Jesus Showed His Emotions

This week’s gospel reading at Mass chronicles the amazing miracle when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. This event takes up most of chapter 11 in John’s Gospel. (And once again, I hope the priest or deacon is not tempted to save a couple of minutes by reading the abridged version instead.)

Contained within this reading is the shortest verse in the Bible, verse 35: “Jesus wept.”

We know that Jesus and Lazarus were very close friends. At the beginning of this week’s reading, Lazarus’ sisters sent word to Jesus saying, “Master, the one you love is ill.”

So, it’s understandable that Jesus was emotional and began to weep while standing before Lazarus’ grave. Especially since He didn’t arrive until four days after the funeral.

But wait a minute. Jesus missed the funeral on purpose. When He first heard of Lazarus’ illness, Jesus stayed put for many days before starting the journey to Bethany, Lazarus’ home town.

More importantly, Jesus knew what He was about to do: bring Lazarus back to life. If anything, He should have been laughing instead of weeping. I mean, Jesus knew exactly how this was going to turn out.

And yet, Jesus wept. Why did He weep? Did He weep out of empathy with Lazarus’ sisters, Mary and Martha, who were wracked with grief? Did He weep because He was surrounded by unbelief, surrounded by people who were convinced of death’s finality and who didn’t understand that Jesus’ mission on earth was to change that situation? Did He weep because He was face-to-face with death, the stronghold of Satan, the awful result of sin? (If I had to guess, this would be my choice.)

Whatever the reason for Jesus’ weeping—despite the fact that He knew His dear friend was about to walk out of that tomb and everyone’s grief would turn to joy—His anguish showed that He possessed the full compliment of human emotions.

It’s easy for us to forget that Jesus had human emotions, especially if we’ve ever watched some of the Hollywood portrayals of His life. A classic Gospel movie from 1965 is titled, “The Greatest Story Ever Told.” In this film, actor Max Von Sydow plays Christ, and He is basically a walking and talking mannequin. He shows little emotion while intoning “thee” and “thou” and “verily I say unto you” verses from the King James Bible. Everyone else in the movie is alive and animated and real, while Max is somber and sullen and stiff.

Because Jesus is divine, it’s sometimes hard to appreciate that He was also fully human. He really did laugh, He slept, He got sick, He stubbed his toe, He hit his thumb with a hammer and yelled. This week’s gospel reading makes it clear Jesus was not somber and sullen and stiff. In front of a large crowd, He wept.

The letter to the Hebrews reminds us: “We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.”

God took on human flesh so that we could better relate to Him. The Incarnation is a fabulous gift to the world. The vast gulf between the holy God and sinful mankind finally was bridged by the Incarnation. Jesus is fully God and fully man. 

Please don’t lose sight of the awesome reality of Jesus. He is fully God—“Through Him all things were made”—and at the same time He is fully man—“Jesus wept.” He loves us and cares about us, and He has the power to save us. They don’t call it the “Good News” for nothing.