Jesus' Emotions in the Fourth Gospel

This book seeks to discuss John's references to Jesus' emotions in the light of the current debate regarding Johannine Christology. The Fourth Gospel refers to Jesus' love, joy, and zeal. At times it also portrays him as troubled, deeply moved, and in tears. Do these expressions of emotion underscore Jesus' humanity or his divinity? The study is set against the background of the emotions of God as found in earlier Jewish literature, as well as against that of the emotions of Jesus in the Synoptics and the remainder of the New Testament. Voorwinde argues that the covenant provides the most consistent perspective for viewing both the emotions of Yahweh in the Old Testament and the emotions of Jesus in the Gospels. The Johannine Jesus is found to fulfil the hitherto incompatible roles of covenant Lord and covenant sacrifice. Rather than being expressive only of his humanity Jesus' emotions are also found to underscore his divinity. This is due to the unique genius of this Gospel with its paradoxical presentation of Jesus whose divinity is manifested most eloquently in his weakness, suffering, and death.Only his tears at the grave of Lazarus can be explained as a human emotion pure and simple. All the other emotions, because of their strong connections to the cross, highlight both Jesus' humanity and divinity, albeit for various reasons and in highly nuanced ways. JSNTS 284

"Voorwinde now presents a more accessible study of all the canonical Gospels...By concentrating on the references to Jesus' emotions and probing into the presumed motivations behind them, he provides a fresh look at the Gospels' descriptions of Jesus...The strength of the book lies in its careful exegesis of individual passages...Many of V.'s concluding remarks regarding one Gospel are equally appropriate for others...All in all, V. is to be commended for this original and valuable contribution to our understanding of the evangelists' picture of Jesus. The volume is also very well written. Since V. provides a helpful overview of the characteristics of the four canonical Gospels in the course of his discussion, the book may serve quite well as a supplementary textbook for a survey course on the Gospels and exegesis of selected texts. It models careful exegesis of a number of important passages and provides a fresh look at many crucial issues along the way." --Sigurd Grindheim, Fjellhaug International University College, Norway

Stephen Voorwinde is Lecturer in New Testament at the Reformed Theological College, Geelong, Victoria, Australia.