Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Mark 15:34

"And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" — Mark 15:34 (ASV)

This is the only one of Jesus’ seven words from the cross Mark records (probably spoken in Hebrew). The meaning of the cry of agony “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Psalms 22:1), lies beyond human comprehension. Some have felt that Jesus’ cry of dereliction shows his utter agony in tasting for us the very essence of hell, which is separation from God. The cry undoubtedly reflects something of the depth of meaning of Paul’s statement in 2 Corinthians 5:21: “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us.”