Home > Jesus is God in Mark's Gospel
This is the cornerstone of the Doctrine of the Two Natures (the Hypostatic Union).
**Mark 15:34: **
"And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, 'Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?' which means, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?'"
This cry does not represent a "break" in the Trinity, but the moment where the Eternal Son—in His human nature—fully experiences the judicial weight of sin, while in His divine nature, He remains the High Priest offering the infinite sacrifice.
In Jewish tradition, Jesus quoting the first line of a Psalm was a way of invoking the entire passage. Psalm 22 begins with abandonment but ends with the conversion of the nations and the victory of God. It is full of Messianic verses and fulfillment at the cross. Jesus is "coding" His suffering within the framework of a known Messianic triumph.
Psalm 22:1:
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
Even in the depths of agony, He is the Lord of Scripture. He is directing the witnesses to see that the Cross was not an accident, but a pre-ordained fulfillment of the Word.
This passage is a primary text for understanding how the Divine and Human natures interact in one Person.
Athanasius (against the Arians) argued that the Divinity did not "leave" the body (otherwise the body would have ceased to exist), but the Divine Nature "withdrew its protection and consolation" to allow the Human Nature to feel the full, unmitigated sting of death and judgment.
Aquinas made a technical distinction. He argued that the "Union of the Person" was never broken, but the "Beatific Vision" (the joy of the presence of God) was withheld from Christ’s human soul so that He might truly suffer as our substitute.
Jürgen Moltmann argues that God "forsakes" God so that He can become the God of the God-forsaken. This view emphasises solidarity: Jesus enters the absolute depths of human despair and abandonment so that no human being, regardless of their suffering, is ever truly alone.
What we can conclude is that this cry is the bridge between God’s holiness and human brokenness, showing that God did not remain distant from human suffering but entered into its very worst form.
The Cry of Dereliction is the "moment of impact" where the sin of the world meets the holiness of God. The Father acts as Judge and the Son acts as Substitute. Jesus becomes the "cursed one" to redeem the cursed.
The "forsakenness" was the legal reality of Jesus taking our place. He was treated as the "Sinner of Sinners" so we could be treated as the "Righteous of God."
The cry proves He did not just "die physically," but endured the spiritual equivalent of eternal separation to pay the debt of humanity.
Jesus cried out with a "loud voice" before breathing His last. Victims of crucifixion usually die of exhaustion, barely able to whisper. Jesus’ "loud voice" indicates that He did not "expire" by force, but voluntarily dismissed His spirit.
This proves His Divine Sovereignty over death. As He said in John 10:18, "No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord." The "Cry of Dereliction" was the low point of His humiliation, but the "Loud Voice" was the high point of His sovereign power.
When facing critics who claim God cannot suffer or that Jesus "lost his faith," Christians can point to the logic of the High Priest. Only a Person who is both Infinite God (to pay an infinite debt) and True Man (to pay a human debt) could utter this cry.
The fact that He calls out "My God" shows His unwavering faith even while enduring the legal reality of being forsaken.