Why Was Jesus Angry?

Wednesday, February 12, 2014            Why Was Jesus Angry?

John  11: 38-46

Why was Jesus angry? In the previous passage John said, 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” (John 11:33). In today’s passage “Jesus was still angry as he arrived at the tomb” (John 11:38). Why? Weren’t Mary and her friends responding appropriately to their circumstances? Yes, their response was well within the cultural norms of their times. I believe Jesus was angry that the cultural norms were still trumping the Kingdom of God he was laboring to establish.

What were Mary and her friends missing? Here is how the Apostle Paul answered that question: “And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14).

Yes, I know Jesus had not died and risen to new life when Lazarus died. Mary and her friends did not have the resurrection of Jesus to help them grasp what Jesus was teaching them about eternal life. Even so, I believe Jesus was troubled that his people still grieved like people who have no hope. Jesus longs for us to grieve as people with hope.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.