The Empathy of God: A Biblical and Theological Study of the Christological Implications of John 11 :35

Abstract

<p>"Jesus wept" (John 11 :35) is the shortest verse in the Bible, yet it reveals much about the human and divine natures of Jesus. The tears of Jesus have usually been understood by commentators as an expression of anger or proof of his human nature, but rarely as genuine grief at the death of a beloved friend although Jesus' behaviour is consistent with expressions of grief in the Old Testament and New Testament examples, Homeric Greek culture, and contemporary psychological insights into grieving. However, the Platonic and Socratic ideals of masculine control of emotions, which continue to influence western culture, make it difficult to think of Jesus as weeping.</p> <p>In John's Gospel, Jesus is described as God in the flesh. Rarely has his weeping been thought to reveal anything about God despite the fact that God is said to mourn and grieve in the Old Testament, especially in the prophets and Jeremiah with whom Jesus the Prophet is often connected. The degradation of anthropomorphic language, and Greek ideas about the ideal passionless God have lead to an apathy axiom in theology and christology which is preserved in the doctrine of the two natures of Christ and the Creed of Chalcedon. A christology which is based on who Jesus is, rather than what divinity is, can allow Jesus to be included in the identity of God and God to be revealed in the tears of Jesus. The weeping of Jesus reveals the empathic love of God and requires an empathy axiom as the basis for theology. The empathy axiom can be seen in the thought of Jung Young Lee, Kazo Kitamori, and Jiirgen Moltmann. The weeping of Jesus challenges the impassibility of God.</p>