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
Twice in this chapter, the words stood out to me, “deeply moved.” In verse 38 it also says: “Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb.” Almost every miracle Jesus performed, it will say something like, he had compassion on them, or he was moved etc. It tells us a lot about the heart of Jesus. John used the words deeply moved, not “on a whim, or because he knew it was the right thing to do, or to show off his great powers, or to give evidence of his supernatural anointing, it simply says he was deeply moved.
It tells me of a man who had heart, who genuinely cared for people, who wasn’t a robot or a showman. I have been accused in the past of being superficial. Sanguines can be known for being the life of the party but with no real friends, no intimate connection, no heart. The Lord convicted some time ago, to care for the one sheep he puts in front of me, to have a heart for those in need. And since I asked for this, I know get “deeply moved” when I see those in need. Not all the time, I rush past many on the side of the road like the Pharisee and the Levite in the Good Samaritan story, but the goal is to have a heart for those in need and care for people like Christ cares for them.
The last 2 days driving back from the radio station, I’ve seen a crippled lady walking across the kurilpa bridge over the Brisbane river. I’ve prayed for her both days now, at exactly the same time I’ve driven under the bridge, she’s been walking overhead. I’ve prayed for her healing, that just as people would be healed as Peter ‘s shadow would fall on them, she would be healed as I drove past. I could have just watched her walk past, but in my heart I was deeply moved.
God is looking for hearts that are soft and open, so he can fill them with his Holy Spirit, and he can fill them with compassion, so they will be deeply moved. Who knows, we might see cripples healed. We might see our own Lazarus’s raised from the dead.
Lord, Break my heart with what breaks yours, use me, mold me, fill me I pray. In Jesus name. Amen