Trying to guess the thoughts of God by comparing him to human traits is a difficult at best task, especially when we stray from topics not covered in the Bible.
I don’t know the answer, other than the clear theology that Jesus always existed and always will.
But I have always been interested in the “why have you forsaken me” passage.
Interesting question but has been debated theologically for years.
The Father was grieved that His chosen people rejected Him (as He knew they would) but the true grief came at something that (as far as we know) had never occurred before: that of the separation of the Father from the Son, in a manner incomprehensible to humans. The Son did not go directly to the presence of the Father, He descended into Hades to preach across the gulf to those who had not lived according to the covenant. He also went to collect those in the Bosom of Abraham and take them to the Father to await the resurrection and the creation of a new Heaven and Earth.
It’s thought by some that the darkness that prevailed at Christ’s death was because the Father could not look upon Jesus’s death so man would not be allowed to either.
That darkness was recorded as far away as Rome.
My question is, did the death itself of His son cause the Father to grieve as well?
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God willingly gave up His Son so that all may be saved. (John 3:16)
I don’t wonder at God’s greif when Christ died. I wonder at his greif now when so many reject His offer of love and grace.
Now THAT must hurt.
Act 2:22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:
Act 2:23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:
Act 2:24 Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.
Verse 23 shows the great dichotomy. Christ was delivered by the determinate (ordained, appointed, decreed) counsel (purpose, will) of God. Yet it was by men’s wicked hands that He was crucified and slain.
I could argue the Christ becoming man for 30 some years is meaningless in terms of his God position. He was and is always God. Yes he suffered, but he always was God.
Grief comes as a result of loss.
For God, the loss of His son (especially in the manner in which He died) was something He did not want anymore than Jesus Himself.
We will NEVER have any idea how much God grieved at the loss of His son, because it was something that He (both Father and Son) had never experienced before. It was the first time and only time that God the Father had to literally turn his back to His own Son as Jesus bared the weight of mankind’s sin.
As for grief itself, again... it is the result of loss.
For sure, I would submit that God has never grieved as much as He did when gave up His son... but it was not the first time that God grieved over loss...
I would submit that God also grieved when he lost His most prized and powerful angel... whom He had given power and dominion to over His entire heavenly host.
Of course, this was all planned from the beginning... before a single angel was created and even before the foundations of the earth was laid... God knew that there would be loss... and He knew there would be grief.
But He went forward with His plans anyway...
Because He loves us.
Jesus (God) wept at the death of Lazarus, so it’s logical to assume God the Father grieved at the death of Jesus.
There are only two times. Now and not now. Now and the negation or nonexistence of now. As nonexistence does not exist, there is only now. For God a day is as a thousand years and a thousand years a day. Eternity is always now. The Father was never without the Son. Only on time could there be a gap.
Likewise people do not go to hell forever. Just eternity.
God the Father does not suffer. He is pure spirit and does not have human emotions.
Do you still think that raindrops are God’s tears?
I am always interested when folks try to personify God the Father, because actually Christ personified God when He became man.
However God is God and as such would not grieve, implying sorrow over something He ‘had to do or had to be done’ or regret, when it is His plan to begin with.
Ad Majoram Dei Gloriam
The thing to remember is this, God gave Himself up to be sacrificed for our sin.
“Why have you forsaken me?”
The way I understand this is, God hates sin. When Jesus took our sin on, God, no longer saw His sinless son, but
saw our filth. So He grieved, until if was finished. So
now, when we ask for forgiveness, God does not see our filth but sees His Son’s blood sacrifice.
“My question is, did the death itself of His son cause the Father to grieve as well? “
As far as I know there is no death to God. In fact I’d say that there is nothing in the stream of time(which he invented and controls) that cannot be un-done.
The “Why hast Thou forsaken me” thing has fascinated me for decades.
God the Father did NOT abandon the Son in His crucifixion: “God was IN CHRIST, reconciling the world to Himself......”
Jesus the Son, by choice limiting Himself to human flesh (as He still is now), lost the AWARENESS of His Father’s presence for the first time in eternity, thus crying out, “Father, why hast Thou forsaken Me?”. The Father and Son were never separated as many teach. The Father was with the Son through the whole of His crucifixion, death, burial - and resurrection.
Did the Father experience pain through the suffering of His Son?
I doubt it not, though indeed there is no “proof-text” of scripture to verify this. At the same time, Isaiah says, “But the Lord was pleased to crush him, putting him to grief....”, but the reason is explained in the following verses after 53:10, as the Father foresaw the fruit of His Son’s death - the redeeming of mankind and the exaltation and glorification of His Son.
Catholic teaching is generally that God as the Father, Son, and Holsy Spirit represent distinct natures and personalities, but not human personalities. Moreover, with the Trinity described as a mystery, your question cannot be answered in any meaningful way.
I would suggest that grief is a human emotion and to be very blunt grief is about "my" loss, not the person who was lost i.e. "what will I do now" "how will I cope without them"
I believe God was rejoicing in that the Son had completed the rescue of man and would now be joining him on the throne.
As it says "I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance."
My first reaction to this question is that God the Father, as you should recall, FORSOOK Jesus at the cross. Remember Jesus was burdened with the sin of the world....and God had to turn away from the sight thereof.
Although God the Father was pleased with His Son’s obedience, there was a time, I think, when the Godhead was separated.
Any separation in the Trinity would surely result in sorrow.
*Note: I am not a professional theologian. If anyone else can shed better light on this question, or correct my notions, feel free.
I have always believed that while Christ was bearing our sins on the cross, the Father could NOT look upon Him. After Christ declared, “It is finished” and gave up this mortal life, I believe that separation was over. It had to be an almost intolerable moment for both. We can only imagine what TRUE fellowship with the Father is really like, but, yes, I believe God suffered seeing His only Son there on the cross, having been beaten to a pulp (unrecognizable) and then to have to carry the cross up the hill to Golgotha. God has experienced our deepest hurts, as well.