There’s a scripture – the shortest – only 2 words: “Jesus wept.” (John 11:35) that always arrests me. Why was my Lord crying? Do you know why you think He was crying? Loss of his friend, grief for his friends’ loss, upcoming death… are typically the reasons given. There’s a good discussion by Christina Patterson at (https://www.ibelieve.com/faith/jesus-wept-3-reasons-the-savior-was-weeping.html) as to why Jesus is crying.
There are those who would contend that it was in seeing Mary and Martha grief over the death of their brother, Lazarus. A different rationale is that Jesus was grieved over the lack of faith of the 2 sisters. Another view is that Jesus was grieving over His own upcoming death. The last reason that I’ve read is that Jesus was grieving over the city of Jerusalem and what was happening in the lives of the Jews. All… some… or none may be the answer. My point is that this shows the depth of emotion Jesus expressed – He wept. It brings home the thought expressed in Hebrews 4:15, AMP
“For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize and understand our weaknesses and temptations, but One who has been tempted (knowing exactly how it feels to be human) in every respect as we are, …”
If He knows our weaknesses and temptations, He knows sorrow and joy and all the emotions we experience – the highs and the lows. Yet, He doesn’t allow them to control His words and behavior. We don’t need to either – experience them, yes but inflict the effects on others, no. Our feelings, emotions refine who we are and the extent to which we share them, the expression. All of this is important… what we need to remember is to not allow them to control. Yes, easier said than done.
So what/who do we have to turn to in these times? Emotions have to be expressed, but how do we do this without causing others to be negatively impacted? We all know that bottling them up will only cause an overreaction later on and sometimes on someone who has no idea what they did to cause us to explode. Obviously, though not always immediately considered, is to turn to the Lord. He knows. He understands. He expressed them. When we take the time to turn to the Lord and listen to Him, we do experience a comforting because someone has understood… maybe that’s all we were ever seeking? Too simplistic? It depend. Expression? Resolution? Comfort? Yes.
