The emotional upset of Jesus
There is an account of Jesus raising his friend Lazarus from the dead in the Bible. It is found in the book of John, chapter 11. In this account, scripture records that before miraculously raising Lazarus from the dead, Jesus weeps, groans, and was troubled in spirit.
John 11:33- When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he
groaned in the spirit, and was troubled
John 11:35- Jesus wept.
John 11:38a- Jesus therefore again groaning in himself…
Jesus’ groan as defined in Strong’s lexicon comes from a verb which means to snort with anger. It means to straightly charge, murmur against. The groaning has a sense of chagrin, which indicates annoyance and exasperation at having failed or being humiliated. Jesus was also troubled, which emphasizes he was agitated, had inward commotion, disturbed and disquieted. Add the fact that this situation also caused him to weep and you get a picture that Jesus was having an intense emotional reaction to what was surrounding him.
What was surrounding him? Unbelief. And lots of it. I could be wrong; but my personal sense of this account was that all the unbelief surrounding him was deeply hurtful and distressing to Jesus.
In this account, close friends and a familiar crowd were telling him, “if only you had been here…” and “Come and see the place where Lazarus is buried Lord…” People were murmuring, “Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying?” They were weeping, mourning, blaming, giving lip service, and taunting.
I can’t help but wonder if He thought something along the lines of, “How ironic, they are inviting me to ‘Come and see’ when this was my first invitation to them. They want me to come and see Lazarus is dead; yet for years I’ve continually invited them to come and see I am the resurrection and the life.”
Yes, I am taking creative license, but it’s what I think he was feeling. Indeed, one of the very first things Jesus said at the beginning of his ministry was, “Come, and you will see (John 1:33).”
Everything Jesus said and did from beginning to the end of his walk on earth was an invitation to “come and see”. Come and see a new life saving path to God; come and see through the signs and wonders that I am from above and have been sent to you by my Heavenly Father; come and see who God really is by getting to know Me; come and have intimate fellowship and friendship with God; come and see that all power has been given to Me by the Father; come and see that through belief in Me, even after life on earth, you will not die; but live forever. Come and see that I am giving my life so that you can live.
How bittersweet of them to return all He had revealed about himself using those same words of “Come and see”, yet with a distinct tone of unbelief. Read the whole account and see if you can sense his internal distress building- John 11:1-44.
What Jesus Christ said to Martha when he arrived into town to raise Lazarus, is still the same thing He is saying and asking today-
John 11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
Thank God, He does not leave us in our unbelief. Thank God, Jesus Christ is patient and gracious and continues to bid us… “Come”.
He did not walk away from those He loved despite their unbelief. Yes He was upset; but He didn’t forsake them. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. Many believed when they saw Lazarus come out of the grave with his hands and feet bound.
In your prayer time, my challenge to you would be to meditate on God’s emotions in John 11. Take your attention off of your emotion and circumstances and connect with the groans and distress of God. It is not for the purpose of condemnation, but for the purpose of making a deeper emotional connection to Jesus. Connect with his disappointment and the lengths He had gone in order to reveal His power, authority, and redemptive love. Connect with that fact He did not go to the cross surrounded by a mass of converts, it was a lonely and distressing walk. Beyond the obvious physical torture, this walk also caused Him emotional sorrow to the point of death- Mark 14:34.
Can you relate? Has He allowed a circumstance in your life where you have emotionally invested in someone, something, only to be rejected or betrayed? Have you given a effort, time, attention, commitment, words, and actions only to be rejected? If so, you have a circumstance in which to relate even more closely with the Savior of the world.
In your prayer time may you have fresh revelation of our God who loves intensely, passionately, vulnerably, bravely, openly. Our God weeps. Our God groans. Our God continues to forcefully lay hold of you in continual intercession. When you don’t know what to pray, the Spirit of Jesus promises to pray for you- Romans 8:26-27. By faith, ask Him to pray for you.
In your prayer time, be like Jesus. Be vulnerable, be open, be brave. Tell Jesus where you are struggling. Ask Him, He loves you and will help you. Give him your unbelief and ask for healing in your soul.
Hebrews 7:24 but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. 25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. 26 Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens.
