Acquainted with Grief

During His time on Earth, Jesus experienced the full gamut of human emotion. He felt joy. He felt sorrow. And He felt anger. Yes, Jesus got angry.

He made a whip and drove the moneychangers out of the temple in Jerusalem. And He also was angry after Lazarus died. John’s gospel tells us, “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” (11:33 NLT).

Was Jesus angry with Mary or her sister, Martha? No.

Was He angry with the people who were with Mary and Martha? No.

Jesus was angry with death itself. He was angry that this had to happen.

Not only was Jesus angry, but we see another emotion of His in this passage. John tells us, “Then Jesus wept. The people who were standing nearby said, ‘See how much he loved him!’” (verses 35–36 NLT). Death breaks God’s heart just as it breaks our hearts.

This serves as a reminder that Jesus weeps with us in our times of pain. Does that surprise you? We might think that God is indifferent, that He’s disconnected, and that He doesn’t really care. But Jesus was and is God. Jesus was God walking among us as a man. So if you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus.

When we’re in pain, He feels that pain as well. Jesus, according to Isaiah 53, “was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief” (verse 3 NLT).

Jesus bore your sins, but He also carried your sorrows. So if it hurts you, it affects Him. If it causes you pain, He cares.

Jesus wept. That says a lot about how He looks at us and cares about us.

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