deeply moved…to action
Jesus was deeply loved and greatly troubled…don’t miss the greatness of this passage by the simplicity of the word.
deeply moved - divine judgement
greatly troubled - from a place of origin, at his inmost being, the place that gives Jesus life…he was filled to his fullest being with indignation
Genesis states that God saw what He created and it was good and He continued to create, move and act. In this passage we see what happens when God is moved because it is not good…it’s powerful.
Jesus sees His friends and loved ones weep and morn for one that has passed. He is moved to act because the state of things has disrupted Jesus at His core. I don’t think it was simply because Lazarus died. I don’t think it was simply because they were weeping at the death of Lazarus. I don’t think think it was because Jesus was upset at the loss…I think it was all of these things and something deeper.
He has been trying to help them understand life and the resurrection and the way of the Kingdom…but they weren’t fully understanding the message or the implications. I think Jesus saw the heart of humankind and that even with the hope of heaven in our hearts, with the knowledge of what is to come in our minds and with the very presence of the divine in our midst…even still our hearts break, we experience loss at the core of our existence and are moved at the impact of death compared to the value or life and when Jesus saw the complexity of all of this He was moved to the core with divine judgement and indignation because this was not the design and he compelled to act and remind us again why He came and what our futures are in store for.
This word is used in Mark 14:5 as “scolded”, you scold when something you care about is being afrontes. Jesus is afrontes by the impact of death upon those He loved and is moved to take action…an indignation that moves the divine to act and reveal just how deeply God cares for His creation.
Jesus is moved to act by giving life to Lazarus, He is also moved to act by giving His own life for us and in so doing conquering death so that we understand death is not the end and that Jesus has so much more for us to experience.
What I LOVE about this is that He doesn’t dismiss the emotions of the moment but feels the tension and the complexity that comes from the heart of being and experiences the same thing at His core. It’s truly a beautiful moment…I can be assured that in my darkest hour God is moved to His core by a divine justice and indignation because what I am going through was not His design and that the power used to bring Lazarus back to life will be worked out in my life, for my good.
