READING: 2 Chronicles 10-12, John 11:30-57
“He was angry in His spirit and deeply moved.”
John 11:33
“Jesus wept” (John 11:35). Many of us learned the memory verse early in our Christian walk, primarily because it is the shortest verse in the English Bible. We didn’t always know precisely why Jesus wept, but we knew that He did. He cried, some told us, because His friends were hurting at the death of Lazarus. Others said He grieved the effect of sin on human existence – death.
What we typically didn’t memorize, though, was another verse that speaks even more pointedly about Jesus’ emotion at the grave of His friend, Lazarus: “He was angry in His spirit and deeply moved” (John 11:33). Anger seems like a strange emotion when grieving with friends, especially if you are the Son of God who is about to raise the dead in the first place. Perhaps He was angry because Satan’s reign of death still ruled, even though He knew He was on His way to a cross to break that bondage. It’s also possible, though, He may have been angered by the fact that no one seemed to recognize that the One who is the Resurrection stood in their midst. Some understood that resurrection for Lazarus would someday come, but none seemed to expect that Jesus could and would bring Him to life even then. Just as He grieved deeply over Jerusalem’s unwillingness to see Him for who He was, He was righteously angered at His followers grieving the death of Lazarus.
I’m glad we serve a Savior who understands our sorrows and our trials. He empathizes with us, yet always without sin (Heb. 4:15). He is acquainted with our grief (Isa. 53:3). What I wonder today, though, is whether He is ever “angry in His spirit” because I fail to believe and apply what I proclaim – that He is the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25), the One who has already overcome anything I face today. It seems that sometimes it’s easier to tell others how to respond to Jesus than it is to respond properly yourself. When it’s your brother in the tomb, it’s your faith that most gets challenged.
I long today, though, for Jesus to be pleased by my faith and confidence in Him.
ACTION STEPS:
- Consider where your faith in Jesus is most challenged today. Turn that concern over to Jesus.
- Thank Jesus for loving you even when trusting Him in the present is a challenge.
PRAYER: “Jesus, I praise You for being the Resurrection and the Life. Grant me grace to apply this truth today.”
TOMORROW’S READING: 2 Chronicles 13-14, John 12:1-26