Jesus got angry at a funeral. Why?

DAILY BIBLE READING:

1 Samuel 26:1–28:25 
John 11:1-54 
Psalm 117:1-2 
Proverbs 15:22-23 

BIBLE VERSE(S) FOR TODAY:

John 11:33 (CSB) "When Jesus saw her crying, and the Jews who had come with her crying, he was deeply moved in his spirit and troubled."

REFLECTIONS ON TODAY'S BIBLE VERSE(S):

The scene in which our Verse for Today takes place is one of great sorrow. Mary and Martha were in deep agony that their brother, Lazarus, had died. Three days later, Jesus shows up. The numbness that these sisters had experienced has worn off and reality has set in. Lazarus is no longer a part of their earthly family.

But, as Jesus shows up, we see a word that describes how he responded to what He saw.

John 11:33 (CSB) "When Jesus saw her crying, and the Jews who had come with her crying, he was deeply moved in his spirit and troubled."

Notice the words "he was deeply moved." In the original language, they are simply one word. And that one word means "to snort with anger like a horse" (see A.T. Robertson's work "Word Pictures in the New Testament").

In other words, Jesus was angry and it was visible. He saw people grieving and he got livid.

That seems totally inappropriate doesn't it? 

I'm doing yet another funeral tomorrow. I will be with family members who have lost a loved one. There will be tears and sorrow. But, I've never gotten visibly angry in those settings.

Why did Jesus get angry?

Here's the explanation that makes sense to me...

Jesus looked around and saw tears. He saw hearts that were utterly broken. Because of this intense grief, the joy that had characterized this family was completely gone. It was replaced with loneliness, emptiness, deep sorrow, and everything else that those who lose a dear loved one in death experience.

When Jesus saw this, He became angry at what caused His dear friends to hurt so badly. He became angry at sin!

You see, when Adam and Eve sinned, that one act of rebellion against God brought sin upon all of their posterity. But, it also brought death.

Romans 5:12 "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all people, because all sinned."

When my family lived in Florida, it wasn't unusual to see alligators in ponds and creeks. In fact, a story out of Tampa a few year back told of a lady who had left her back sliding door open ... and an alligator made its way into her kitchen.

Sin opened the door and the alligator of death made its way into the human experience and has wreaked havoc. As Jesus' heart broke over the pain that the alligator caused, He was livid at what allowed the alligator into the house in the first place. Jesus got angry at sin and its consequences for breaking the hearts of His dear friends.

But, thank the Lord(!), Jesus' death on the cross and the vacant tomb turned the tide. It defeated sin and death. And we look forward to the day when there will no longer be death or tears (Revelation 21:4).

But, in the meanwhile, life will sting. We will be faced with the horrible consequences of our own sin and with Adam's sin. Friend, realize that God is not indifferent to our struggle. It angers Him that His beloved children have to go through such pain. And He looks forward to calling us home one day never to suffer from sin's consequences again!

What makes anger just like murder?

As we continue to learn more about Dylann Roof, we become even more disturbed. This young man was driven by a deeply-entrenched racial hatred. He was able to sit in a prayer meeting for almost an hour and look into the faces of those he would soon kill. He claims that he had a fleeting thought, while spending time with them in that prayer meeting, of not going through with his deed. Yet, as he stole their lives from them minutes later, the words he said made it clear that his heart was utterly wicked. The forgiveness offered by the family of his victims only makes his unrepentant hatred all the more wicked.

While we may console ourselves and say we would NEVER, EVER do such a heinous act as Dylann, Jesus tells us something very striking that nails each one of us in the heart. In Matthew 5, He essentially equates murder (what Dylann did) with anger and insults (what we do). 

Matthew 5:21-22

"You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire."


While we may feel justified in venting our anger at Dylann, Jesus would have us realize that when we are angry with others or feel compelled to throw insults (at least internally) at someone, we are demonstrating the same, exact heart attitude of Dylann. All we lack is follow-through on those heart attitudes.


So, you don't think you have an anger/insult problem?
Is there someone that you are so upset at that every time you see them your heart races and your blood pressure goes up? Or, you give them the silent treatment? Or you slander them in the presence of others? 


While we are justified in being repulsed at Dylann's actions and while we should pray that he will receive justice to the full extent of the law (and while Christians should also pray that Dylann cries out for God's forgiveness before it's too late), we should realize that we, too, have a heart problem. We should take our feelings of hatred/insults as seriously as Jesus did, fall at the foot of the cross and cry out for forgiveness and release from that heart attitude.

Loved ones are mourning the deceased and Jesus gets angry? What?!

Did Jesus ever get ticked? I mean, was there ever a time when Jesus got so angry that those around Him noticed?

Some would immediately respond "Yes" and say that He was angered when He cleared the Temple of those who had turned it into a marketplace that distracted from worship. Yet, none of the four Gospel accounts tell us that Jesus was angry when He cleared the Temple (see Matthew 21:12-13; Mark 11:15-17; Luke 19:45-46; John 2:13-17). In fact, the only emotion that Jesus was said to have as He cleared the temple was "zeal" (John 2:17).

So, did Jesus ever get angry?

Yes ... and it was at a place and time where we would have least suspected such an emotion.

It's found in John 11. Jesus was at the tomb of His dear friend, Lazarus.

John 11:31-33 (English Standard Version)

31 When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there.

32 Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.

Do you see the words "deeply moved" in verse 33? That word can also be translated "indignant." In fact, the New Living Translation says: "When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled."

