Whether There Was Sorrow in Christ?
Objection 1: It would seem that in Christ there was no sorrow. For it
is written of Christ (Isa. 42:4): "He shall not be sad nor
troublesome."
Obj. 2: Further, it is written (Prov. 12:21): "Whatever shall befall
the just man, it shall not make him sad." And the reason of this the
Stoics asserted to be that no one is saddened save by the loss of his
goods. Now the just man esteems only justice and virtue as his goods,
and these he cannot lose; otherwise the just man would be subject to
fortune if he was saddened by the loss of the goods fortune has given
him. But Christ was most just, according to Jer. 23:6: "This is the
name that they shall call Him: The Lord, our just one." Therefore
there was no sorrow in Him.
Obj. 3: Further, the Philosopher says (Ethic. vii, 13, 14) that all
sorrow is "evil, and to be shunned." But in Christ there was no evil
to be shunned. Therefore there was no sorrow in Christ.
Obj. 4: Furthermore, as Augustine says (De Civ. Dei xiv, 6): "Sorrow
regards the things we suffer unwillingly." But Christ suffered
nothing against His will, for it is written (Isa. 53:7): "He was
offered because it was His own will." Hence there was no sorrow in
Christ.
_On the contrary,_ Our Lord said (Matt. 26:38): "My soul is sorrowful
even unto death." And Ambrose says (De Trin. ii.) that "as a man He
had sorrow; for He bore my sorrow. I call it sorrow, fearlessly,
since I preach the cross."
_I answer that,_ As was said above (A. 5, ad 3), by Divine
dispensation the joy of contemplation remained in Christ's mind so as
not to overflow into the sensitive powers, and thereby shut out
sensible pain. Now even as sensible pain is in the sensitive
appetite, so also is sorrow. But there is a difference of motive or
object; for the object and motive of pain is hurt perceived by the
sense of touch, as when anyone is wounded; but the object and motive
of sorrow is anything hurtful or evil interiorly, apprehended by the
reason or the imagination, as was said in the Second Part (I-II, Q.
35, AA. 2, 7), as when anyone grieves over the loss of grace or
money. Now Christ's soul could apprehend things as hurtful either to
Himself, as His passion and death--or to others, as the sin of His
disciples, or of the Jews that killed Him. And hence, as there could
be true pain in Christ, so too could there be true sorrow; otherwise,
indeed, than in us, in the three ways above stated (A. 4), when we
were speaking of the passions of Christ's soul in general.
Reply Obj. 1: Sorrow was not in Christ, as a perfect passion; yet it
was inchoatively in Him as a "propassion." Hence it is written (Matt.
26:37): "He began to grow sorrowful and to be sad." For "it is one
thing to be sorrowful and another to grow sorrowful," as Jerome says,
on this text.
Reply Obj. 2: As Augustine says (De Civ. Dei xiv, 8), "for the three
passions"--desire, joy, and fear--the Stoics held three _eupatheias_
i.e. good passions, in the soul of the wise man, viz. for desire,
will--for joy, delight--for fear, caution. But as regards sorrow,
they denied it could be in the soul of the wise man, for sorrow
regards evil already present, and they thought that no evil could
befall a wise man; and for this reason, because they believed that
only the virtuous is good, since it makes men good, and that nothing
is evil, except what is sinful, whereby men become wicked. Now
although what is virtuous is man's chief good, and what is sinful is
man's chief evil, since these pertain to reason which is supreme in
man, yet there are certain secondary goods of man, which pertain to
the body, or to the exterior things that minister to the body. And
hence in the soul of the wise man there may be sorrow in the
sensitive appetite by his apprehending these evils; without this
sorrow disturbing the reason. And in this way are we to understand
that "whatsoever shall befall the just man, it shall not make him
sad," because his reason is troubled by no misfortune. And thus
Christ's sorrow was a propassion, and not a passion.
Reply Obj. 3: All sorrow is an evil of punishment; but it is not
always an evil of fault, except only when it proceeds from an
inordinate affection. Hence Augustine says (De Civ. Dei xiv, 9):
"Whenever these affections follow reason, and are caused when and
where needed, who will dare to call them diseases or vicious
passions?"
Reply Obj. 4: There is no reason why a thing may not of itself be
contrary to the will, and yet be willed by reason of the end, to
which it is ordained, as bitter medicine is not of itself desired,
but only as it is ordained to health. And thus Christ's death and
passion were of themselves involuntary, and caused sorrow, although
they were voluntary as ordained to the end, which is the redemption
of the human race.
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