Jesus Is Deeply Moved

"Jesus Is Deeply Moved" – John 11:32-36 Mary falls at the feet of Jesus with a complaint: “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” And Jesus, seeing her weep, was deeply moved in spirit, was troubled, and wept — so much that those watching said, “see how He loved him”. That weeping is evidence of His true humanity, and that pain is what produces the action of the miracle. The study shows how dangerous it is to question what is holy, and then traces divine compassion through Scripture: Psalm 78:39, where God remembered that we were but flesh; Psalm 103:13, where He has compassion like a father on the weak, the disobedient and the unruly; Isaiah 63:9, where in all their affliction He was afflicted; Lamentations 3:33, for He does not afflict willingly; and Hebrews 4:15, where the high priest was tempted in all things, yet without sin.

I. Mary's question.

A. “If You had been here, my brother would not have died”: in her pain, she complains.

1. We mortals dare to question dangerously what is holy.

2. We speak from impulse, from what we believe and claim, not from what is right.

3. The miracle was right there: Jesus was going to raise him, but she did not know.

B. We must learn from life, not analyze it.

1. A meek spirit sustains the righteous; the meek person is not foolish.

2. When we grow angry and protest, we destroy ourselves.

C. This back must be bent.

1. When the back bends, the head bends, and the thoughts bend with it.

2. Eye to eye is pride and it is defiance.

II. Jesus was deeply moved and troubled.

A. Coming to earth, He refused to use all that He knew.

1. He said: I will give My life for them, whether they convert or not, love Me or not.

B. The pain of Mary and her friends shook Him, and as God He was moved.

1. The more we weep before Him, the more He is moved and troubled.

2. And then He listens, sees the affliction, and works the miracle.

3. We, by contrast, carry complaint and lament in our mouths.

C. That pain produces an action in His heart, and that action is a miracle.

1. If everything were stopped, what would become of the miracles? We would not live them.

2. I provoke the action of God. How? By faith; there is no other way.

III. The humanity of the Son.

A. Whenever the dead were brought to Him, He raised them: raising was nothing to Him.

1. With Adam's sin, death entered the earth.

2. Be careful whom you speak with: our deeds cause circumstances.

B. “Jesus wept”: it is evidence of His true humanity.

1. It is not improper for believers to weep when their loved ones are taken.

2. “See how He loved him”: the Jews saw a great love in those tears.

3. He came as a man and gave His life as a man.

C. We see in the Lord a great divine sensitivity toward human frailty.

1. The one thing Jesus likes is that you tell Him things.

2. To God the greatest thing is our voice: He knows each one's voice.

3. It is up to us to learn prayer.

IV. He remembered that they were but flesh (Psalm 78:39).

A. Despite all the proofs of His love, their hearts were still unfaithful.

1. Like every human being, nothing God did satisfied them.

2. They tired of the manna and asked for birds: it was always a complaint.

B. We live in constant complaint, as victims.

1. And we are washed in His blood, our names written, with a house in heaven.

2. Complaining is easier; people love to complain.

3. Each one will write his own story: who is Jesus in us?

V. The people chose to be inconstant.

A. Rebelling against God is easy; obeying is no easy thing.

1. When the shoulder rises, only the hard trial ahead brings it down.

2. We think we are adults and we are still children.

B. The Lord showed and still shows tremendous patience.

1. He did so with every prophet, and each book marked its times; these are ours.

2. The reason for everything is that we do not pray: we do not bend the knee.

3. Being constant is what makes you a victor.

C. Since our conversion we have seen miracle upon miracle.

1. We are not used to seeing God come out in our favor every single day.

2. We are the ones with closed eyes, looking only at ourselves.

3. We do not overcome: the One with us conquered the cross and conquers all.

VI. As a father has compassion on his children (Psalm 103:13).

A. He has compassion on those weak in knowledge, and He instructs them.

1. Knowledge instructs, teaches and equips.

B. He has compassion on the disobedient and on the unruly.

1. The unruly lacks docility, and God is patient with him.

2. He pities the sick and comforts them; when they fall, He raises them again.

3. When He is wronged, God Himself repairs it and sends the Holy Spirit.

C. “The Lord has compassion on those who fear Him”: that fear is respect for God.

1. It leads us to submit and to bend the back.

2. A mother teaches her children what she herself has not yet bent: it is a long chain.

3. To be penitent is the sorrow and repentance over a wrong action.

VII. In all their affliction He was afflicted (Isaiah 63:9).

A. The people were going captive to Babylon, and in all their affliction God was with them.

1. God Himself shares in the sufferings of His people.

2. If I am sad, the Lord is sad beside me; if I am glad, He is glad.

B. “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”

1. Saul was persecuting the disciples, and Jesus felt it as done to Himself.

2. Whoever would harm you harms Jesus; and He comes out to defend you.

VIII. He does not afflict willingly (Lamentations 3:33).

A. So far is God from afflicting for pleasure, that He is afflicted in their afflictions.

1. He enters our afflictions to give us comfort and encouragement.

2. Like good parents, who feel ill when their child is ill.

IX. Tempted in all things, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15).

A. No one truly sympathizes with another unless he has been through something similar.

1. The Lord did share our experiences and understands the trials we pass through.

2. Because He lived on earth and passed through as a man, He joins us in them.

B. But these are trials: not sins, and not lukewarmness.

1. He cannot sympathize with our wrong actions, because He never committed any.

2. Each one pays for his own wrong actions, in pain and in loneliness.

C. In every pain that tears the heart, the man of sorrows has a share.

1. Satan came to tempt Him and wasted his time, for He is the Deity without sin.

2. His body was destroyed, He felt alone, and one of His own sold Him.

3. To know Jesus one must die to oneself, and that costs.