I love C. S. Lewis, but it has to be admitted that he was less discerning about the historical status of the New Testament than he was about the Old.
Concerning the agony, I would give Lewis a break when it comes to the citation of John 12:27. The agony is displaced in John versus the synoptics, as is some other material. (It is likewise displaced, partially, in Luke at 13:50). Mark’s use of περίλυπος, “grieved” at 14:34 alludes to Ps 41:5, LXX (42:5, MT) whereas ταράσσω, “troubled,” in John 12:27 recalls the very next verse, Ps 41:6, LXX as well as Ps 54:4, LXX in the context of the preceding verses about the attacks of the enemy. Gary Wills (in What the Gospels Meant) points out that John 11:33-38 is still in view, where Jesus before the tomb of Lazarus confronts the abyss of human mortality, including by implication his own coming death, with tears and an agonized groan too deep for words. Granted, Jesus is self-possessed as a rule in the fourth gospel, but where it has him saying he’s troubled surely we can take him at his word.
I’m a big CS Lewis fan and enjoy reading him even if I disagree with him.
I love C. S. Lewis, but it has to be admitted that he was less discerning about the historical status of the New Testament than he was about the Old.
Concerning the agony, I would give Lewis a break when it comes to the citation of John 12:27. The agony is displaced in John versus the synoptics, as is some other material. (It is likewise displaced, partially, in Luke at 13:50). Mark’s use of περίλυπος, “grieved” at 14:34 alludes to Ps 41:5, LXX (42:5, MT) whereas ταράσσω, “troubled,” in John 12:27 recalls the very next verse, Ps 41:6, LXX as well as Ps 54:4, LXX in the context of the preceding verses about the attacks of the enemy. Gary Wills (in What the Gospels Meant) points out that John 11:33-38 is still in view, where Jesus before the tomb of Lazarus confronts the abyss of human mortality, including by implication his own coming death, with tears and an agonized groan too deep for words. Granted, Jesus is self-possessed as a rule in the fourth gospel, but where it has him saying he’s troubled surely we can take him at his word.