When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. (John 11:33) Scripture informs us that Jesus, being fully human, shared in all our human experiences (Hebrews 4:15), including feeling the whole range of human emotions. Though Jesus felt all that we feel, the emotion the Gospel writers most frequently ascribe to Jesus is troubled (Matthew 26:37; Mark 14:33; John 11:33; 12:27;…
At the start of his letter to the tribes scattered throughout the Roman Empire, James writes, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (1:2-4). If we are honest, we would admit that joy is not our default response when trials…