“My God, my God, why did You forsake me?”
Muslims see this and say Jesus was despairing because God had forsaken him.
Let’s see if this is true.
First of all, these words were spoken by Jesus when He was on the cross.
Can we agree on that?
Next, do you know what Psalm 22:1 says?
Surprise! It reads: “My God, my God, why did You forsake me?”
(By the way, this was written 1000 years before the crucifixion.)
Let’s imagine, I open the Bible and recite Psalm 22 aloud for everyone to hear:
“MY GOD, MY GOD WHY DID YOU FORSAKE ME?”
Now. Would you say to me: “Oh poor thing, why did God forsake you?”
Of course, those who actually know this Psalm will realize that I was referring to a particular verse.
In those days, Scriptures had no chapter numbers or verse numbers. If I was going to refer to a particular Psalm, I would do it by reciting the first line of the Psalm. People who hear it, and who are familiar with scriptures would then know which Psalm was being referenced.
This was what Jesus was doing. By reciting the first verse of this Psalm, He was telling those people who heard him then, and to us now:
“LOOK AT PSALM 22.”
“Read it and understand what this Psalm is saying about what is going on now! A 1000 year old prophecy is being fulfilled before your eyes!”
Only the ill-informed say, “O look Jesus is saying he was forsaken.”
The intelligent question to ask is: WHY was Jesus quoting Psalm 22?
I have never heard a single muslim who has ever ask this.
In fact, how many Muslims have even read the whole of Psalm 22, at least out of curiosity, to see why Jesus spoke of this Psalm while He was on the cross?
What was so important in this Psalm?
Only one way to find out. Read it.