“Jesus wept” (John 11:35)

There is a growing trend among Christians to frown upon expressions of sadness in other Christians.

They erroneously assert that a believer must always be joyful and cannot express sadness or dismay.

It can be seen that this passage of John, or others such as that of the garden of Gethsemane or the crucifixion of our Lord, are not in their Bibles.

It is like pretending that being a Christian eliminates our capacity to perceive pain, our own or that of others, and makes us insensitive to it.

Or even, they fear that showing sadness or tiredness may bring them multiplied evils.

However, the Bible shows us that Jesus wept in the face of human pain, it shows us that Jesus was hungry or that Jesus was sad “with sorrow to the point of death” (Matthew 26:38).

Jesus never failed to acknowledge his feelings or emotions, but he did not let them rule his life or his decisions.

Neither euphoria was going to drive him nor sadness to slow him down. Even the anger in the Temple did not lead him to assault anyone, but he limited himself to expelling those who should not have been there and overturning the tables of the businesses.

What guided his life was the Word of God, the obedience to the will of God, “…by finishing the work you gave me to do” (John 17:4).

Therefore, one of his last instructions was: “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

Cover photo by Luis Galvez  on Unsplash