When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. At three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?’ which means, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ (Mark 15: 33-34)

In agony Jesus cries out in Aramaic. In the gospels of Matthew and Mark these are his last words.

These are also the first words of Psalm 22, a song of lament and praise, pain and redemption entirely consistent with so much of Jesus' teaching.

The Hebrew for forsaken - used in Psalm 22 - has at least three characteristics: to depart or leave, to abandon or neglect, and to be let loose or set free.

With Psalm 22 as context, Jesus does not mean to say God has abandoned him. But Jesus is experiencing the freedom of being separate from God.

The price of freedom is reproach, trouble, and affliction. But even when separated from God, we reside within God's realm. In praise and trust we may still know God's justice.

You can read Psalm 22 online.