This is what I believe- and it fits. Jesus, a Rabbi, began, in his great distress, to say one particular Old Testament Verse (Psalm 22). But He did not have the energy, in the throes of death, to say the whole Psalm! So, it is impossible to answer this question without quoting from the Bible.

Jesus knew the Old Testament by heart. This was very common for the time. He must have been relying on the OT for strength and encouragement in His agony!...This verse came to Him, and suddenly, He cried out the first line! He must have realized that He was fulfilling the prophecy found in Psalm 22...

At least, this makes great sense to me.

Here is Psalm 22: (I have Block quoted the Highlights)(From the NIV Bible):

1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? 2 My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest.[b]

3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the one Israel praises.[c] 4 In you our ancestors put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them. 5 To you they cried out and were saved; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

6 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by everyone, despised by the people. 7 All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads. 8 “He trusts in the LORD,” they say, “let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.”

9 Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast. 10 From birth I was cast on you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God.

11 Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help. [I imagine that He really, really felt this line- of any of the lines of this Psalm...]

There is a bit of debate about some of this Psalm, but, in general, it prophesies the Crucifixion very well. If Christ had been in better shape, I am sure He would have said more of the Psalm...but in His last hour, He actually was proving His Faith! He stuck to the Bible, to the teachings which stood by Him all His life.

Please remember that I am a Christian Studies Major in my final four classes of my Bachelor's Degree...I say this because I have studied this important question, and can provide a feasible answer.

Many Blessings

Jai

Why are those foreign words in the text? They are Aramaic, which is the language Jesus spoke. If you consult the Lamsa Bible, which is a direct translation from Aramaic text into English by George W. Lamsa; you will find that these words say something entirely different than what is commonly taught every Easter Sunday from the pulpit.

There is actually an idea passed around that the actual translation would have more appropriately been "My God, my god, for this [purpose] I was spared!". Which would actually indicate his total acceptance of what was happening.

However, I have never looked properly into it enough to discern whether that is actually the case, or just something that has been picked up by a relatively small population without any real basis behind it. What Jai described I believe is a more typical interpretation of it. (Both actually point to the same idea really though, as Jai mentioned in the end of her reply)

So take it as a grain of salt. But figured I'd tell you anyway. (This is what I believe Tom was referring to)

well i think it was is moment of darkness and doubt. it was the last moment to make is decision to stay or to go. he might be spiritual but he was human and suffered like anny one else. well experience and enjoy.

I have George M Lamsa's Peshitta Aramaic Bible, which is a direct translation of the Bible from the Eastern Aramaic Text. This is what St. Matthew 27:46 Says in this Bible: And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice and said Eli, Eli, Lemana Shabakthani! My God, my God for this I was spared! (This was my destiny)

Now compare this to Psalm 22 from the Aramaic Bible: My God, my God, why hast thou let me to live?

Looking at the two passages from the Aramaic they seem to say the same thing...

Our modern translations of the Bible have chosen to interpret the Aramaic as "being forsaken"...

This does not undermine the fact that Psalm 22 still is a close prophecy of the crucifixion.

I wanted to clear up the confusion about the different translations and the comparison with the pure Aramaic text since I own that Bible myself.

When comparing things be sure to compare apples to apples not apples to oranges.

Peace. The truth is, Isa(Jesus) was not crucified, but he was raised to his Lord. What happened was there were some wicked person from the children of Israel(jews) who wanted to betray Isa(Jesus) and plotted along with the king against him, but Allah(God) made that man's facial appearance resemble Jesus, and so his evil plot turned against him, and that is why he uttered such words of unbelief , which Isa (jesus) would never say. Salam, a fellow Muslim sister abroad

the story of Jesus when seen as that of a spiritual initiate,
sucessfully now in controll of his human vehicle;
and when properly translated from the original 'Greek' version,
may shed a different light on what has been transposed into your above senario.
the culture of the fifth and sixth century church fathers accepted the 'smoothing' into their beliefs.

Maybe Jesus had to be tested in his faith and that was his ultimate test. Sometimes you can put your desires into high vibration and keep your focus and calling in your desires (praying) and sometimes God has to work some magic and maybe he was getting impatient (thus his cries) So God had to use this absence as a way of teaching him patience/acceptance. Patience like their ain't no need to wait kind of patience.

I remember one Sunday at my church, our priest did a whole sermon about this, saying that it was part of Psalm 22 (the opening line) and he was quoting it because he was fulfilling it. I had always wondered about that, and this answer made a lot of sense. Jesus was constantly quoting or referring to scripture. Jaianniah, you make a good point about not being able to say the whole thing.