Righteous Indignation:The Anger Of Jesus
I'd like for us to take a look at the concept of righteous indignation, which pertains to the appropriate times and ways in which anger is to be manifested. We'll look at several different verses from the bible, but our main focus will be on Jesus Himself, and on times in which He became angry. Jesus is to be our example in all things, and anger is a very real emotion, one that we all have to deal with. By looking closely at the way that Jesus dealt with anger, we can learn a lot about how to deal with it in our own lives.
The first thing that we must realize concerning anger is that it is a necessary emotion. When we see injustice done, or when those that we love are taken advantage of, the anger that we feel is very real. If we choose to ignore it, or worse, to internalize it, we are only hurting ourselves. We need to understand that there are constructive, and even healthy, ways in which our anger can be expressed, and that there is a big difference between anger and rage. We read in Ephesians 4:26-27..."Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: neither give place to the devil." Paul is telling us that we can have anger without allowing it to become sin. It is only when anger is allowed to fester within us that it becomes malignant like a cancer. The longer we hold onto it, the more we relinquish control. This is what Paul means by not giving place to the devil. Anger left to smolder within us is a breeding ground for hatred. Psalm 37:8-9 tells us..."Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth." When we allow anger to overtake us, it will cloud our judgment, and it can lead us to do or say things that we later come to regret. Great contentment and peace of mind is found when we come to the realization that God will fight our battles for us. Exodus 14:14 tells us..."The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace." Furthermore, Paul tells us in Romans 12:19..."Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord."
We find wise counsel in James 1:19-20, where we read..."Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God." So many times, we speak without thinking, we become angry without a cause. May the Spirit of God keep us in a state of peace, and lead us to listen more than we speak, that our tempers and our tongues would be held in check.
There are many instances of Jesus rebuking the scribes and the Pharisees, and referring to them as hypocrites. Perhaps one of the most scathing instances is found in Matthew 23:23-33, as Jesus says..."Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?" Is it any wonder, then, that the scribes and Pharisees sought to kill Him, as He exposed the darkness that was thinly veiled behind their pretentious veneer? Under the guise of righteousness, they proliferated their schemes and furthered their own illicit causes, which leads us to the main point of our study. We read in John 2:13-17..."And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to
Jerusalem, and found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:
and when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changer's money, and overthrew the tables; and said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise. And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up." As Jesus enters the city of Jerusalem, the first place that He goes is the temple, and He finds there sellers of sacrificial animals. This was a marketplace where those who had come to Jerusalem to sacrifice, but were unable to bring their own animals, would purchase sacrificial animals. This marketplace would normally have been situated on the outskirts of the city, but for purposes of greed and profit, the chief priests had allowed this buying and selling to take place inside of the temple. They were undoubtedly charging rent to the sellers and fees for certifying their animals as being "without blemish", which would have given them considerable revenue. No wonder, then, at the righteous indignation that Jesus feels as He sees His Father's house being abused in this way. Jesus then proceeds to make a scourge, or whip, out of small cords, probably the cords used to lead the animals into the temple. There is no evidence to suggest that Jesus used the whip on the people, only that it was used to drive the animals out, with their owners following behind. A Dutch scholar and philosopher by the name of Grotius wrote, concerning this event, "Not by this slender whip, but by divine majesty, was the ejection accomplished, the whip being but a sign of the scourge of divine anger." The anger that Jesus felt, and acted upon, was righteous indignation, referring to the outrage that accompanies the realization that something, or someone, is misusing or abusing the name, likeness, or instruments of God for their own purposes.
After He had driven out the sheep and oxen, along with their owners, He proceeded to overturn the moneychanger's tables, and pour out their money onto the ground, and proclaim to the sellers that they "Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise." The anger of Jesus, His righteous indignation, was displayed in this instance in order that the scripture might be fulfilled, in Psalm 69:9, as David prophesied of Jesus..."For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me."
As we strive to follow the example of Jesus in our own lives, to "take up our cross", let us also follow His example of using anger as a tool to further the kingdom. Rather than becoming consumed and overwhelmed by our anger at situations that God has already promised to handle, let us instead use our anger in constructive ways. May our peace remain undisturbed, and may our souls only be vexed when we are witness to reproaches of God's Holy name or injustices done to His people. Then, and only then, may we rise up in righteous indignation and do whatever is necessary to set things right once more, in order that we may restore to God the glory that only He deserves.
The first thing that we must realize concerning anger is that it is a necessary emotion. When we see injustice done, or when those that we love are taken advantage of, the anger that we feel is very real. If we choose to ignore it, or worse, to internalize it, we are only hurting ourselves. We need to understand that there are constructive, and even healthy, ways in which our anger can be expressed, and that there is a big difference between anger and rage. We read in Ephesians 4:26-27..."Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: neither give place to the devil." Paul is telling us that we can have anger without allowing it to become sin. It is only when anger is allowed to fester within us that it becomes malignant like a cancer. The longer we hold onto it, the more we relinquish control. This is what Paul means by not giving place to the devil. Anger left to smolder within us is a breeding ground for hatred. Psalm 37:8-9 tells us..."Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth." When we allow anger to overtake us, it will cloud our judgment, and it can lead us to do or say things that we later come to regret. Great contentment and peace of mind is found when we come to the realization that God will fight our battles for us. Exodus 14:14 tells us..."The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace." Furthermore, Paul tells us in Romans 12:19..."Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord."
We find wise counsel in James 1:19-20, where we read..."Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God." So many times, we speak without thinking, we become angry without a cause. May the Spirit of God keep us in a state of peace, and lead us to listen more than we speak, that our tempers and our tongues would be held in check.
There are many instances of Jesus rebuking the scribes and the Pharisees, and referring to them as hypocrites. Perhaps one of the most scathing instances is found in Matthew 23:23-33, as Jesus says..."Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?" Is it any wonder, then, that the scribes and Pharisees sought to kill Him, as He exposed the darkness that was thinly veiled behind their pretentious veneer? Under the guise of righteousness, they proliferated their schemes and furthered their own illicit causes, which leads us to the main point of our study. We read in John 2:13-17..."And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to
After He had driven out the sheep and oxen, along with their owners, He proceeded to overturn the moneychanger's tables, and pour out their money onto the ground, and proclaim to the sellers that they "Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise." The anger of Jesus, His righteous indignation, was displayed in this instance in order that the scripture might be fulfilled, in Psalm 69:9, as David prophesied of Jesus..."For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me."
As we strive to follow the example of Jesus in our own lives, to "take up our cross", let us also follow His example of using anger as a tool to further the kingdom. Rather than becoming consumed and overwhelmed by our anger at situations that God has already promised to handle, let us instead use our anger in constructive ways. May our peace remain undisturbed, and may our souls only be vexed when we are witness to reproaches of God's Holy name or injustices done to His people. Then, and only then, may we rise up in righteous indignation and do whatever is necessary to set things right once more, in order that we may restore to God the glory that only He deserves.
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