Jesus Enjoys People and Praises Them!

Often I have been completely out of touch with the emotions of Jesus or of God. Usually I related to Jesus in stricly mental principles. However, the more I learn about Jesus and how He related to people, I find He has a wide range of emotions that are very delightful!

Getting in touch with the fact that Jesus praised some people was a real encouragement to me. Often I could only see Jesus or God as finding faults with my short comings. However, when you take time to read the Gospels looking for how Jesus related to people, rather than just the words He spoke, you find some very encouraging human interactions.

In Matthew 8:5 and Luke 7:1 you have the moment in history when Jesus entered the city of Capernaium. A Roman Centurion (captian of roughly a 100 men) came asking Jesus to heal his servant who was at home in terrible suffering. Jesus responds that He will go and heal the servant. The Centurion (a Gentile not a Jew) tells Jesus not to bother walking to his home because he knows that Jesus need only speak the word and the servant will be healed.

The fascinating part is that Jesus is "astonished!" Luke 7:9 says that Jesus was "amazed!" Have you ever thought about Jesus being "amazed?" Well, He can be!

Jesus turns to the people who were folling and exclaims "I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith." Jesus basically heaps praise on the non-Jewish Centurion! That is quite a compliment when you are a foreigner and Jesus tells everyone you have faith greater than any Jewish person - they have the history of the Law and the Prophets! That is pretty amazing. Jesus doesn't hold back with His praise.

Another fascinating passage is Luke 15:21 where the Canaanite woman came asking Jesus to drive a demon out of her daughter. There is a strange encounter betweent he woman and Jesus as He describes his mission 1st to the Jews and then to the Gentiles. Rather than get offended at this I tend to think that Jesus was drawing this woman's faith out. In the end the woman persists with asking Jesus for help and He exclaims, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed that very hour.

On of the things to notice here is how Jesus pours on the praise! Notice the exclamation mark. He doesn't just say, "Nice job." Jesus probably was speaking louder and with excitement because nothing excites Him more than faith: "Woman, you have great faith!" The disciples must have been amazed! They frequently were. The woman must have been thrilled! Jesus was.

Another wonderful event is where Jesus praises Peter for hearing God's voice. Jesus is asking His disciples who people think Jesus is. Then Jesus asks, "Who do you think I am?" Peter replies, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus basically says, "Peter you are blessed! You have heard from my Father about my real identity" (Paraphrase - mine). Jesus praises Peter for hearing from God! Jesus is praising Peter in front of the rest of the disciples. He doesn't hold back!

Jesus was not a boring emotionless person. He was very animated, very emotional. He was not passive. Jesus' emotions were stronger than ours! But His emotions were clean and entirely healthy!