The emotions of Jesus Christ

The Living God created us in His image and likeness. Therefore, in their perfect state, Adam and Eve had the capacity to reveal God through their mental and emotional life. However, when they abused their free will to walk away from the ways of God their mental and emotional life became confused and distorted. Wholesome life fragmented into pieces, some promoting mind over matter and mind over emotions. The split is evident even today in the way we conduct our lives. The incarnation of God in the person of Jesus reveals God is an emotional being. In Him there is perfect union of divinity and humanity. The gospel writers paint their portraits of Jesus using a variety of brilliant emotional colours. Jesus felt compassion; He was angry, indignant, and consumed with zeal; He was troubled, greatly distressed, very sorrowful, deeply moved, and grieved; He sighed; He wept and sobbed; He groaned; He was in agony; He was amazed; He rejoiced very greatly and was full of joy; He greatly desired, and He loved.

In our pursuit to be like Jesus we often overlook His emotions. Jesus reveals what it means to be fully human and made in the image of God. His emotions reflect the image of God without any deficiency or distortion. When we compare our own emotional lives to His, we become aware of our need for a transformation of our emotions so that we can be fully human, just as He is. Paul tells the Corinthians that as Christians gaze upon the glory of the Lord, “with unveiled faces,” we “are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory” (2 Cor. 3:18,).

Jesus was moved by compassion to open blind eyes, feed the hungry, cleanse the lepers, challenge the hypocrisy of leaders, and to invite the poor and the marginalised to the table as equals. Similarly, let us reach out to others in the Spirit of Christmas, as we embody the emotions of Jesus.