Why was Jesus angry? His friend Lazarus had died. Perhaps it was a simple as that. He was upset at the loss of one with whom he had been close. Or maybe it was because Mary and Martha, Larazus’ siblings were upset—not only at the death of their brother, but with Jesus, who didn’t bother to show up to heal their loved one before he passed away from his illness. Or it could be that he was not happy with the people who had gathered to share this family’s grief who likewise had questioned Jesus—and in doing so, had questions if his “love” for this man had been real or if his supposed “powers” to heal the sick were actually real.

Whatever the reason for Jesus’ emotions, he expressed them openly and unreservedly. First he wept (John 11:35) and then he got angry (John 11:39). In fact, the reading of this text indicates that his tears actually flowed out of an inner reservoir of anger over the loss of this special friend.

Author David Seamands writes, “Anger is a divinely implanted emotion. Closely allied to our instinct for right, it is designed to be used for constructive spiritual purposes. The person who cannot feel anger at evil is a person who lacks enthusiasm for good. If you cannot hate wrong, it’s very questionable whether you really love righteousness.”

Jesus loved righteousness—the uninterrupted flow and uncontainable overflow of the Kingdom of God in a person’s life. And when that flow got diverted or dammed up, either by religious systems or satanic harassment, Jesus got angry—good and angry.

Now that may blow your image of Jesus as the “Gentle Shepherd” right out of the water. I hope so! Not to be angry at a time like this would have been so un-God like of Jesus.

To be sure, Jesus loved people, and that love especially came through in his compassion for the poor, widows and orphans, the sick and infirmed, and those who were held captive to sin by Satan. He was a man of love and peace who called people into a lifestyle of love and peace.

But Jesus was no pushover. He had a large capacity for anger—just read about his encounter with the moneychangers at the temple in John 2:13-22 and see if Jesus didn’t explode with righteous indignation every once in a while.

Now Jesus didn’t go around trying to pick fights, but when he saw injustice, it really ticked him off. And we should be glad for that—both for what it tells us of our Messiah and what it tells us about how we should operate as agents of his Kingdom. J. I. Packer, in his book, Your Father Loves You, writes of the many times Jesus’ anger flared at this sort of thing:

Jesus went into the synagogue on the Sabbath and saw a man with a crippled hand. He knew that the Pharisees were watching to see what he would do, and he felt angry that they were only out to put him in the wrong. They did not care a scrap for the handicapped man, nor did they want to see the power and love of God brought to bear on him. There were other instances where Jesus showed anger or sternness. He “sternly charged” the leper whom he had healed not to tell anyone about it (Mark 1:43) because he foresaw the problems of being pursued by a huge crowd of thoughtless people who were interested only in seeing miracles and not in his teaching. But the leper disobeyed and so made things very hard for Jesus. Jesus showed anger again when the disciples tried to send away the mothers and their children (Mark 10:13-16). He was indignant and distressed at the way the disciples were thwarting his loving purposes and giving the impression that he did not have time for ordinary people. He showed anger once more when he drove “out those who sold and those who bought in the temple” (Mark 11:15-17). God’s house of prayer was being made into a den of thieves and God was not being glorified—hence Jesus’ angry words and deeds. Commenting on this, Warfield wrote: “A man who cannot be angry, cannot be merciful.” The person who cannot be angry at things which thwart God’s purposes and God’s love toward people is living too far away from his fellow men ever to feel anything positive towards them. Finally, at Lazarus’ grave Jesus showed not just sympathy and deep distress for the mourners (John 11:33-35), but also a sense of angry outrage at the monstrosity of death in God’s world. This is the meaning of “deeply moved” in John 11:38.

Any form of spiritual manipulation, control, abuse, neglect or enslavement that prevents the goodness of God from reaching people, no matter what form it takes, or who is perpetrating it, doesn’t make Jesus very happy. Not then…and not now.

Jesus, the Gentle Shepherd, the Prince of Peace, got good and angry over a few things. Maybe it is high time Christ followers got a little fed up with sin and its effects as well. Now just a caveat before you blow your lid: If you can’t weep over the things that made Jesus weep, you probably shouldn’t get angry over the things that made Jesus angry. Righteous weeping and righteous anger are two sides of the coin of righteous indignation.

So if it is called for, go ahead and get angry. Just make sure you are good—literally—and angry.

“He that would be angry and sin not, must not be angry with anything but sin. (Thomas Secker)

Getting To Know Jesus: Offer this heartfelt prayer in response to your reading of the story of Jesus raising his friend Lazarus from the dead: Lord Jesus, I want to have a heart like yours. Cause me to laugh over the things that make you laugh, weep over what breaks your heart, even to get angry over the kind of things that upset you. I want to live as you would if you were living in my stead.