Not surprised to see garbage answers so far. The simplest explanation, which would have been immediately obvious to the people at the time (i.e. Jews, of which Jesus was/is king) is that Jesus was evoking **PSALM 22**. It would be like someone saying, "Four score and seven years ago" with their dying breath. How stupid would it be for people 2,000 years later (e.g. user Cmajor) to be like, "oh that guy must have been talking about something that happened 87 years prior!" It's a REFERENCE. All of the Jews present would have understood the reference (just as they would have understood the seven "I am the..." statements in John chapters 7 - 11). It is referring to a song about despair and deliverance.