…let the godly rejoice.
….Let them be glad in God’s presence.
….Let them be filled with joy. Psalm 68:3 NLT
John 11:17-44 (<<click here to read the passage)
I know that I’m not alone, but anger is one of my biggest struggles – and unfortunately, I can’t always control it. One of the detriments in bottling up my anger is that it can get pretty intense when I do let it go. Anyone who follows my writings knows that it is an issue for me.
All in all, I grapple with anger that has nothing to do with what we would call righteous anger. But most assuredly, righteous anger does legitimately exist.
Let me stop for a moment and recommend a blog post written by Jeffery Curtis Poor, a young pastor and church planter. In researching Jesus’ anger here in John 11, I stumbled upon his writings. The post on Jesus’ anger led me to a post entitled Why Did Jesus Weep? It. Is. Excellent! I seriously considered sharing it here, but it would equal about four of my posts in its entirety. Click on the title and read it. You’ll be glad you did!
Quoting Jeffery Poor (from 6 Times Jesus Got Angry), “We often view anger as an emotion we should avoid – a sin. But our anger isn’t the problem, it’s what we do with our anger that determines if we sin or not.”
And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry… Ephesians 4:26 NLT
I bring this up because in this telling of Lazarus’ death and resurrection, in these short 27 verses of Scripture, it speaks of Jesus’ anger, not once…but twice.
When Jesus saw [Mary] weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled. v33 (emphasis mine)
And then verse 38 states, Jesus was still angry as he arrived at the tomb… (emphasis mine)
So, the question that comes to mind is, why was Jesus angry?
Jeffery Poor goes on to write,
Humanity exists in a broken state, a fallen world. That should come as no surprise, the evidence is everywhere. Kids are starving, people are dying, broken families are the norm, mental health crises abound, war is commonplace, and pain and turmoil exist around every corner. We are not okay.
And Jesus was angry about it.
This is most clearly seen in John 11:35, the shortest verse in the Bible: “Jesus wept.” Jesus was so overcome by the human condition, the death a friend faced, that he wept.
I think in this moment Jesus is reacting to the fallen condition of his people. He is distraught that people he cares for are experiencing pain. He was not overcome with grief over the loss of a friend. Why did Jesus weep? Because he feels empathy for his people.
Jesus feels empathy, but he responds with anger. In John 11:38, Jesus was deeply moved and yelled for Lazarus to come out. Jesus was mad over the human condition…Jesus feels empathy for what we are facing.
You would benefit from reading both of Poor’s posts, but I pray that this little snippet will stir your heart. Jesus was angry because of what we have allowed sin to do in and to our world – and to ourselves. He hurts because we hurt…and most importantly, He cares. Do I? …do you?
Aug 5th, 2021, Thurs, 8:09 pm
