sad and mad

Opening Prayer:  Lord Jesus, help us to know how you really feel about the pain and sorrow in our lives.  Help us to have the strength and the grace and the courage to bring that pain and sadness and sorrow to you, so that you can heal us and make us whole once again, the way we were intended to be.  Amen.

Scripture: John 11:1-44

Journal:  What do you do with your pain and sorrow?  How do you think God feels about it?  Where and how does God show up in the midst of it?  What does that tell you about what you really believe about God?

Reflection:  It is impossible to read this story in the original language and not come to the conclusion that Jesus was both sad and mad about the passing of his dear friend Lazarus.  And why not?  After all, Jesus “loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.”  But the words used to describe these emotions are telling.  In fact, we are told that Jesus not only wept (dakryō, in the Greek), but that he was also deeply moved (embrimaomai) in spirit and troubled (tarassō).  Dakryō means pretty much what you would expect, to shed tears, which, although there are many kinds of tears, would seem to describe his sadness.  His heart was broken for his friends.  He felt their pain and loss deeply.  But then embrimaomai comes along and introduces another element.  Jesus was also mad.  It literally means to snort with anger.  It is the word used to describe the noise a horse makes when it is agitated, which is where tarassō comes in.  Tarassō means to agitate or trouble.  So Jesus was not only heartbroken, but he was also angry.  The question then becomes: What was Jesus sad about, and what (or who) was he angry at?  How we answer those two questions will tell us a whole lot about how we really see God.

The sadness of Jesus would appear to be self-explanatory.  Or is it?  After all, Jesus knew what he was going to do.  He knew how this whole thing would end, so why would he be sad?  Was he sad that death and dying had such a stronghold on the world?  Was he sad that he was going to have to call Lazarus back from Paradise and into this dark and broken world?  Or was he sad simply because he saw those around him in pain?  To some degree, it was probably all of the above, but I think the thing that brought Jesus to tears was seeing the pain and sorrow and brokenness of those he dearly loved.  Simply put, our pain breaks God’s heart.  And Jesus came to show us that.  The question is, do we really believe that it’s true?  Do you believe that God is heartbroken over your sadness and sorrow?  Well, he is.

But what about the anger?  What (or who) was Jesus mad at?  Was Jesus mad, as some have proposed, at the lack of faith shown by Martha and Mary?  Of course not!  It is simply not consistent with who Jesus is.  He does not get mad at those he loves for grieving and mourning the loss of loved ones.  Well then, what was it that made Jesus snort with anger?  It was the fact that it didn’t have to be this way.  It was the fact that this was not the way the world was intended to be.  Jesus was mad that we have to deal with pain and death and suffering and sadness and grief and loss in the first place.  And I don’t know about you, but I want a God like that.  I want a God who gets mad at suffering and pain.  I want a God who gets mad at racial injustice and sexual exploitation and sickness and disease.  I want a God who gets upset and agitated that this world is not at all like it was intended to be, and one who will one day make everything right once again.

We live in a culture that tries to ignore, or even eliminate, the parts of God that make them uncomfortable, or seem unpleasant.  We live in a culture that, if they believe in God in the first place, believes in a God who does not get angry.  But the truth is that God gets both sad and mad.  And I, for one, am grateful. 

Prayer

Closing Prayer:  Jesus, thank you for your tears and thank you for your groans.  Thank you that you care about our pain and want us to find you in the midst of it.  Come, Lord Jesus, and give us your shalom.  Amen.