“Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?”
About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, 'Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?' which means, 'My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?' (Matthew 27:46 BSB)
What it sounds like today
A cry of final despair, faith collapsing at the end.
The cultural key
Jesus is quoting the opening line of Psalm 22 in his native tongue, and psalms were cited by their first line, invoking the whole. The crucifixion scene has been walking through that psalm all afternoon: mockers wagging their heads (v. 7 / Matthew 27:39), 'he trusts in the LORD; let him deliver him' (v. 8 / 27:43), garments divided by lot (v. 18 / 27:35), pierced hands and feet (v. 16). And Psalm 22 does not end at verse 1; it turns, and ends in rescue, vindication, and 'all the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD.' Bystanders mishear 'Eli' as 'Eliyahu': Elijah, the expected rescuer of the righteous.
Recovered meaning
A real cry of dereliction (the forsakenness is not theater), but voiced through a psalm every hearer knew ends in vindication and the nations' worship. Anguish and signpost at once: the whole psalm is happening, including its ending.