Emotions are an important part of my daily life. On the day I wrote this, I experienced joy, dread (I had to do a workout), contentment, excitement, fear, anxiety, love, and impatience. So what about the emotions of Jesus? Since Jesus is truly human (and truly God), He also has truly human emotions, but without sin. The two frequent emotions recorded of Jesus are compassion and anger, both of which are seen together in John 11:33. To set the stage, Jesus is arrived at the home of his good friend Lazarus. But Lazarus has recently died of sickness, and Jesus is met by the grief of the sisters of Lazarus: Martha, then Mary. We read this in John 11:33,
When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled,
‘Deeply moved’ would be equal to anger, while ‘troubled’ would be more connected with love or compassion.
Most frequently in the Bible, Jesus felt compassion. This Greek word is connected with what we know as the intestines; it’s like the feeling of a gut-punch when you see something that is deeply wrong, painful, unjust, or miserable.
Here are all the examples I found in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John of Jesus having compassion. I was especially interested to find out why Jesus felt compassion:
- Matthew 9:36 – Jesus has compassion on the crowds, because they were stressed.
- Matthew 14:14 – Jesus has compassion on the crowds, because they were sick and hurt.
- Matthew 15:32 – Jesus has compassion on the crowds, because they are very hungry and without food.
- Matthew 20:34 – Jesus has compassion on two blind men, touching them to heal them.
- Mark 1:41 – Jesus has compassion on a leper, touching an unclean man to heal him.
- Luke 7:13 – Jesus has compassion on a widow mother, because her son has just died.
In many of these situations, we too would feel compassion. Jesus, being without sin, would feel that compassion with a greater depth. And He still feels that today while He is in heaven, interceding for you.
A second human emotion that Jesus felt and currently feels with depth is anger. But for Jesus, this anger would be perfectly holy and righteous. Jesus never sinned in His anger.
Because He was perfect in compassion, Jesus would respond with perfect anger. If a loving parent feels anger when a child is bullied or falsely accused, then Jesus’ perfect compassion would lead to perfect anger when wrong, injustice, and evil is done to His people.
In each instance of Jesus’ anger, there is an element also of His love and compassion.
- Matthew 18:6 – His anger towards those causing children to sin is because of His compassion for the children.
- Matthew 23:4 – His anger towards the Pharisees is because of His compassion for those they lead astray.
- John 2:15 – His anger at the misuse of the temple is because of His perfect love for God, and His compassion for God’s people to worship God.
So then back to John 11:33. Jesus is deeply troubled, not because people are sad and grieving. But because He sees the bigger picture: sin brings forth death. This enemy sin and death must be defeated. Out of His love and His anger, Jesus will raise Lazarus from the dead. Even more, Jesus will head to the cross to conquer sin and death once and for all!
What is the most impactful part of this study that you want to keep with you this week?
I’m amazed at how full and deep is the love of Jesus for me for each one of us. And that as He continues to have compassion right now in heaven, this moves Him to intercede on our behalf.