THE EMOTIONAL JESUS
Palm Sunday
In Our Griefshare group there has been a focus on the caring side of Jesus. It's important that we see the emotional aspect of Jesus. We need to understand that he is not just the Master of the Universe, he's not just the Savior, he's not just the King of kings and Lord of lords; he is also a caring, loving, emotional person. He's not just God-he was also a human.
Today is Palm Sunday. And in Jesus' triumphal entry, and elsewhere, we going to see the emotional side of Jesus. What did it mean then and what does it mean for us today?
1) From cheers to tears.
[Set-up triumphal entry] Luke 19:36-38, "As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road. When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”
We see in Luke’s version it mentions the people laying down their cloaks but Matthew and Mark’s version states there were branches included in this and John 12:13 specifically mentions they were palm branches-hence Palm Sunday. Palm branches were used for festive occasions and to celebrate a victory. Here they did this in recognition of Jesus as the king who would deliver them.
We see in vs. 37 that they were cheering because of all the miracles they had seen. Not that it’s wrong to be joyful about Jesus’ miracles, but there’s a problem if that’s the entire substance of our praise. Yes, we need to praise him for the miraculous ways he works in our lives but not only that. We praise him for his love for us. We praise him for his patience with us. We praise him for his grace and mercy. We should praise him not just for what he’s done but also for who he is.
In vs. 38 they shouted, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord". In the other Gospel accounts, this is preceded by the word, Hosanna. Hosanna means, “save us now”. The irony is that Jesus’ purpose was to save them but not in the way they were hoping for. They were looking for a political salvation. They were looking to Jesus to restore the literal kingdom back to how it was in the days of David and Solomon.
Their desire was understood. They were under Roman rule and they were desperate for the reestablishment of their own kingdom. But they failed to see their true need. They wanted to be politically free but they failed to see their need for spiritual freedom. This reality brought a reaction from Jesus they probably weren't expecting.
Vs. 41-44,"As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”
When Jesus approached the holy city, he may have been thinking of the meaning of, Jerusalem, which is taken from the words- yereh, he shall see, and shalom, peace or prosperity. He wept over his people's blindness to the fact they weren't seeing what would bring them true peace.
They thought their greatest need was for a political deliverance but their greatest need was for a spiritual deliverance. Their turmoil wasn’t brought on by the Romans so much as it was brought on by their sin. If only they looked to Jesus to bring the true peace they needed rather than thinking the external, political peace was the solution to their problems.
Are we looking to external things to solve our problems or are we looking to Jesus? Peace was hidden from their eyes because they were unwilling to look where it would be found.
Luke 13:34, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!”
They weren't willing to do it his way. They were not willing to accept his terms. Jesus could say this today. How he longs to gather the sinner under his wing, but so many are not willing. They don't see their need for spiritual freedom because they don't see themselves as sinfully bound.
And for this, Jesus weeps. He wept over his people's destruction. His prophecy of devastation happened when the city was destroyed in 70 A.D. Interestingly, on coins made after the fall of Jerusalem, Judea is represented by a female sitting and weeping under a palm-tree.
“Because you didn’t recognize the time of God’s coming to you.” They didn't recognize that God in the flesh was living among them. People rejected him because they couldn't handle the truth that he spoke. John 1:11, “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.”
Because they were unwilling to seek the true peace of Christ, there would be no peace for them spiritually or politically. When we are unwilling to seek Christ for the right reasons our lives will be in turmoil. Jesus wept because he knew the destruction that was coming upon his beloved people; all because they refused to accept him for who he was.
He would weep today over those who are perishing because of their refusal to receive him as Savior and Lord. I can see him saying, “How I long to have you embrace me as Savior and Lord but you are unwilling! You don’t get it. You’re using my name and going through the motions but that's not what it's about.
You’re not coming to me for salvation you’re coming to me only when you want something. You want a relationship with me on your terms. But you don’t understand; that won’t satisfy you. That won’t bring you peace. Release your narrow-minded ideals and embrace the real me; the only one who can give you rest for your souls.
I weep because I’ve been trying but you won’t listen. You’re in denial; you’re praising and shouting but you’re going to end up crying and wailing. I’m trying to warn you but you don’t believe me; you’re oblivious that you’re on the path to destruction.”
“I encountered a man on the Road of life, so sure of himself – so convinced he was right. He had his religion, but he didn’t know God, and though he had eyes, I thought it rather odd: He only could see what he wanted to see. So blind to the truth that could set his soul free; the man charged ahead–unaware he was lost, until he encountered a Man on a cross.
At a fork in the road where the path became two; the man who’d always been so sure, now had to choose. Between broad and narrow, between left and right, between things he could see, and things not in sight. And I’m sure that the man would have gone the wrong way, had he not encountered the Savior that day. But love rescued him! Truth set him free! Grace opened his eyes–now he could see.”
Jesus wept because his people were blind to their impending destruction. Jesus weeps today over those who are just as oblivious. He longs to gather us under his wing; under the protection of his salvation. Is Jesus weeping over you? Will you embrace him as Savior and Lord?
2) Jesus was deeply moved.
[Set-up story. Jesus waited for a few days before heading out. Martha comes out first and meets Jesus, upset over his late arrival, stating that if Jesus had been there Lazarus wouldn't have died. Jesus talks to her about the resurrection. She runs to get her sister, Mary.]
John 11:32-38, "When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you laid him?” he asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied. Jesus wept.
Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance."
Three times in these verses you see evidence of Jesus' caring nature-(deeply moved, wept, once more deeply moved). The phrase deeply moved is used only one other time in the bible; when Joseph saw his brother Benjamin after all those years apart. It says he hurried away and went to a private room to weep.
