bearing the sins of the world and receiving Your wrath mean that I must be forsaken by You, God?"
That the Messiah would sacrificially bear the sins of the people and suffer the wrath of God was prophesied by Isaiah time and again in his fourth Servant Song (Isaiah 52:10 - 53:12):
"Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted."
(Isaiah 53:4)
"But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him."
(Isaiah 53:6b)
"But the LORD was pleased
To crush Him, putting Him to grief;
If He would render Himself as a guilt offering."
(Isaiah 53:10a)
"My Servant, will justify the many,
As He will bear their iniquities."
(Isaiah 53:11b)
Peter, Mark's primary apostolic source, references Isaiah's Servant Song as he explains how Jesus was the foretold Servant who bore the penalty of our sins on the cross, absorbing God's wrath on our behalf and providing redemption and salvation for all who believe in Him:
"and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed."
(1 Peter 2:24)
Paul and John also explained and elaborated upon this mysterious transaction:
"He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."
(2 Corinthians 5:21)
"Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us."
(Galatians 3:13)
"He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world."
(1 John 2:2)
During those three hours of darkness, Jesus the Son of God and Messiah willingly suffered God's wrath and judgment upon sin, so that He would be able to save us from the wrath to come (1 Thessalonians 1:10).
Jesus was likely expressing the profound anguish and effects of enduring God's wrath during the three hours of darkness when He cried out with a loud voice: My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? (v 34).
Jesus was, in effect, describing His own spiritual death--His separation from the intimacy with His Father He had always known.
Separation defines death. Death is a form of separation. In physical death, we witness the departure of the spirit and soul from the physical body, severing our spirit's connection with our body. James makes this point when he describes the body without the spirit as "dead" (James 2:26)
However, spiritual death transcends mere physicality. Spiritual death occurs when our soul has no connection with God--the source of life itself. The Scriptures equate sin with death, suggesting a twofold separation: separation from God and separation from His intended design for humanity (Genesis 2:16-17, Romans 6:23, James 1:15).
Even though Jesus knew no sin, when He became sin on our behalf we can infer that sin had the same deadly effect upon Jesus's human spirit as it did upon Adam's spirit.
Adam's spiritual death occurred when he hid from God and was subsequently expelled from Eden (Genesis 3:7-8, 23-24). Thus, his untainted relationship with God was broken.
And similar to Adam, Jesus first encountered spiritual death, immediately followed by His physical demise. When Jesus became sin during the crucifixion darkness, His human spirit died by being separated from and forsaken by God.
On the cross, Jesus endured both spiritual and physical death.
The Father inflicted spiritual death, forsaking Jesus during the darkness and placing the world's sins upon Him (Isaiah 53:10a, Colossians 2:14). Shortly afterward, Jesus surrendered His life physically, yielding His spirit (John 10:17-18, Luke 23:46).
Jesus's spirit was resurrected on the cross before He physically died. We know this because the divine relationship between Father and Son was restored before Jesus yielded up His spirit.
Jesus's final words were addressed not to My God but rather to "Father":
"Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit."
(Luke 23:46b)
All of these things suggest the following sequence:
Those who are born again into God's family follow a similar death-resurrection pattern:
(Ephesians 2:1, Romans 5:12)
(John 3:16, Ephesians 2:4-5)
(Ecclesiastes 12:7, Hebrews 9:27)
(John 11:25-26, 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17, Revelation 21:1-4)
My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? (v 34).
The abyss of emotional, mental, psychological, and spiritual agony hinted at by this expression is unfathomable. Perhaps the most we can discern is that Jesus endured the utmost suffering within human capability.
Although Jesus comprehended His mission clearly (Mark 8:31, 9:31, 10:33-34) and willingly embraced His cross in obedience to His Father, drinking the bitter cup of God's wrath (Mark 8:34, 14:36, Philippians 2:5-8), this did not alleviate the emotional anguish and existential torment of spiritual death.
Jesus's loud cry revealed the terrible cost of His service. Mark's Gospel has presented Jesus as the powerful and obedient Servant of God who came to fulfill His Father's will. Jesus explained His mission to His disciples: "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45).
At the ninth hour, Jesus was fulfilling this mission. The One who came to serve was giving His life. The One who came to give His life a ransom for many was bearing the sins of the world.
The powerful Son of God did not use His power to escape His mission. He faithfully fulfilled His duty to His Father and His service to humanity, even when that obedience led Him through the darkness of divine wrath and the agony expressed in His terrible cry: My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? (v 34).
To more fully explore Jesus's question, see The Bible Says article, "Why did Jesus Cry, 'My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me?'"
Mark next describes how some of the bystanders misunderstood Jesus's cry and thought He was calling for Elijah (Mark 15:35-36).