When Jesus recites, “ ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabacthani?’ that is ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me’ ” (Matthew 27:46), Christ refers to the whole of Psalm 22, since in Hebrew tradition Psalms are titled by their first line. This is a cry of victory!

Consider these verses from Psalm 22:

4 Our ancestors trusted you. They trusted, and you rescued them.

5 They cried to you and were saved. They trusted you and were never disappointed.

24 The LORD has not despised or been disgusted with the plight of the oppressed one. He has not hidden his face from that person. The LORD heard when that oppressed person cried out to him for help.

Jesus was totally in the Father’s will! Jesus was an oppressed one, not a sinner. God could not banish a part of the divine self. God cannot be divided.

That sin drives God away is a theological construct, not a Biblical one. King David committed many sins, but repented and never rebelled against God, and he was “a man after God’s own heart” (Acts 13:22, quoting 1 Samuel 13:14). God abandons rebels, not sinners.

God abandons rebels (like King Saul), like the priests who were evil, like the people of Israel when they went after other gods, but God says to the faithful, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5b).