Whether Christ's Passion Is to Be Attributed to His Godhead?
Objection 1: It would seem that Christ's Passion is to be attributed
to His Godhead; for it is written (1 Cor. 2:8): "If they had known
it, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory." But Christ is
the Lord of glory in respect of His Godhead. Therefore Christ's
Passion is attributed to Him in respect of His Godhead.
Obj. 2: Further, the principle of men's salvation is the Godhead
Itself, according to Ps. 36:39: "But the salvation of the just is
from the Lord." Consequently, if Christ's Passion did not appertain
to His Godhead, it would seem that it could not produce fruit in us.
Obj. 3: Further, the Jews were punished for slaying Christ as for
murdering God Himself; as is proved by the gravity of the punishment.
Now this would not be so if the Passion were not attributed to the
Godhead. Therefore Christ's Passion should be so attributed.
_On the contrary,_ Athanasius says (Ep. ad Epict.): "The Word is
impassible whose Nature is Divine." But what is impassible cannot
suffer. Consequently, Christ's Passion did not concern His Godhead.
_I answer that,_ As stated above (Q. 2, AA. 1, 2, 3, 6), the union of
the human nature with the Divine was effected in the Person, in the
hypostasis, in the suppositum, yet observing the distinction of
natures; so that it is the same Person and hypostasis of the Divine
and human natures, while each nature retains that which is proper to
it. And therefore, as stated above (Q. 16, A. 4), the Passion is to
be attributed to the suppositum of the Divine Nature, not because of
the Divine Nature, which is impassible, but by reason of the human
nature. Hence, in a Synodal Epistle of Cyril [*Act. Conc. Ephes., P.
i, cap. 26] we read: "If any man does not confess that the Word of
God suffered in the flesh and was crucified in the flesh, let him be
anathema." Therefore Christ's Passion belongs to the _suppositum_ of
the Divine Nature by reason of the passible nature assumed, but not
on account of the impassible Divine Nature.
Reply Obj. 1: The Lord of glory is said to be crucified, not as the
Lord of glory, but as a man capable of suffering.
Reply Obj. 2: As is said in a sermon of the Council of Ephesus
[*P. iii, cap. 10], "Christ's death being, as it were, God's
death"--namely, by union in Person--"destroyed death"; since He who
suffered "was both God and man. For God's Nature was not wounded,
nor did It undergo any change by those sufferings."
Reply Obj. 3: As the passage quoted goes on to say: "The Jews did not
crucify one who was simply a man; they inflicted their presumptions
upon God. For suppose a prince to speak by word of mouth, and that
his words are committed to writing on a parchment and sent out to the
cities, and that some rebel tears up the document, he will be led
forth to endure the death sentence, not for merely tearing up a
document, but as destroying the imperial message. Let not the Jew,
then, stand in security, as crucifying a mere man; since what he saw
was as the parchment, but what was hidden under it was the imperial
Word, the Son by nature, not the mere utterance of a tongue."
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