Scripture · Matthew 27:27-31
Matthew 27:46
Christ on the Cross
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?”
Bonnat’s suffering Christ was commissioned for a Paris courtroom, bringing an image of divine justice into a place of human judgment.
About the artwork
The commission came in 1873 for the Court of Assizes at the Palais de Justice in Paris; Bonnat exhibited the finished painting at the Salon of 1874. According to Paris Musées, it was intended to place divine justice before the accused and remind them of Christ’s suffering to save sinners. The image was meant to address people facing trial. That setting gives particular weight to the image of a condemned man.
Bonnat leaves out the soldiers, mourners, and neighboring crosses that could turn the Crucifixion into a crowded narrative. The exposed ribs, stretched arms, and strained upward face fill the narrow canvas. A dark sky surrounds the body, with a thin red glow low on the horizon. The museum emphasizes the painting’s forceful realism: physical suffering is central to the encounter it offers.
Seen against its courtroom history, the painting raises a difficult question about the relationship between justice and suffering. Matthew’s Passion has already shown Pilate asking what wrong Jesus has done, then yielding to the demand for crucifixion (Matthew 27:23–26). Reading that account beside Bonnat brings the vulnerability of someone under judgment into view. In that light, the courtroom image can ask us to examine human judgment as well as think about divine justice.
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What does Matthew 27:46 mean?
Matthew 27:46 places Jesus’ cry after hours of darkness: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” He speaks the opening words of Psalm 22, a lament addressed to God from within suffering. The repeated “My God” matters. Even the question about abandonment is spoken to God; anguish has become prayer.
The psalm’s connection to the Passion extends beyond that first line. Its sufferer is mocked by people who challenge God to rescue him, and his clothing is divided by lot (Psalm 22:7–8, 18). Matthew includes both actions in the Crucifixion account (27:35, 39–43). These echoes help explain why this particular prayer belongs beside the cross, even though Bonnat leaves the surrounding crowd outside the frame.
Psalm 22 later turns toward being heard. Verse 24 says that God has attended to the afflicted person’s cry, and the closing verses widen into praise among the nations and future generations. Reading the whole psalm holds anguish and hope together. Its ending does not make the suffering at the beginning less real, and Matthew still asks us to hear the full force of Jesus’ cry.
Bonnat’s upward gaze offers a visual point of contact with this prayer; the exact moment he depicts remains open.
Sources
Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris; PPP411. The museum identifies the finished canvas as PPP411, distinct from the preparatory study of the same subject.
Reproduction record and rights. Paris Musées / Petit Palais; CC0. Proportionally resized for the source draft.
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