Jesus’ Greatest Hits: Tears of Anger?

‘Jesus’ Greatest Hits’ is a series about the life of Jesus. Some people think these stories are fictional. I say that the stories are too profound, too counterintuitive and too incisive to have been made up by a first century mind. Each week I will discuss one such story or saying of Jesus that I believe point to the supernatural aspect of the life of Jesus Christ.

In this week’s edition of Jesus’ Greatest Hits we will be exploring a famous section of the Bible, where it describes Jesus raising his friend Lazarus from the dead.  Obviously the skeptic will immediately take issue with story’s truthfulness itself, seeing that it is one of the biggest miracles performed by the man Jesus, but I don’t intend to defend that part of the story here.   Instead I want to look at a subtler part of the story.   This section makes the narrative convincing to me.   I don’t see why someone, if they were inventing a god, would invent him this way.   Jesus is so counterintuitive in so many ways, I cannot reconcile Him being the product of a man. 

Allow me to set the scene:

Jesus gets word that his friend Lazarus is deathly ill.  Instead of dropping everything and going to him, Jesus stays put with his disciples for a couple of days.   Jesus knows that Lazarus has died, and tells his disciples.  Then when they finally go to the town where Lazarus lived, they find out that he has been dead for four days.   It says, "When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. ³⁴ And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” ³⁵ Jesus wept.” – John 11

It is easy to just gloss over these verses.  But just take a moment and reflect on this scene.

Jesus sees Mary in deep agony.  She just lost her brother.  Think about what it would be like to lose yours, or maybe some of you have.  She is hurting bad.   The English Standard Version translation that I took this excerpt from says that Jesus was “deeply moved in his spirit” and “greatly troubled”.    I looked into what these phrases mean.   

This “deeply moved” thing that Jesus was experiencing wasn’t a slight grief, or a pity, or a sigh of compassion or a “there, there Mary” kind of thing.   In the Greek it is a much stronger word meaning that he was powerfully checking his emotional state.   He probably made a visible effort to choke back the tears that were about to pour from his eyes.  Have you ever seen a man do this?  Have you ever seen a man make that initial but hopeless effort to hold back tears that are suddenly and powerfully welling up from deep inside?  This is what Jesus was doing when it describes him being “deeply moved in his spirit”.  

There is something else going on here.   There is also another connotation to this phrase, “deeply moved”.  There is a connotation of anger.  In fact, some translations will add that “a deep anger welled up within him” (New Living Translation)  I think that Jesus’ emotional state here was two-fold, obviously the deep hurt at Mary’s pain, but also an anger at the situation.   Remember, this is the Eternal Creator of the Universe.   He is angry at death.  He is not okay with it.  Not even a little bit.   Frankly, it pisses him off.  He knows it doesn’t have to be this way.  He knows that we could’ve chosen life and we blew it.  This is the righteous anger of Jesus.  It’s deep, it’s emotional, and I think he feels it now when he sees his children in pain.   Jesus says, ”Follow me.  It doesn’t have to be this way.  I can save you from this.”

It also says that Jesus was “greatly troubled” .  The Greek word here for “troubled” means “shaken” or “stirred up”.   He must’ve been very shaken by this incident because the next verse, the shortest verse in the Bible is one of the most profound things ever in a story.  “Jesus wept.”  -John 11:35

I don’t think this was a few tears inconspicuously streaming down the side of his face.   When I think of someone weeping, I think of a loud wailing or sobbing.   Jesus was a man’s man, but this situation took a toll on him emotionally.   Jesus was not Spock.  This passage does not portray a stoic man totally in control of his emotions towards his friends Mary and Martha.   No.  This passage shows that our God loves us in a-- dare I say-- reckless manner.   He loves us despite our rebellion.  He is moved when we suffer.  Deeply.   Even more than that, this passage shows us that he suffers with us.  He knows how you feel.  He’s been there.    Isaiah said that Jesus would be a “man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.”     You can be sure that if you are depressed or in agony or anytime you feel like God is far away, He is right there with you, He is suffering with you, and He has never been closer.

Our God is a God who weeps. 

“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit “  - Psalm  34:18