What Would Jesus Say About Our Emotions?
In many ways, the 21st century could be described as the “emotional” century. While history has always been defined by emotional choices impacting world events, the 21st century has been one of the first moments in history where the common man’s emotions mattered. Allowing emotions to be felt and identified in childhood, making decisions where you take your emotions into account knowingly, and even destigmatizing therapy for all have been by-products of the normalization of emotions in this new millennium.
For some, this is a welcome improvement that has allowed us to feel comfortable with tangibly expressing our emotionality, without fear of repercussions. For others, it's deemed a “setback” that has caused us to disregard logic-driven decision-making and instead allow emotions to negatively drive us.
But what would Jesus say about our emotional age? Is emotional thinking new? How can a word that isn’t used in scripture influence Christians today?
Firstly, while the word “emotion” is not in scripture, emotional language is conveyed throughout the Bible; not just to denote human experience, but to reflect God and his character, as well.
God, himself, experiences the emotions of:
Love (Jeremiah 31:3)
Compassion (Isaiah 63:9)
Anger (Psalm 7:11)
Wrath (Zephaniah 1:15)
Grief (Genesis 6:5-8)
Regret (1 Samuel 15:11)
Sorrow (Psalm 56:8)
Jealousy (Exodus 20:5)
Joy (Zephaniah 3:17)
Delight (Deuteronomy 28:63)
Jesus also experiences the emotions of:
Compassion (Matthew 9:36)
Anger, indignance and zeal (John 2:13-22)
Troubled and greatly distressed (John 12:27)
Sorrowful & grieving (John 11:33)
He sighed (Mark 7:34)
He wept (John 11:35)
He was in agony (Luke 22:39-46)
He was surprised and amazed (Matthew 8:10)
He rejoiced greatly and was full of joy (Luke 10:21)
He greatly desired (Luke 22:15-18)
He loved (John 13:1)
Jesus, who took on flesh and experienced the fullness of humanity while also being fully God, experienced the breadth of human emotion, as well. We have a saviour who understands what it was like to be human. We have a Lord who experienced emotion and did not avoid emotion; as humans made in the image of God, emotions are a part of our DNA and makeup. To avoid, suppress or minimize our emotions is to deny something that God called good.
Three specific and similar stories in the gospels come to mind when considering Jesus’ response to ethe motions of others. Each had to do with Mary of Bethany. In Luke 10:38-42, Martha chastices Mary to Jesus for not helping her with the practical tasks of the day, and instead listening to Jesus at his feet. Jesus responds, saying, telling Martha to lay her worries aside and that “Mary chose the better portion” (Luke 10:42). In John 11, after the death of their brother, Lazarus, Mary then chastises Jesus for not being their sooner to save her and Martha’s brother (John 11:32). Jesus’ response is to weep and feel his emotions about Lazarus’ death (John 11:33-36)…before saving him post-mortem (John 11:43-44). Finally, in John 12:1-8, Judas chastises Mary for her passion in anointing Jesus with nard, an expensive perfume of the time. Jesus commends Mary’s passion and condemns Judas, allowing “logic” to overtake the moment (John 12:7-8).
Now, is Jesus saying here that we are to allow emotion to rule us and become our master? By no means! Instead, Jesus is pointing us towards the Christlike way. Instead of letting our emotions rule us, or allowing us to hold our emotions captive, the Christlike way to view emotion is to see it as a sign or an indicator that informs our next actions. When Jesus wept, it was not because he thought all hope was lost for Lazarus, but because he felt the pain of those close to him and showed compassion and empathy, before performing the miracle. When Jesus flipped tables in anger in the temple, it wasn’t because he was “out of control”, but because he was retaking ownership of the temple after its corruption had hurt the marginalized. Jesus was embodying God’s justice and executing it himself. When Jesus marvels at the faith of others, it’s not because he is trying to put on a show of joy, but because he feels genuine amazement at the work God has done in another and is punctuated by Jesus modelling the Father’s love to others. Each of these passages show Jesus feeling an emotion, recognizing it and allowing it to inform his actions in a godly, sinless way.
So then what? What does this mean for the Christian? Firstly, we are not God, and so we need to strive to pursue holiness and Christlikeness and as sinners, notice when the actions connected to our emotions are influenced by sin and not by Christ. Do our beliefs reflect Christ? Do our thoughts reflect Christ? Do our actions reflect Christ? Secondly, we should also grow to notice how our emotions can also be signals from God-am I feeling righteous anger about injustice that grieves God or is it against my ego? Am I noticing more delight and joy when in the company of other believers or is my joy in fruitless things? Am I grieved over sin or ignorant to it? Am I feeling love and compassion for someone who may think differently from me or am I treating them as an enemy? Am I allowing sinful attitudes to overtake godly emotion or am I using the emotions God gave us to drive me to godly action?
Emotion is not of the devil; it’s not only of Christ, but also of God. Allowing sin to obfuscate our emotions is of the devil and where we have to stand on guard. Emotions are another way for us to reflect Christ and be more like Him; in an emotional age, let’s use our emotions as gospel displayers and not gospel repellers.
