Jesus: The Impassible God Who Took On Flesh To Suffer As Our Representative
This is why theology is crucial and amazing
Introduction
There is no one like God. In much of our descriptions about who God is, we say what He is not. That is not altogether wrong but at the same time we must state who He is. God is simple, infinite, and immutable. He is self-sufficient, eternal, omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient. The essence of God is indivisible and without potential. He doesn't become more or less; He simply is (Ex. 3:14).
The Scriptures and Church History declare that God doesn't undergo change, weakness, or suffering. As Malachi 3:6 declares, "For I the Lord do not change." James 1:17, speaking of the Father of lights, says He is one "with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." If God could change, whether for better or worse, our confidence in His eternal nature and promises would crumble. If God changed then He must change for the better (meaning that He previously was not God) or for the worse (meaning that He is now no longer God). This pertains to willing or unwilling change. Any change in God takes away God. In particular, suffering implies a decrease and a vulnerability that is antithetical to the very definition of this God.
Some, like theologian Jürgen Moltmann, argue for a "suffering God," suggesting that God truly opened Himself up to being affected by the suffering of Christ on the Cross. This view raises significant questions about God's immutability, impassibility, and independence. As Matthew Barrett points out, "A suffering God is a God we start to feel sorry for, not a God we seek help from or take refuge in."
What’s dangerous is that if God were a God affected by us then His love would be contingent on our actions. A God "affected" by us would no longer be a God of unconditional love. God is love (1 Jn. 4:8), infinitely and unchangeably. He is not someone who merely has love or who does an action of love. He is love.
The Unchangeable God & Our “God Talk”
The entire house of the gospel of grace rests on the foundation of the suffering and death of Jesus Christ on the Cross. But, the question arises: How can Jesus, whom Christians believe to be truly God and truly Man, experience such profound suffering if the divine nature is incapable of it? This is the crux of a question that demands careful consideration.
First, our “God talk” is vitally important. How we speak about God matters. It is horribly misleading when people use language about God without certain qualifications that portray someone who is not God.
This is why we employ what’s called analogical language. You can see it in the word “analogical” that it is language that uses analogies. In no way does this mean that something is not true or merely allegorical. God has revealed truth to us—truth we must accept. Yet, because He is infinite and we are finite, everything He says about Himself is analogical.
Consider some of these verses:
“Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.” Psalm 139:6
“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?’” Romans 11:33-34
“For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.” 1 Corinthians 2:11
When we read about "the right hand of God," we don't imagine a literal hand. Instead, it's symbolic and represents His power, authority, and sovereign rule. Consider the example of someone explaining complex scientific concepts to a child using simple analogies—the core truth remains, but the language is accommodated for understanding.
Similarly, the Bible uses anthropomorphic language, describing God with human actions (e.g., "the eyes of the Lord"), and anthropopathic language, attributing human emotions to Him (e.g., God's grief or compassion). These are not meant to be literal depictions of God's being as if God feels or is affected or has like passions as us (Acts 14:15). Rather they are ways for us, with our limited human understanding, to grasp something of His impeccable character and most holy providence in the world. While everything God reveals about Himself is true, analogical language reminds us that God is far greater than we can ever imagine.
The Unchangeable God & The Unchanging Gospel
The challenge arises when we consider the Incarnation. Is Jesus Christ God in our flesh? Christianity, and Christ Himself, unashamedly and unreservedly proclaim, “Yes!” The mystery is that Jesus undeniably experienced human limitations: hunger, thirst, weariness, pain, and ultimately, death on the Cross.
The answer lies in recognizing the distinct yet unified natures of Christ. The divine nature of the Son did not and could not suffer. Suffering implies weakness and change. These are qualities that are foreign to God's very being. However, in the Incarnation, the Son—while remaining truly God (Phil. 2:5-11)—also took on true human (Jn. 1:14).
Augustine of Hippo gives a powerful illustration:
Consider a man descending a mountain without clothes, putting them on, and then ascending with them. The man remains the same person throughout, even though he has assumed something new. In a similar way, the divine Son of God, whose Person existed eternally, took on human nature without any change to His divine essence.
As the theologian Girolamo Zanchi eloquently stated, "Christ’s Person already existed in a full and altogether perfect way before He was manifested in the flesh."
The suffering on the Cross was a reality experienced by Jesus according to His human nature. Simultaneously, because He is one Person, His human nature fully and perfectly was united to His divine nature thereby giving infinite worth to His atonement. This doesn't in no way implies that God Himself suffered in His divine being. Rather the divine Son, in His humanity, willingly endured the Cross and despised the shame for our salvation (Heb. 12:2).
The mystery of the Hypostatic Union is that the divine nature and human nature are inconfused yet inseparably in union in the one Person of Jesus Christ. Distinct natures yet not creating two Persons. This doctrine allows us to affirm both the unchanging nature of God and the real suffering of the Savior. Jesus, being truly God, had the power and authority to save. Jesus, being truly human, could really suffer and die in our place as the once-for-all atonement. This profound truth, though challenging to fully grasp, lies at the heart of Christian hope and redemption.
Have a Happy Good Friday!