Jesus wept. Yes, the LORD who created joy itself wept. The definition according to dictionary.com of the term is as such: "to express grief, sorrow, or any overpowering emotion by shedding tears" Jesus himself professed such deep emotions despite knowing the outcome (which was to raise his dead friend back to life). If the one who holds the world in the palm of his hand, who knows the distance between the east to the west can openly express his hurt (even knowing it was all going to be ok in the end), why do we tend to put such shame on ourselves for feeling our own hurt and expressing it appropriately? If Jesus could openly weep for what made him sad, and still be the epitome of joy itself, then we must think of our own interpretations of joy and how we apply it to our lives, and compare it to the example of Jesus (who was the perfected model of humanity).
As I have written about in previous articles, joy is not the lack of sadness or the appearance of constant happiness, but rather, joy is the understanding of God's love for us and intentionality therefore. As we have seen from the example of Jesus, He knew that Lazarus would be raised back to life shortly after, and yet he still wept over the loss and the hurt surrounding it.
Oftentimes throughout life we will face loss, or other factors affecting our happiness. But just because we feel sad, or hurt, that does not take away the joy that we have. As long as we hold fast to the God who is in control of the wind and everything it touches, we know that no matter what happens on this side of eternity, we have a hope that is to come.
Now, all that being said, how do we handle our hurt when it happens? While it is appropriate to feel our pain over loss and other effects of sin in the world and in our lives, there is also something to say for how we live once we have addressed those feelings.
“Jesus wept” is what it says in John 11:35, but what do the following verses say about Jesus’ reaction?
The following verses, (11:38-44) tells us just what he did. He prayed. He immediately gave thanks to God, and put the situation in God’s hands, and trusted what came next to bring glory to the Father. This paints us an example of how to react when we go through trials, and even an example of active joy.
Oftentimes we come to hardships in life, and we aren’t sure how to handle it. The world has fed us a narrative of “if we are true Christians we will handle whatever comes with a smile and never be sad” but Jesus (the perfect embodiment of what human nature was meant to be) gave us such a gentle reminder that emotions (though corrupted by the influence of sin) were created for a reason. Our sadness does not separate us from the LORD, but especially in a sin tainted world, it brings us nearer to the heart of God, and points to His glory if we use it right.
I think it’s so encouraging to know that when I am sad, or feeling any other emotions that I can trust that God is working all things together for my good (Romans 8:28) and His glory, and that doesn’t mean that I have to suppress those feelings, but rather acknowledging that God gave them to me for a reason.
Hebrews 4:15-16 tells us that we have safety in the presence of God, and are therefore able to look at the example of Jesus because he understands our pain and painted an example on how to properly handle it in our own lives.
Looking at the example of Jesus gives us an active example that happiness does not equate joy by reminding us that despite the sadness, God is still glorified. Now, that's a lot easier said than done, so in the coming articles, we will continue to focus on what it looks like to apply that to our lives.