Tuesday, March 4th, 2008 by Bob

Title: Righteous Anger

Scripture: Mark 11:17
And as he taught them, he said, "Is it not written: "'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have made it 'a den of robbers.'"

Observation:
In this passage, Jesus enters the temple area and immediately becomes enraged over the money changers and merchants. He starts to turn over their tables and benches and chases them out of the temple courts. Can you visualize the commotion he caused on the temple steps? Then in anger Jesus proclaims that these merchants have turned God’s house of prayer into ‘a den of robbers.’ Very few times during his ministry was Jesus so infuriated that to the bystanders he must have seemed to have ‘gone out of control.’ Why was Jesus so mad? And was the degree of his anger justified?

A clue to the first question is hidden in his declaration that the merchants had made the temple into ‘a den of robbers.’ In the Jewish tradition, there were thieves, who stole petty items and committed misdemeanor level offenses, and then there were ‘robbers’ who committed felony offenses. Robbers were intentional about their theft, which always led to serious injury. The Hebrew word translated here was defined as violent, destroyer, or ravenous. Jesus realized that these merchants were doing more than stealing from the poor; they were taking part in the corruptive sacrificial system which God detested. Jesus was righteously angered because his Heavenly Father was angered. You see, Jesus loved what the Father loved and hated what the Father hated.

Application:
As a Christian I too know what our Heavenly Father loves and hates, and as a Christian it is easy for me to relish and love the things our Father loves. But in this world and in this community I also see things that the Father despises, and yet sometimes my feelings and emotions are lukewarm. Sometimes I become apathetic about the things that sadden our Lord, because I’ve become used to them, or just because I get lazy.

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, forgive my apathy for the things in my life and around me that offend you. Create in me a love for your truth and a righteousness that angers at anything that rebels against you. Teach me to use this anger in constructive ways which will bring honor and glory to you.