"Why Have You Forsaken Me?"

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” And some of those who were standing there, when they heard it, began saying, “This man is calling for Elijah.” (Matthew 27:46–47)A second miracle occurred at “about the ninth hour,” or three o’clock in the afternoon, through an inexplicable event that might be called sovereign departure, as somehow God was separated from God.At that time “Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?’” As Matthew explains, the Hebrew “Eli” (Mark uses the Aramaic form, “Eloi,” 15:34) means, “My God,” and “lama sabachthani” means, “Why hast Thou forsaken Me?” . . .