Thread: Why was Jesus angry?

John 11:33

"when Jesus saw her crying, and the Jews who had come with her crying, He was angry in His spirit and deeply moved."

Because Mary was with the professional mourners and they were all moping around and grieving like those who have no hope. BTW, John normally reserves the phrase "the Jews" to refer to those who were in opposition to Jesus.

I don't see the word anger

The word studies I have checked would not recommend anger
The anger one would be snorted in anger or something.

Vines says indignation wouldn't fit.

I think he groaned or sighed and was troubled or disturbed by the emotion of the people.
vrs 38 he groans again

As to why

I think he was moved with compassion for them.
Not sure how to take Martha, I think she was saying if you had been here,
but she does say I believe, and I know god will give you whatever you ask, so was she asking him to raise him from dead? Maybe

Whereas Mary just was saying if you had been here and no faith in what he had told Martha.

He told Martha he will rise and she thought resurrection. I don't want him to rise I want him healed to life again.

So Jesus may have had some groaning and being disturbed over MAry not believing, but He did not make it real clear as common for him.
And it could have been his empathy with MAry and all the mourners who were sad.

the word is embrimaomai, that's the transliteration. I don't know how to type Greek in PB. Bibleworks says, "to be moved with anger, to be moved sternly." Aparently when this word is used in greek literature it has something to do with a horse snorting.

Liddell Scott renders:

13128 evmbrima,omai
evm&bri¯ma,omai, (evn) Dep. c. aor. med. et pass., to snort in, of horses, Aesch.
2. of persons, to be deeply moved, N.T.
II. c. dat. pers. to admonish urgently, rebuke, Ib.

But, I'm stumped right now, and I want to preach this right. I'm real close to just passing over. Was he mad at sin? Was he being sympathetic? Was he mad that they wept like there was no resurrection?

Aaron, he was deeply disturbed, and being angry is a distinct possibility (at least one commentary makes a reference to the word being used of a snorting horse, so you are correct there). Those with Mary were (for the most part) unbelieving Jews in opposition to His ministry. Note that at the end of the passage they run off the tell the religious leadership what has happened. And then they immediately begin plotting his death.

There are complex emotions involved. He has sympathy for Martha and Mary. He loves Lazarus. He weeps. He is angry over the unbelief. Lots of things are going on in the passage.

Thanks guys. You were very helpful. Sermon went well. I arugued that he was upset that they were all standing around crying over a dead man, while Jesus, who is the Resurrection and Life, stood before them.

Nicely put.

Just another verse to show that Christ doesn't sympathize with our want of sin but instead with the effects sin has on us.