Jesus Having a Conniption

Christlike Expression of Anger

Mar 13, 2009

Saying For Today: [A] close reading of the four Gospels shows numerous occasions on which Jesus would not have won points for a nomination as Nice Man of the Year.

Lenten Devotionals 2009

13-14When the Passover Feast, celebrated each spring by the Jews, was about to take place, Jesus traveled up to Jerusalem. He found the Temple teeming with people selling cattle and sheep and doves. The loan sharks were also there in full strength.

15-17Jesus put together a whip out of strips of leather and chased them out of the Temple, stampeding the sheep and cattle, upending the tables of the loan sharks, spilling coins left and right. He told the dove merchants, "Get your things out of here! Stop turning my Father's house into a shopping mall!" That's when his disciples remembered the Scripture, "Zeal for your house consumes me."

18-19But the Jews were upset. They asked, "What credentials can you present to justify this?" Jesus answered, "Tear down this Temple and in three days I'll put it back together."

20-22They were indignant: "It took forty-six years to build this Temple, and you're going to rebuild it in three days?" But Jesus was talking about his body as the Temple. Later, after he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered he had said this. They then put two and two together and believed both what was written in Scripture and what Jesus had said.

*John 2.13-22 (MSG)

An eastern tale relates about a snake living beside a path on the way to a famous temple in India. Many persons would walk along the path to worship. The snake would often bite persons with his poisonous bite.

One day a swami was on his way to the temple. The snake jumped out to bite him. Before the snake could bite, the swami put the snake into a trance. He ordered him to stop biting people. "It's not right to bite people with your poisonous bite," the swami told him. "From now on, you'll not bite anyone."

A few months later, the swami was passing that way again. He noticed the snake in the grass beside the path. The snake was all cut and bruised up. He was in an awful state. "Whatever has happened to you, my friend?" asked the swami. "Since you have put your spell on me," the snake explained, "I've been unable to defend myself. Give me back my bite." "You foolish snake," the swami answered, "I told you not to bite anyone. I never said you couldn't hiss!"

The Scripture for today is refreshing to read. We typically picture Jesus as a mild fellow. We see Jesus, here, as a strong man, capable of using anger appropriately - and not hiding it, either. In this Scripture Jesus is not passive aggressive, he is active confronting. Jesus' idea of meek and humble entailed capacity for strength, courage, confrontation, and anger.

Zeal for his Father's house, the Temple, and love for the poor being taken advantage of by high interest on temple gifts moved him to angered action.

I learned, after many years in the pastorate, that being too nice was deadly to pastoral work. If a leader does not have some fire in him or her, eventually, he or she will lack the respect needed to lead.

Being fiery about the right things and at a right time is a mark of godly humbleness. A person who cannot get hot under the collar and show it about matters pertaining to right and justice is a person that has little to offer in strong leadership.

No, Jesus was not a man with an anger problem. Yet, a close reading of the four Gospels shows numerous occasions on which Jesus would not have won points for a nomination as Nice Man of the Year.

Sure, we might need to repent of being angry about things that do not warrant that expenditure of emotion. We have each gotten fussy about something that was not worth it.

We, furthermore, might need to repent at not being angry and showing it when an issue or situation warranted righteous and assertive confrontation - and with at least a sprinkling of vehemence mixed in.

1) Can you recall a time that you, like Christ, confronted something strongly and concluded it was a timely expression and Christlike, too?

2) Do you struggle to include anger within humbleness?

3) Do you believe a person can be a strong person without the freedom to express timely and justified anger? Explain your answer.

4) Do you generally view Christ as including the kind of potential for anger and confrontation we see in the Scripture for today? Explain your response.

*OneLife Ministries is a ministry of Brian K. Wilcox, of SW Florida. Brian is pastor at Christ Community United Methodist Church, Harbour Heights, FL, and Senior Chaplain for the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office, Punta Gorda, FL.

*Brian welcomes responses to his writings or submission of prayer requests at barukhattah@embarqmail.com .

*Contact the above email to book Brian for Spiritual Direction, retreats, or workshops. You can order his book An Ache for Union at major book dealers.