By Scott Lencke
“No, no! Jesus didn’t experience anxiety!” we might say.
I think this is a reaction to quickly judging emotions as bad and untrustworthy.
Consider Christ’s prayer in the garden, as he neared death. We read quite disturbing words from Luke:
“And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.”
I have not yet experienced my sweat becoming like drops of blood. Maybe you have. But I would take a stab at identifying this experience of Jesus as one of anxiety. It definitely isn’t happiness. It’s actually probably a mixture of things. And the word anguish that is found in Luke 22:44 is where we get our English word agony from. It’s a word that expresses great fear, terror, and anxiety. And all this was experienced just after we were told in the previous verse,
“An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.”
Come on, Jesus! You can do better than this! Stop with the feelings stuff!
But that is about the most real, human response one can express as one faces their own torturous death.
I imagine some might say: “Well, of course Jesus experienced that. But this was in his role as the Son of God that would die for humanity. He’s the only one who could do that. So, he was allowed to express that. We aren’t.”
Something like that.
Still, any way we try to slice it, as far as I can tell from Luke 22,
Jesus experienced and expressed anxiety.
He did. And I think this is what makes him truly an amazing high priest who can “empathize with our weaknesses” (Heb 4:15).
No, this doesn’t get into all the questions about anxiety disorders and even deeper related issues. But that’s not my point in this post. My desire is to bring attention to the fact that:
A) Emotions are not bad but are rather a good part of humans as image-bearers.
B) People in the Bible exhibit emotion all the time, even Jesus himself.
C) You should stop judging yourself or others for their experience of real emotion, including anxiety.
We cannot simply say, “Don’t trust your emotions,” or put a band-aid over them with statements like, “Just trust the Lord.” Jesus trusted the Father and yet still expressed anxiety.
Let people feel what they are feeling, let them share, pause, listen, and commit to being present without judgment. It may just be that they need to be connected to a therapist for greater support. I’ve had to myself. But people need the space to process their emotions, including anxiety.
Don’t rob yourself and others of the gift of our emotions.
Consider consulting with a counselor at Kardia Collective today, and discover how you can achieve a better understanding of anxiety in yourself and others, just like I did.