Real Emotion

John 11.33: When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled.

John 11.35: Then Jesus wept.

John 11.38: Jesus was still angry as he arrived at the tomb, a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance.

Jesus got mad, cried, and stayed mad... there was no doubt some real emotion going on here. But what was he upset about? It would be conceivable that Jesus would be saddened by Lazarus' death, but why the anger? There is more to the story than Jesus' tears being tears of emotion for a lost loved one...

We have to see that God is pleased by only one thing, faith. And, if that is indeed true, then we can be assured that the lack of faith would be most unpleasing to Him. This is undoubtedly the case here in today's NT reading. Jesus has come into a situation where it appears He desired for there to be dead-raising faith, and yet it was non-existent.

Father, I want to please You - and I know that it will be by no other way than faith - pure and simple.