Jesus cares when our loved ones are sick or in pain. He cares when someone we care about dies. We think he doesn’t care because he didn’t heal them or spare them from death. I'm sure Mary and Martha were wondering whether or not Jesus really cared. They were reminded not only that he cared but how much he cared by his actions.
They had probably never seen Jesus weep before; the gospels don't record it happening before this. I wonder what it did for them to see Jesus emotional like this? What does it communicate to us when we see someone weep? It shows how important something is to them.
Seeing Jesus weep would change Mary and Martha's view of him; their perception of Jesus took on a whole new meaning. Where just a little while ago they were upset with him, now they would be closer to him than ever before.
And if you read on in the story you'll see that Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. Mary and Martha understood why Jesus had not shown up when their brother was sick. It was God’s will to perform a more substantial miracle than healing the sick-he wanted to show that he could raise the dead. God wanted to show people that Jesus is the resurrection and the life. When we think Jesus doesn’t care we need to remember that we don’t have a full understanding of what’s going on.
But one might wonder, Jesus knew he was going to raise Lazarus from the dead so why did he weep? Why was he so deeply moved when he knew the situation was about to get better? Doesn't this show the level of love and compassion he felt about Lazarus and his sisters? Even though Jesus knew this would end joyously, in the moment when Jesus saw the pain of the people he cared deeply for, he was overcome with emotion. What a depiction of Jesus. How could you not be drawn to such a loving Savior as this?
3) A cry from the cross.
Matt. 27:45-46, "From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”—which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
This darkness occurred between noon and 3:00. Some have thought it was caused by a solar eclipse but that wasn't the case. This was during Passover which was celebrated only during the full moon and you can't have a solar eclipse during a full moon. The sun was eclipsed but not by the moon. This was a supernatural event.
This darkness represented Jesus bearing the sin of mankind. In Luke 22:53 Jesus told those who arrested him, "this is your hour-when darkness reigns". This also represented the darkness that consumed people's hearts. Jesus was light but people wouldn't come out of the darkness and into the light. Romans 1 talks about mankind knowing God but not glorifying him because their foolish hearts are darkened.
So, after three long hours of total darkness, Jesus cries out in distress. His cry must've pierced the darkness like a sword. When you're in the dark your other senses are heightened. So when a loud noise breaks through it makes you jump.
Jesus didn't say this because he didn't know why he was being forsaken. He knew this moment was coming but he didn't know how taking on the sins of the world was going to feel. This was a major part of his agony in Gethsemane.
Mark 14:33-34, "He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.”
Jesus was severely distraught over what he was about to endure. His sorrow was not just surface emotion; it went deep into his soul. In the Greek, it explains that Jesus had 'exceeding sorrow such as to cause one's death'. Can you imagine being this distraught?
When Jesus prayed in the garden he experienced hematridosis, the mingling of sweat and blood. This is only seen in cases of intense agony. Jesus was in extreme anguish over what he was about to endure; not so much physically-but spiritually. Not that he downplayed his physical torture, but the greater issue was having to become spiritually separated from his Father.
It's quite possible he was struggling with fulfilling his assignment. He prayed that the cup of suffering be taken from him. Yet he relinquished himself to the Father's will. Some believe that this was the 'opportune time' that Satan returned and tempted Jesus to withdraw from the mission.
I can see why Satan would've returned now; Jesus would've been at his most vulnerable point. Satan tried to get Jesus to back out in the beginning of his ministry and now he was trying to get him to back out at the end of it. Not that Satan didn't tempt Jesus in between, but it would be at these two times that his temptations would be the strongest.
Have you ever resisted strong temptations? Was it draining on you? Imagine the level of resistance Jesus endured? We can understand the deep distress and troubled spirit of Jesus when we factor in everything that was on the line in this crucial moment in history. If Jesus fails, all of mankind is doomed forever. No pressure there, right?
Fast forward to where Jesus is on the cross and he cries out in extreme emotional distress. It's understood that when Jesus yelled this it was the moment he became sin and was separated from the Father. Isa. 59:2 says our sins have separated us from God. In our sin we become eternally separated from God when we die. That's what hell is-the place that is void of anything good.
So, in Jesus paying the penalty for our sins, he became separated from God. The one who was totally good became that which was totally bad. As the light of day was replaced with darkness, the light of Jesus was replaced with darkness. What a contrast. I can't imagine the horror of that moment.
Since God, in his holiness, cannot look upon sin favorably, he had to turn his back on his beloved son. The two who shared the greatest and most intimate union, now suffered the greatest separation. Forsaken means to be abandoned; deserted. The Father deserted the Son; he abandoned him. He left him to suffer-alone.
Two other synonyms for forsaken are isolated and empty. This is what Jesus was feeling-isolated, empty and alone. Imagine the void; imagine the impact this would have on him. You have the separation from the Father along with the heavy burden and spiritual torture of paying for the sins of the world.
It's no wonder why Jesus cried out. He knew why the Father had to forsake him; he knew this moment was coming, but he had no idea what it would really feel like. So, in this excruciatingly painful moment, he made an emotional outburst. Soon afterwards, he died.
The word lament means to mourn or grieve. To lament means to weep and wail. It's a stronger word than just crying. That's what Jesus is doing in the cases we've looked at today. These are deep, heartfelt expressions of pain and anguish. This is our Lord; this is our Savior.
This is the one who knows what pain is; this is the one who can sympathize with your pain. This is the one who wants you to express your grief to him. This is the one who wants to comfort and console you. This is the one who wept over Jerusalem, who wept over the pain of losing his friend Lazarus and the one who cried out from the pain of being separated from his Father when he took on our sins.
We serve a humble Savior who rode in on a donkey. We serve a Savior who loves us deeply and wants so badly to gather us under his wing. Our Lord is not cold and stoic. What a blessing to serve a deeply emotional Jesus.
