John 11:17-37

 John 11:17-37

We have painted Jesus in colors that are soft pastels that have only a soothing effect.  We have misunderstood Jesus’ meekness, assumed it was passiveness, we made Him into a stoic that never experienced the full range of emotion.  We have tried to cut out of Him His passion. That picture of manbe pamby Jesus is only possible if we do not look too closely at Him. In our passage Jesus has come to the funeral of Lazarus. Here Jesus sees firsthand the misery of those who are mourning Lazarus‘s death. He hears the heartbroken accusations of Mary and Martha directed toward Him. He saw Mary weeping and Jews who came with her also weeping. That English word weeping is far too mild. This is literally the wailing of despair and gut wrenching misery. This was loud and messy and highly emotional.

What was Jesus’s reaction to this display? He was “deeply moved in spirit and was troubled” v 33. And in verse 35 Jesus joined in the wailing. The last phrase in verse 36 is difficult to put into English. Our language fails to express the depth of hurt and anger of this phrase. Jesus was angry. He was not miffed, He was not put out or aggravated. He was to His core furious and wrath filled. The grammar indicates that He was stirring up the emotions in Himself. When someone is angry and upset we often say “calm down”. What Jesus was doing was not calming Himself down He was troubling Himself.

What was causing this escalating emotional reaction of Jesus? Some have said it was His reaction to the lack of faith He saw. That is bogus, Jesus was never angry with the victim of sin. Jesus witnessed the full manifestation and expression of Satan’s kingdom, and He was furious. When we see the manifestation of Satan’s kingdom the hurt, the pain, the sorrow, the living death we ought to be angry. Not at the victim but at the manifestation. Passive indifference is not patients, it is apathy. When we see the manifestation of Satan’s kingdom perhaps in the prostitute, the addict, the homosexual offender.  These moments we ought to have anger. Not at these people but at the chains of their bondage. It ought to make us angry enough to be part of God’s plan for their liberation.

“Lord, grant me a holy fury as the evil of the kingdom of darkness and motivate me to declare Your freedom to those in bondage.  AMEN”