Jesus, A Man with Deep Emotions [John 11]
32Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died."
33When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled, 34and said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to Him, "Lord, come and see."35Jesus wept.
36So the Jews were saying, "See how He loved him!"37But some of them said, "Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have kept this man also from dying?"
38So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39Jesus said, "Remove the stone." Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, "Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days." 40Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?"41So they removed the stone Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.42"I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me."43When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth."44The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."
In this passage we witness Jesus as He experienced an array of emotions. We see Him loving his friends (v. 3), glad that the disciples where going see and believe in Him (v. 15), encouraging and assuring to Martha (v. 21-26), troubled, deeply moved by their sadness and weeping. At the beginning of this chapter we learn that Jesus knew that Lazarus was going to die and that He was going to raise him from the dead. Even knowing that truth, Jesus felt the emotion of those around Him and cried with them. The people watching thought Jesus was crying because of His great love for Lazarus but "He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled" because He saw Mary and the others weeping. Again as He stood before the tomb He had deep emotions. The word "troubled" means to be stirred or agitated. It is the same word Jesus used in John 14:1 when He told His disciples to not let their hearts be troubled (to stay in that state). The solution to not stay in that state was to believe in God and to believe in Jesus.
Do you see how Jesus took all of His emotions to God? With each emotion He pointed to God. In His public prayer He thanked God that He heard Him. He also kept encouraging His disciples, Martha and Mary to believe God and see His glory. He experienced emotions but did so without sinning. By grace He let the emotions direct Him to trust God instead of trusting Himself (our usual response).
It is important for us to know that Jesus experienced all the initial emotions that we have. Hebrews 2:17 tells us why this is so important. "Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people." Jesus is able to understand and sympathize with us in our emotions and invites us to bring each one to the throne of grace and receive mercy and grace in our time of need. "For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:15-16).
We praise You, Jesus, for being able to sympathize with us because You experienced the same emotions we have. We praise You for showing us how to take each one to the throne of grace. You are our merciful and faithful high priest who calls us to believe in God with each emotion we experience. Thank You for shedding tears. Thank You that You are the resurrection and the life.
To read a another devotional from this passage click here.
Verna McCrillis, 12/13/2010