Neville Goddard on Matthew 27:46

Executive Summary

In Neville Goddard's teaching, the cry from the cross recorded in Matthew 27:46 is not a plea of abandonment but a profound symbol of incarnation. It represents the moment at Calvary, at the beginning of time, when God so completely became human that He forgot His own divine identity. This total self-emptying was not a pretense but a necessary act for God to become a true Savior for humanity.

Key Concepts

• The cry symbolizes God's complete incarnation into humanity.
• This was not a pretense; God genuinely forgot His divinity to fully become man.
• This act of forgetting is what makes God a true Savior.
• This event, Calvary, occurred at the beginning of time.
• The cry is a quotation from Psalm 22:1 and appears in the gospels of Matthew and Mark.

Detailed Explanation

Neville interprets the cry on the cross, “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?”, as the ultimate statement of God’s complete incarnation. This event, which he calls Calvary, did not happen two thousand years ago but at the beginning of time when God became as we are. The feeling of being 'forsaken' is the sign of a total and successful embodiment in the human state.

For the incarnation to be real and for God to be a true Savior, the act could not be a pretense. If God had retained the memory of His own divinity while playing the part of man, He would simply be an actor. Instead, God so completely became man that He forgot He was God. The cry from the cross is the expression of this profound act of self-forgetting.

Neville points out that this specific cry is a quotation from the 22nd Psalm and is only recorded in the gospels of Matthew and Mark. The other gospels, Luke and John, record different final words from the cross. This highlights the specific symbolic meaning intended by the authors who chose to include this particular phrase.

Important Quotes

The Cry on the Cross: “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:24) – that is Calvary, the Cry on the Cross. God so completely became as we are – He’s not pretending that He’s a man.

— If You Can Really Believe

In other words, God is not pretending that He is you. If He knew that He is God and playing the part that is your part, then He could not be a Savior.

— Question And Answer

Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34 gave the last cry on the cross as the quotation from Psalms 22:1 “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

— The Crucifixion

Related Concepts

• I AM: The source material directly connects God's incarnation to His name, I AM. It is God, whose name is I AM, who is within every person and who undertook this complete act of becoming human.
• States: This teaching is a perfect example of entering a state. God entered the state of man so completely that He forgot His original, divine state. The cry from the cross is the ultimate expression of being fully immersed in the limitations of the human state.

Common Misunderstandings

A common misunderstanding is to interpret the cry literally, as a moment when God the Father abandoned Jesus. Neville's teaching corrects this by explaining that the cry is not about abandonment but about the total success of the incarnation. The feeling of being forsaken is the evidence that God truly became man, forgetting His own divinity.

Practical Applications

The source material presents this as a theological truth to be understood rather than a technique to be applied. The practical value for a student is in grasping the profound nature of their own identity. Understanding that God is not a distant being but is fully incarnated as one's own consciousness (I AM) can fundamentally alter one's perception of self and reality. It reveals the depth of the divine presence within.

Frequently Asked Questions

Did God actually forsake Jesus on the cross?

According to this teaching, no. The cry symbolizes God's complete incarnation as man, which required Him to forget His own divinity. It was a sign of total embodiment, not abandonment.

Why was it necessary for God to forget He was God?

If God had remembered His divine identity, He would only be pretending to be human. To be a true Savior, the experience of being human had to be genuine, which required a total immersion in the human condition, including the forgetting of His prior state.

Do all the gospels record this cry from the cross?

No. The source material specifies that this cry, which quotes Psalm 22, appears only in the books of Matthew and Mark.