Jesus Can RelateSample

Jesus Can Relate to Our Anger

Do you ever get so angry that you feel the need to do something drastic? Jesus can relate.

A few days before His death, Jesus had an eventful visit to the temple. While there, He flipped tables and drove all the merchants away with a strong rebuke. Why? What could make peaceful, grace-filled Jesus so angry?

In today’s passage, you’ll see that the temple had a problem—the outer courtyard had turned into a shopping center. Why does this matter? Because the outer courtyard of the temple was the only place where social and religious outsiders could come to worship God.

A core theme of Jesus’ ministry was helping outsiders feel included. He constantly affirmed God’s love for everyone. He also challenged powerful people who felt that only certain people deserved God’s care.

So He walked into a place designed for worship, but there were no worshipers. Why? Because powerful religious insiders allowed shopkeepers to drive away worshipers. Of course Jesus was angry. Who wouldn’t be?

He was angry that people couldn’t worship God. And He was angry that the people who were supposed to be the spiritual leaders of God’s people cared more about profit.

So Jesus took drastic action, driving everyone out. Then the religious and social outsiders came into the temple courtyard and worshiped God with Jesus. In probably less than fifteen minutes, Jesus restored the temple to its original purpose.

Feeling anger isn’t a sin, but we need to be cautious. So let’s see how Jesus dealt with anger.

First, Jesus felt love-fueled anger. Jesus loves everyone, even when they cause harm. He hated their actions, but He didn’t hate them. So even when we feel anger toward someone, we can’t lose sight of their God-given value.

Second, Jesus didn’t let anger take control. Jesus didn’t randomly act out, He had a plan. He wanted to help people worship God as soon as possible without causing permanent harm to anyone. He felt anger, but He didn’t let it cloud His judgment.

Third, Jesus wasn’t always angry. Jesus didn’t turn tables and shout at people every time He got angry. This is the one of the few times we see Jesus act in anger. Jesus turning tables one time doesn’t give us permission to be angry all the time. He didn’t make a habit of acting in anger.

So when we get angry, let’s get angry like Jesus. We affirm the humanity of everyone involved and work toward meaningful action. We get angry, but we don’t live in anger. And when we feel anger, let’s pray and seek wisdom from the Bible and from people for how to best honor God.

Pray: God, thank You for getting angry at injustice. Help me be angry about the things You’re angry about, and use that love-fueled anger to make positive change. In Jesus’ name, amen.