Jesus Wept: The Significance of Jesus’ Laments in the New Testament (Library of New Testament Studies | LNTS)
Overview
Lament does not seem to be a pervasive feature of the New Testament, particularly when viewed in relation to the Old Testament. A careful investigation of the New Testament, however, reveals that it thoroughly incorporates the pattern of Old Testament lament into its proclamation of the gospel, especially in the person of Jesus Christ as he both prays and embodies lament.
As an act that fundamentally calls upon God to be faithful to God’s promises to Israel and to the church, lament in the New Testament becomes a prayer of longing for God’s kingdom, which has been inaugurated in the ministry and resurrection of Jesus, fully to come.
Key Features
- Draws attention to the importance of the lament genre to the New Testament
- Argues that laments function as prayers for God's faithfulness to his people
- Includes a valuable bibliography
Contents
- Bridging from Lament in the Old Testament to Lament in the New
- The Laments of Jesus in the Fourfold Gospel
- Son of Man, Son of Abraham: Jesus Laments as a Human Being and an Israelite
- King, Priest, Prophet: Jesus Laments as the Messiah
- Divine Lament
- Christian Lament and Inaugurated Eschatology
- Conclusion: Lament as a Christian Practice
Top Highlights
“As ‘Rachel’ weeps at the slaughter of her children in Bethlehem, so God himself seems to mourn at the death of Jesus, ripping the curtain of the Temple from top to bottom as human mourners rip their clothes in a gesture of grief’” (Page 126)
“As a cry set firmly within the lament tradition of Israel, Jesus’ lament from the cross indicates both the darkness and loss surrounding Jesus’ death, and the affirmation of trust that God never truly abandoned the Son any more than God finally abandoned Israel or any other lamenter. God is hidden, turns God’s face away, reveals only God’s backside, and falls silent; but God does not break God’s covenant or abandon humanity or creation.” (Page 125)
“As a protest, Israel’s lament calls on God to account for the way things are wrong in the world, and demands that God listen and respond—to set right what is wrong, mend what is broken, and bring light to the darkness—just as it is God’s essential character to do so. God is a God of mercy: let there be mercy! God is a God of justice: let there be judgment on the enemy and the evildoer! When Israel laments, it is God’s faithfulness to God’s promises that are at stake.” (Page 10)
“In the psalms as in the four gospels, lament is agony mingled with trust, petition paired with praise, complaint rooted in hope. Jesus’ prayers from the cross encompass the full range of lament, including humiliation, anguish at God’s apparent absence, longing for God’s presence, and trust in God’s provision.” (Page 24)
“God’s faithfulness. Lament presumes God as an active hearer. Because the psalmist is attentive to God, he is painfully aware of the silence or hiddenness of God.” (Page 64)
- Title: Jesus Wept: The Significance of Jesus’ Laments in the New Testament
- Author: Rebekah Eklund
- Series: Library of New Testament Studies
- Volume: 515
- Publisher: Bloomsbury
- Print Publication Date: 2015
- Logos Release Date: 2017
- Pages: 224
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subjects: Jesus Christ › Humanity; Bible. N.T. › Criticism, interpretation, etc; Laments in the Bible; Crying › Religious aspects--Christianity
- ISBNs: 9780567656544, 9780567656551, 9780567671820, 0567656543, 0567656551, 0567671828
- Resource ID: LLS:JSSWPTSNWTSTMNT
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T00:58:48Z