Many people, when they think of God, picture Him as stoic, detached, or, at the very least, indifferent, especially to human emotions. After all, He’s God—the Almighty, beyond all, above all. Surely, He doesn’t feel what we feel or share in our emotions, right?

But Scripture paints a very different picture. Take Judges Chapter 10, for example. The Israelites have wandered off course—again—chasing after foreign gods. And now they’re in deep trouble, caught up in a mess of their own making and feeling the full weight of the consequences of their rebellion.

Out of desperation, they cry out to God. And then there’s this incredible line in Judges 10:16: “And He (God) could bear Israel’s misery no longer” (NIV).

Now, that doesn’t sound like a God looking on without feelings. This text reveals a God whose heart aches, who feels sorrow, who is stirred with compassion. In other words, this is a God who is deeply emotional. 

He’s not indifferent to their pain; He’s actually pained by it, even though it’s self-inflicted. 

And so you know, this isn’t just a one-off event. All throughout Scripture, we see God engaging with His people emotionally.

Take Hosea 11, for example; God’s children have wandered away from Him again, and in Hosea 11:8, He says, “How can I give you up, Ephraim? My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused” (NIV).

Again, we don’t see a cold, distant judge up in the sky—this text reveals a Father, heartbroken over His children. With a love so fierce that it changes Him—the pull of His compassion is stronger than His frustration, and it shapes how He responds.

We see this same heart again in Jeremiah 31, where God calls Israel, “My dear son, the child in whom I delight? Though I often speak against him, I still remember him. Therefore my heart yearns for him; I have great compassion for him,”(Jeremiah 31:20 NIV). 

Did you catch that? God’s heart “yearns” for His people. That word “yearns” communicates more than just a feeling; it’s a fierce, aching need, a desire so deep it hurts.

Is God emotional? I’d say so.

But if you need further convincing, look no further than Jesus—who wasn’t at all afraid to feel and show emotions. 

For example, When He arrives at the tomb of Lazarus, we read that “Jesus wept” (John 11:35 NIV). And here’s what blows me away: Jesus knows what He will do. He’s fully aware that resurrection is just moments away. And yet, He doesn’t skip over the pain or rush to the miracle. He stops and enters into the grief of those around Him—not as an observer but as one who feels it with them. 

And think about this: if Jesus is, as Hebrews 1:3 says, “the exact representation of God’s being” (NIV), then these are God’s tears on display. This is God showing us that He is not only with us in moments of joy but profoundly present in our pain.

Jesus’s tears reveal a God who isn’t just above our struggles but deeply moved by them—it’s a powerful revelation of the love of God. A love that not only seeks to heal what is broken but chooses to be present with us in our brokenness.

In Matthew 9, we see a glimpse of Jesus’s compassion as He looks out over the crowds. The text says He “had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36 NIV). The Greek word for “compassion” here is splagchnizomai—it’s a gut-level empathy, an ache that goes far beyond sympathy. This isn’t a mild feeling; it’s a raw, deep emotion for lost, hurting, and weary people.

Then, there’s that unforgettable moment in the temple in Matthew 21. Jesus isn’t just frustrated; He’s fiercely protective, overturning tables and driving out the money-changers. His love for what’s sacred moves Him to act.

Perhaps one of the most moving moments of all is Jesus’s sorrow over Jerusalem. In Matthew 23:37, He says, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets … how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing” (NIV). Here, we see a God who longs to draw His people close, who desires to protect and nurture with a love that aches for connection and doesn’t hold back, even when faced with rejection.

I hope you see that God isn’t just powerful and transcendent; He’s also deeply personal and compassionate. He’s a God who enters our lives with passion and compassion—a God whose love feels with us, suffers with us, and redeems us.

And isn’t that what the cross shows us perfectly? At the cross, we see God’s heart fully revealed through Jesus, who didn’t just empathize with our pain; He stepped into it and carried it.

Through the cross, Jesus shows us that God is not afraid to feel, to grieve, and to bear the full weight of humanity’s pain so he could redeem it.

The cross proves that God’s love doesn’t stop at sympathy—it dives into the depths of our mess to bring healing. The cross isn’t just a solution; it’s God’s declaration of God’s commitment to us— We serve a God who feels with us, who suffers with us, and who, in the end, overcomes it all for us.