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WisconsinChristianNews.com
Volume 26, Issue 3
Depressed People Of the Bible Yeshua – The Surprising Example of Depression
By Jeff Zaremsky Summer 2025
struggles, yet He did not yield to temptation. Depression is not sin. Depression can be a result of several things, such as a loss. Sinful attitudes can lead to depression. But it is the sinful attitudes that are sin, not the depression. In those cases de- pression is only a symptom of the sin, not the sin itself. Holding on to bitterness or self-pity are sinful attitudes that can lead to depression, but it is the attitudes, not the depression, that is sinful.
would apply to Him? Because He was going to have the sins of the world placed upon Him and “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). It’s not just an earthly death, but an eternal death, an eternal separation from heaven and the heavenly Father. Atheists mock, “God loves you so much He gave up a weekend for you.” Yeshua’s death for us was much more than three days in the tomb. The death that Yeshua experienced is referred to as the “second death” (Revelation 2:11; 20:6,14; 21:8). The first death is from our earthly life and the second is from our eternal life. This is what Yeshua was grieving as He sweat blood. In the garden, Yeshua “began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. He said, ‘My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.’” (Matthew 26:37,38). If you said that to your doctor, and were so stressed you were sweating blood, he would proscribe de-
Yeshua was depressed. That might surprise you because Yeshua did not sin, but it is not surprising because depression in and of itself is not sin. He “was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). Yeshua took on our flesh, from the seed of Abraham, with all its frailties and inherited weaknesses. He felt our feelings, our troubles, our
Yeshua experienced situational de- pression. He was grieving the loss John. “When Yeshua heard it, He de- parted from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself.” (Matthew 14:13). De- pression is one if the stages of grief (see the book Depressed People of the Bible for more about the stages of grief), and Yeshua’s response to hearing about
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John’s death is a classic ex- ample. Depression can come as a result of a lack of faith, but not neces- sarily so, it could also be our natural healing re- sponse to the loss of a loved one, or many other non-sin factors. It is not a lack of faith to grieve the loss of a spouse, or any loss.
p r e s s i o n medicine for you. By faith, Yeshua knew He would be resurrected on the third day, but by sight and feel- ing, He was deeply dis- tressed and exceedingly sorrowful. Yeshua did not end His prayers with a request to be spared the second death, the eternal
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death; rather He continued saying, “Nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.” (Mark 14:36). His earthly nature, that He had temporarily re- ceived while here on earth, did not want to die either death. In agonizing prayer self was crushed out and died as He surrendered all to the will of His heavenly Father. From that moment, Yeshua had peace and had courage to face the mob, the accusers, the au- thorities, the whip, the beatings, and the cross, and in the end pray, “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do.” (Luke 23:34). You might be grieving some possible future loss, surrender those fears to the Lord, even in agonizing prayer if necessary, and ask for the Lord’s will to be done, not yours. Receive His peace by faith, knowing His will is always best. While Yeshua was hanging on the cross, His heav- enly Father needed to shield Himself so that the brightness of His glory did not destroy Yeshua as He bore the sins of the world. This caused tremendous grief to Yeshua as He cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Mark 15:34). The stress was so high His heart burst and He physi- cally died. Thankfully, His heavenly Father did not allow Yeshua to remain in the grave. Rather, on the third day Yeshua was raised back to life. “The gift of God is eternal life…” (Romans 6:23). While there may be times when we feel forsaken by God, we have a wonderful promise that says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5). We are not called to bear the sins of the world. We are not even called to bear our own sins; Yeshua has already born them for us. In order for us to carry them we have to take them from Him, and why would we want to do that? Yeshua will grieve throughout eternity for those who refuse His invitations to heaven, those who re- fuse His substitution on their behalf as the sacrifi- cial Lamb of God to take away our sins. Just the thought of His eternal heartache should cause us to share His love with everyone we meet before it is too late for them to receive it. Learn more about other depressed people of the Bible, in the book “Depressed People of the Bible,” available where most books are sold. Author’s Disclaimer: The information I will be sharing is not intended for diagnosis or treatment of depres- sion. It is a biblical reflection on people throughout the Scriptures who dealt with depression and how God carried them through it to healing and purpose.
Yeshua also grieved the separation from His heavenly Father and He grieved the thought of the loss of His own life. After His last Passover, He took His disciples to a garden area called “the place of pressing.” Yeshua took His disciples to this place of pressing where self was going to be totally crushed out of Him. Yeshua went off by Himself and prayed earnestly. The pressure of having the sins of the world placed upon Him was so intense that His blood vessels rup- tured, adding blood to His sweat. Three different times, Yeshua went back and forth between His private place to pray and His disciples. Each time He found that they had let Him down. Yeshua was facing death in just
a few hours and He was all alone, no one helping or supporting Him. But He was not totally alone. He went back to praying and was in the presence of His Father who had not left Him. Not yet anyway. Each time during these three different prayer times, Yeshua prayed for His Father to remove, if possible, “the cup” from Him. One of the cups during the Passover is the cup of judgment, such as came upon the Egyptian sol- diers. That event prefig- ured God’s final judgment on those who will rebel against God’s love and warnings. It is referred to as “the wine of the wrath of God…the cup of His indignation” (Revelation 14:10). Why would Yeshua think that the wine of the wrath of God, the cup of His indignation, the cup of judgment
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