Our Passage for Meditation is part of the famous story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead that starts all the way back in v1 of ch11. At the start of the chapter, Mary and Martha (the sisters of Lazarus) send for Jesus to come heal their sick brother. Jesus decided to stay where he was for two days before heading to Bethany to “wake Lazarus up” (by which he meant raise him from the dead). When the disciples were concerned about Jesus traveling so close to Jerusalem (2 miles from Bethany) and when the disciples were confused by Jesus’ comments about Lazarus being asleep, Jesus plainly said, “Lazarus has died. And for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe” (v17). After the 2-day delay, Jesus headed to Bethany. Upon hearing the news of his imminent arrival, Martha went to meet Jesus outside the village. In v21, Martha said to Jesus, “Lord if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Then Jesus and Martha had a theological conversation (vs21-27) wherein Jesus, very famously said, “I am the resurrection and the life.” (Jesus was referencing this conversation when he said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”) After her conversation with Jesus (and her declaration of faith in him as the Christ), Martha went and told Mary that Jesus was outside the village and calling for her. In the verse just before our Passage for Meditation, Mary says to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Even though Mary’s words were identical to Martha, Jesus’ response was drastically different. When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, Jesus “got emotional” and wanted to get to the tomb and raise Lazarus as quickly as possible. The reader is told in v5 that Jesus loved Martha, her sister (Mary) and Lazarus. Fascinatingly, the most loving thing for Jesus to do with Martha was teach her about eternal life. (There is no mention of Martha weeping in the text.) But the most loving thing for Jesus to do with Mary was weep with her and bring her brother back to life (as a sign of resurrection life.)

John 11 is a fascinating text when considering Jesus’ humanity and his emotional experience of life. As mentioned, he was “glad” (happy) he was not present when Lazarus died because of the opportunity it presented to his disciples (to witness his resurrection power). While Mary and Martha were anxious and sad (at the illness of Lazarus), Jesus was happy. But, as soon as Jesus saw Mary grieving, he began to grieve. Deeply moved in his spirit (v33, 38) refers to a strong emotion and can mean sadness and/or anger, depending on the context. Troubled points to a less than desirable emotion that persists and usually includes sadness. Jesus’ emotions did not shift from happiness to sadness/anger because he regretted his decision to let Lazarus die. His emotions, in each situation, were appropriate and most loving for the people he was with in each situation.
(For more on the “Stewarding” of our Emotions in the life of love, visit this link: www.seeingjesustogether.com/stewarding-emotions.)