Listen Again to the Song at the Cross

On Psalm 22, Christ's Cry of Forsakenness, and the Father's 'Yes'

Psalm 22

Not only is one-third of Mark’s Gospel a passion story, much of that passion story is a prophetic enactment of songs from the Old Testament:

• Just like the Suffering Servant portends, Jesus stands mute before those who accuse him of blasphemy.

• Despite his innocence, Jesus suffers smiting and spitting just like the song in Isaiah 50 augurs.

• Christ cries out “I thirst” according to the script in Psalm 69.

• Christ commends his Spirit to the Father, echoing the thirty-first Psalm.

• The soldiers cast lots for his clothes. He’s crowned in mock majesty. Naked and bloodied, he endures the shaming eyes of bystanders and passersby— all of it according to the songs.

And finally in Mark we hear Jesus cry out from another song, Psalm 22:

“My God, my God why hast thou forsaken me?”

ἐγκαταλείπω.

Utterly abandoned.