Did the Father somehow separate Himself from Jesus?

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Hi,
I don’t believe the Pope is speaking contrary to scripture, but don’t understand. Please explain.
"According to the Pope, “it is the Gospel above all that reveals to us this face of God as a father who loves us even to the point of giving us the gift of His Son for the salvation of humanity.”
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“Jesus reveals God as a merciful father who never abandons his children and whose loving concern for us embraces even the cross,” he said." - catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-says-biblical-view-of-god-can-help-fatherhood-crisis/
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And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, la′ma sabach-tha′ni?” that is, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”(Matthew 27:46)
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On Another point, did the Father somehow separate Himself from Jesus (that has to be impossible)?

The Person of the Father and the Person of the Holy Spirit lived in Jesus Christ in the flesh or only in the Substance? Just like the Holy Spirit lives in us as a Person or a Substance, but I am still one Person?

Thank you for your help,
Brian
 
GodHeals said:
Hi,
I don’t believe the Pope is speaking contrary to scripture, but don’t understand. Please explain.
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Open your Bible to Matthew 27:46, and take a look at the cross reference there: that verse cross-references to Psalm 22:2 – in saying this from the cross, Jesus was quoting a psalm…!

Now take a look at Psalm 22 – all of Psalm 22. Although it starts of with a plea for help and a question of ‘abandonment’, it continues with the psalmist’s recognition that God has not abandoned him, and that he will continue to praise God! Especially significant is v25: “he has not spurned or disdained / the misery of this poor wretch, / Did not turn away from me, / but heard me when I cried out.”

One way I’ve heard it described is that the numbering of the psalms was a middle-ages phenomenon; so, before that time, people would refer to a psalm by virtue of its opening line (much like, when I say, “The Lord is my shepherd”, everyone knows I’m quoting Psalm 23!). In other words, from the cross, Jesus isn’t telling us that God has abandoned Him, but rather, is teaching us that even in that terrible moment, God is still with Him – and therefore, in our most terrible moments, God is likewise with us!
 
GodHeals said:
On Another point, did the Father somehow separate Himself from Jesus (that has to be impossible)?

The Person of the Father and the Person of the Holy Spirit lived in Jesus Christ in the flesh or only in the Substance? Just like the Holy Spirit lives in us as a Person or a Substance, but I am still one Person?
Click to expand...
Brian,

OK… this is a much more difficult question to answer – the theology of God in the Trinity always is!

First off, the way that Jesus (in the flesh) is related to the Holy Spirit is different in both nature and degree to the way that the Holy Spirit lives in us. We can talk about it analogously, but it’s very different, so it might be helpful to set that idea aside for the moment.

Your question, then, is how did the Persons of God relate to Jesus in his incarnation. When he took on flesh, the Logos – the second person of the Trinity – became Jesus. Jesus was fully human and fully divine – he had a human nature and a divine nature; he had a human body and a human soul, in addition to retaining his divinity. The question comes down to how he allowed himself to be fully human: after all, his divinity could easily have ‘swamped’ his humanity, don’t you think? Yet, Jesus kept them in complete balance.

Now, when he died, Jesus truly died a human death: his body died and his soul left his body. Yet, his divine nature didn’t ‘die’. So, it would seem that you’re concerned that, unless the Father and the Spirit ‘separated’ from Jesus, we would say that they ‘died’, too, right? That isn’t the case: Jesus’ divine nature never died, so there’s no problem there.

Does that help?
 
Gorgias said:
Brian,

OK… this is a much more difficult question to answer – the theology of God in the Trinity always is!

First off, the way that Jesus (in the flesh) is related to the Holy Spirit is different in both nature and degree to the way that the Holy Spirit lives in us. We can talk about it analogously, but it’s very different, so it might be helpful to set that idea aside for the moment.

Your question, then, is how did the Persons of God relate to Jesus in his incarnation. When he took on flesh, the Logos – the second person of the Trinity – became Jesus. Jesus was fully human and fully divine – he had a human nature and a divine nature; he had a human body and a human soul, in addition to retaining his divinity. The question comes down to how he allowed himself to be fully human: after all, his divinity could easily have ‘swamped’ his humanity, don’t you think? Yet, Jesus kept them in complete balance.

Now, when he died, Jesus truly died a human death: his body died and his soul left his body. Yet, his divine nature didn’t ‘die’. So, it would seem that you’re concerned that, unless the Father and the Spirit ‘separated’ from Jesus, we would say that they ‘died’, too, right? That isn’t the case: Jesus’ divine nature never died, so there’s no problem there.

Does that help?
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Hi,
I have heard the Divine nature of Jesus never died. I was more trying to understand this first…
The Person of the Father and the Person of the Holy Spirit lived in Jesus Christ in the flesh or only in the Substance? Just like the Holy Spirit lives in us as a Person or a Substance, but I am still one Person?
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I am only one Person, or would I be two Persons, since the Holy Spirit lives in Me, or maybe four Persons, since the Godhead lives in me? I know sounds like a weird question…
 
Gorgias said:
Open your Bible to Matthew 27:46, and take a look at the cross reference there: that verse cross-references to Psalm 22:2 – in saying this from the cross, Jesus was quoting a psalm…!

Now take a look at Psalm 22 – all of Psalm 22. Although it starts of with a plea for help and a question of ‘abandonment’, it continues with the psalmist’s recognition that God has not abandoned him, and that he will continue to praise God! Especially significant is v25: “he has not spurned or disdained / the misery of this poor wretch, / Did not turn away from me, / but heard me when I cried out.”

One way I’ve heard it described is that the numbering of the psalms was a middle-ages phenomenon; so, before that time, people would refer to a psalm by virtue of its opening line (much like, when I say, “The Lord is my shepherd”, everyone knows I’m quoting Psalm 23!). In other words, from the cross, Jesus isn’t telling us that God has abandoned Him, but rather, is teaching us that even in that terrible moment, God is still with Him – and therefore, in our most terrible moments, God is likewise with us!
Click to expand...
 
Gorgias said:
One way I’ve heard it described is that the numbering of the psalms was a middle-ages phenomenon; so, before that time, people would refer to a psalm by virtue of its opening line (much like, when I say, “The Lord is my shepherd”, everyone knows I’m quoting Psalm 23!).
Click to expand...
I was aware of the connection to the Psalm, but this was a great additional insight - Thanks!
 
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