Was Jesus Abandoned on the Cross? The Truth of Psalm 22

Not Forsaken, but Fulfilled: Understanding the Cry of the Cross

Few moments in Scripture have sparked as much debate as Jesus’ cry from the cross:

“My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34)

Many believe this was the moment when God abandoned Jesus, separating Himself from Him as Jesus bore the sins of the world. This interpretation assumes that Jesus was a distinct divine person who was momentarily cut off from the Father.

This view is theologically impossible. Jesus was not a divine person being forsaken by another. He is the visible image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15), and the fullness of God dwells in Him bodily (Colossians 2:9). If God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself (2 Corinthians 5:19), then He was not absent at the cross. He did not turn away at the very moment when divine mercy was being poured out. To believe otherwise is to divide what Scripture holds together.

A closer study of Psalm 22, which Jesus was quoting, proves that His words were not a cry of separation but a declaration of fulfillment. The cross was not a place where God turned away but where God was most fully revealed through Christ’s suffering and victory.

The David-Jesus Connection: A Suffering King and the Promised Messiah

David’s Suffering and the Birth of Psalm 22

David, Israel’s anointed king, wrote Psalm 22 in a moment of deep distress. His life was marked by suffering and betrayal.

He was pursued by Saul, who sought to kill him (1 Samuel 19:1-2).
He was betrayed by Ahithophel, his close counselor (2 Samuel 15:12).
He fled from his own son Absalom, who turned against him (2 Samuel 15:14).
He was mocked and cursed by enemies, including Shimei, who threw stones at him (2 Samuel 16:5-8).

David’s suffering gave birth to Psalm 22, a psalm that begins with anguish but ends in triumph. However, many of the details in Psalm 22 do not match David’s life.

Where David’s Experience Ends and Prophecy Begins

David never had his hands and feet pierced. He never had his garments divided by soldiers casting lots. He never experienced a public execution while mockers surrounded him. These details point beyond David’s life to a greater fulfillment. They describe a form of brutalization that did not exist in David’s time but was seen in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

Jesus as the True Fulfillment

Every detail of Psalm 22 is fulfilled in Christ’s suffering on the cross.

Psalm 22	Fulfillment in Jesus
“All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads” (22:7).	“Those who passed by hurled insults at Him, shaking their heads” (Matthew 27:39).
“He trusts in the Lord; let the Lord rescue him” (22:8).	“He trusts in God. Let God rescue Him now” (Matthew 27:43).
“My bones are out of joint” (22:14).	Jesus’ body was stretched and dislocated on the cross.
“My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth” (22:15).	Jesus said, “I thirst” (John 19:28).
“They pierce my hands and my feet” (22:16).	Jesus was nailed to the cross (John 20:25).
“They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing” (22:18).	Roman soldiers cast lots for Jesus’ garments (John 19:24).

David’s words were more than a personal lament; they were divinely inspired prophecy. Jesus was not simply crying out in agony. He was directing the world to Psalm 22, declaring that He was fulfilling what had been foretold. His suffering was not random but was part of God’s redemptive plan.

Was Jesus Truly Forsaken? Understanding His Cry

Many assume that Jesus’ words meant that God had truly abandoned Him. However, Psalm 22 itself refutes this idea.

“For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted. Nor has He hidden His face from Him. But when He cried to Him, He heard” (Psalm 22:24).

This verse directly contradicts the idea that God turned away from Jesus. If Jesus was quoting Psalm 22, then He was pointing to the entire psalm. The psalm begins in distress but ends with assurance that God has heard and will deliver.

Did God Really Turn Away from Jesus?

God’s Unity Cannot Be Broken
- Jesus is God in the flesh (John 1:14). God is one and cannot be divided against Himself.
- Psalm 139:7-8 affirms that God’s presence is inescapable. Even in suffering, He is present.
Jesus Was Still Righteous
- Some claim that God turned away because Jesus “became sin” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
- However, Jesus remained the spotless Lamb (1 Peter 2:22), carrying the weight of sin without being tainted by it. As ‘the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world’ (Revelation 13:8), He fulfilled God’s eternal plan of redemption
The Spirit Never Left Him
- Jesus was filled with the Spirit without measure (John 3:34).
- Even in His final moments, Jesus, as the perfect mediator, committed His Spirit into the Father’s hands (Luke 23:46), demonstrating complete submission and affirming His unity with the Father (John 10:30)

The Cross as the Ultimate Revelation of God’s Presence

The crucifixion was not a moment of separation between Jesus and the Father. It was the ultimate revelation of God’s presence and love.

Before His arrest, Jesus declared,

“I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me” (John 17:6).

Jesus’ entire mission was to reveal the Father. If the cross was the climax of His mission, then it could not be a moment of divine abandonment. Instead, it was the moment when God’s name was most fully revealed.

Jesus also prayed,

“That they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You” (John 17:21).

If Jesus was one with the Father, then He was never separated from Him.

Isaiah 53:10 says that it pleased the Lord to bruise Him. Christ’s suffering was part of God’s plan, not a result of abandonment.
2 Corinthians 5:19 states that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, proving that divine presence was at work on the cross.
John 8:29 records Jesus saying, “The One who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone.”

If the Father was always with Jesus, then Jesus was not truly forsaken on the cross, nor was the Father absent from Him.

Mercy, Not Sacrifice: The Heart of the Cross

Jesus repeatedly emphasized that God desires mercy, not sacrifice.

“Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’” (Matthew 9:13, Hosea 6:6)

This statement dismantles the idea that the cross was about God pouring out wrath on Jesus in abandonment. The crucifixion was not about appeasing an angry deity. It was about God demonstrating mercy through Christ’s suffering.

Mercy triumphed over judgment (James 2:13).
The cross was not a transaction of divine wrath, but the place where God’s justice and mercy embraced in perfect harmony.

Psalm 85:10 proclaims this union:

“Mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed.”

At the cross, God’s mercy did not cancel His justice. His justice did not override His mercy. Instead, both were fully revealed in Christ.

Psalm 22 Ends in Victory: The Nations Will Worship

Psalm 22 does not conclude in suffering. It ends in triumph.

“All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before You”.

This prophecy is fulfilled in Jesus’ resurrection and the global spread of the Gospel. Philippians 2:9-11 confirms that Jesus’ faithfulness led to His exaltation, and that every knee will bow and confess Him as Lord, the manifestation of God in the flesh.

Jesus’ cry from the cross was not a cry of despair. It was a proclamation of fulfillment.

Jesus Was Not Forsaken

Jesus quoted Psalm 22 to reveal its fulfillment, not to declare separation.
God did not turn away but was fully present in Christ, accomplishing redemption.
The cross was not about divine wrath against Jesus but about God’s justice and mercy meeting in perfect unity.
The relational attributes of God including faithfulness, love, presence, and mercy were fully revealed at Calvary.

Jesus was not just the Son of David. He was the one true God in flesh. His suffering was not separation from God but the supreme revelation of God’s redemptive heart.

The world saw suffering, but Heaven saw mercy triumphing over judgment. As Scripture declares, “If one man sins against another, God may mediate for him; but if a man sins against the Lord, who will intercede for him?” (1 Samuel 2:25). In Christ, God Himself became that mediator, fulfilling His own word: “I, even I, am the Lord, and besides Me there is no savior” (Isaiah 43:11).

The Judge became the Mediator. The Almighty took on flesh. The Savior bore our sins because there is no other God, no other hope, and no other name that saves.