Can God Really Suffer? The Powerful Weakness of the Cross

Can God Really Suffer?

I. Can God Create a Rock So Heavy He Can't Lift It?
Yes: By making himself weak.

II. "The Son of God ... Suffered Under Pontius Pilate"
Does the cross tell us what God is like? Or what God is not like?
Jesus' death poses a problem for the doctrine of divine impassibility (that is, God's essence can't 'suffer' or die). Responses include: Docetism, holding that the Son only seemed to suffer;; Modalism and Theopaschitism, which assert that the Father suffered too; and; Orthodoxy: The Son suffered, while the Father sympathized.
In what sense did the logos suffer? Two answers:

The cross tells us what God is 'not like':

The cross tells us what God is 'like':

III. Eastern Orthodoxy: Jesus Redeemed Suffering
Divine impassibility (inability to die) determines our view of the cross (Luke 23:26-49):

Jesus' humanity (and thus his person) suffered, but not his divinity.

Incarnation brings passibility to God the Son;
on the cross Jesus "impassibilized" suffering;
God's strength strengthens weak humanity.

Illustration: Saris Museum at Bardejov's icon of the crucifixion.
Then is the cross revelatory? Is weakness contrary to God?

IV. Luther's Theology of the Cross
The cross determines our view of God's relationship to suffering (Mark 15:21-39):

Incarnation is "God under a contrary form" (sub contrario):

In the weakness of God (Heb 4:15, 5:2, 1 Cor 12:22, 1 Cor 1:18-31),
God is powerfully revealed (Heidelberg Theses 19-24);
God's weakness weakens "strong" humanity.

Illustration: Grünewald's Isenheim Altarpiece.
Then is strength revelatory? or contrary to God?

"Kenosis" (ekenosen, Phil. 2:5-11) in the early Church:

Jesus' voluntarily refrains from using his divine attributes
(like Hogwarts students among Muggles).

"Kenosis" in Moltmann's The Crucified God:

Kenosis constitutes God's nature.
But then must God be crucified to be God?

"Kenosis" according to 19th century Tübingen theologians:

The logos limited himself in becoming incarnate.

"Kenosis" in Balthasar's Mysterium Paschale:

Kenosis freely expresses the Son's begottenness
(like love overcomes Valdemort's magic).

V. Common Ground Despite Missing the Point?
As often happens, the theological debate's trajectory sidelines a key feature in the biblical witness:: The gospels present the cross not as mortality per se but as shaming rejection (Luke 9:22, 9:36, 17:24–27, 18:32, Acts 4:11; Heb 12:2) and Jesus as obeying his Father (Luke 22:42).
Jesus commits himself (Luke 23:46) to his Father's 'cup' (Luke 22:19) of being Israel's rejected cornerstone (20:15–18),
entering into our rejectedness and its fatal consequences (Luke 23:39–41, 47) in order to enter into his glory (24:26).
(Philippians 2 is fully consistent with this.)
Rejecting the Son, or his disciples, is rejecting the Father who sent him (Luke 10:16).
So 'kenosis' is not about a metaphysical claim.: It's the way of obedient disciples (Phil 2:5a, 12–13) following their obedient Master (2:8).
So is Jesus' passion displaying personal relationships rather than natures?: Charles Wesley's "And Can It Be": "He emptied himself of all but love."
The cross is still "a revolution in our concept of God" (Moltmann).

*The cross tells us what God is 'not like':*		*The cross tells us what God is 'like':*

III. Eastern Orthodoxy: Jesus Redeemed Suffering Divine impassibility (inability to die) determines our view of the cross (Luke 23:26-49): Jesus' humanity (and thus his person) suffered, but not his divinity. Incarnation brings passibility to God the Son; on the cross Jesus "impassibilized" suffering; God's strength strengthens weak humanity. Illustration: Saris Museum at Bardejov's icon of the crucifixion. Then is the cross revelatory? Is weakness contrary to God?		IV. Luther's Theology of the Cross The cross determines our view of God's relationship to suffering (Mark 15:21-39): Incarnation is "God under a contrary form" (sub contrario): In the weakness of God (Heb 4:15, 5:2, 1 Cor 12:22, 1 Cor 1:18-31), God is powerfully revealed (Heidelberg Theses 19-24); God's weakness weakens "strong" humanity. Illustration: Grünewald's Isenheim Altarpiece. Then is strength revelatory? or contrary to God?
"Kenosis" (ekenosen, Phil. 2:5-11) in the early Church: Jesus' voluntarily refrains from using his divine attributes (like Hogwarts students among Muggles).		"Kenosis" in Moltmann's The Crucified God: Kenosis constitutes God's nature. But then must God be crucified to be God?
"Kenosis" according to 19th century Tübingen theologians: The logos limited himself in becoming incarnate.		"Kenosis" in Balthasar's Mysterium Paschale: Kenosis freely expresses the Son's begottenness (like love overcomes Valdemort's magic).