Why in the world would Jesus get angry when people around him were sick with grief over the death of a dear loved one?

Well, if we go through the possibilities and check off those that aren't viable, we end up with this: Jesus was angry at sin and its consequences. If Adam had not sinned in the Garden of Eden, sin and death would not have spread to mankind. If that had never happened, Mary and Martha would have had no reason to cry. They would have had no reason to experience the unspeakable grief that only those who have lost a loved one can understand. I think Jesus' heart broke (John 11:35) for Mary and Martha as He saw them crying and He was angered at the havoc that sin had brought into the world.

Friend, that's why Jesus came to live, die, and rise again. He came to conquer sin and death (read 1 Corinthians 15). He came so that those who believe in Him will one day get to be with Him in a place where there is no more sin or consequences of that sin.

So, does it bother you that you live in a world that is so sin-sick? Does it break your heart when you see all of the sickness, pain, sorrow and death that has come to be a part of every human experience? Are you looking forward to the day when all things will be made new?

So is Jesus, my friend. So is Jesus.

Mary was crying and Jesus got angry! Why?

Some folks think that the only time Jesus got angry was when He cleansed the temple. That is not true. There was at least one other time that He was incensed.

In John 11, Jesus learned that his dear friend, Lazarus, had died. As with any death, there was unspeakable sorrow. There were tear-filled eyes and sorrow-filled hearts. Groans came from somewhere deep down in the souls of those who loved him most.

Try to imagine the following scene as Jesus met the sister of Lazarus, Mary. Imagine her quivering, contorted, tear-stained face as she was still trying to understand that her brother really had died and was never coming back. The deep ache in her heart cannot be described. It can only be experienced by those who have suffered such a deep loss.

John 11:32-36 (New Living Translation)
32 When Mary arrived and saw Jesus, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33 When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled.
34 “Where have you put him?” he asked them.
They told him, “Lord, come and see.”
35 Then Jesus wept.
36 The people who were standing nearby said, “See how much he loved him!”

In the New Living Translation, it says in verse 33 that "a deep anger welled up within him." In other translations, it says that He was "deeply moved" or some other such thing. The words in the original language (Greek) speak of a strong emotion that could be labeled "indignation."

So, why did Jesus get mad? He's in the presence of people who are hurting deeply. Anger seems completely out of place … until we reflect on WHY He was angry.

Jesus wasn't indifferent to the suffering around Him. In fact, John 11:35 tells us plainly that "Jesus wept." His heart went out to those people. He wasn't grieving for Himself or Lazarus. He knew that Lazarus was in Heaven and having the time of his life! Why did Jesus weep? Because He saw the hurt all around Him. He was moved to grieve by seeing and hearing the heart cries of those around Him.

So, we see that He grieved. That's extremely appropriate when spending time with a family who has just lost a loved one. But, why did He get angry?

The reason that makes the most sense to me is that He was angered at sin and death. In that moment, He saw his friend, Mary, experiencing unspeakable grief and it was because she lived in a sin-sick world. She was experiencing such sorrow because she lived in a world that was so far below the joy of the Garden of Eden. There was no death and no sorrow before Adam sinned. But, when Adam sinned, death and unspeakable grief were the result.

Romans 5:12 (New Living Translation)
"When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned."

So, the dear people that surrounded Jesus were weeping because the world in which they lived was broken. It was sin saturated and death was the result. Jesus was looking at the result of a broken Creation and He was angered.

If I could be so bold as to try to identify what Jesus was thinking, I imagine He would have thought something like this: "This wasn't how things could have been! They could have enjoyed My presence in the utopia that I called the Garden of Eden. They could have eaten of the Tree of Life and never experienced death. But Adam sinned and blew it for everyone! And as I look around me and see what sin did to my perfect Creation, I'm furious!"

Jesus didn't come into our world to experience frustration, though. He didn't come to throw His hands up in despair at how badly sin had wrecked His Creation. He came as a conqueror on a mission that He would accomplish, even if it meant His death ... and it did.

He came to conquer sin and death! When He died on the cross and rose again, He administered the death blow to sin and death! As we place our faith in Jesus, we can be completely forgiven of our sin. Sin will lose is its stranglehold over us. And one day, we'll live forever with our God.

1 Corinthians 15:57 (New Living Translation)
"But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ."

This is the Good News that we celebrate even as we reflect this day on Jesus' Crucifixion.

Was God angry at Jesus as He died on the cross?

Recently, Dr. Bob Terry, the editor of "The Alabama Baptist" newsletter wrote an article that has stirred up some controversy. Probably more accurately, he has created a degree of shock among those who held him and his theological paradigm in high regard.

Before I respond, I want to be clear that in no way is this blog post throwing stones at Dr. Terry. As the world around us erodes, Christians must find ways in which we can work together and quit all of the unnecessary infighting. Yet, I believe that what Dr. Terry was quoted as saying demands some responses from those who hold very different views of God's attitude and role in the atonement. Here are my thoughts...

The title of the online article is "Why Disagree About the Words of a Hymn?" (access full article here.) He begins with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s decision not to include the modern hymn "In Christ Alone" in their updated hymnal. The committee wanted to replace the lyrics of the second verse from "'till on that cross as Jesus died the wrath of God was satisfied" to "'till on that cross as Jesus died the love of God was magnified." The Gettys, the authors of the song, refused to allow the change and the song was therefore dropped from inclusion in the hymnal.

After his introduction, Dr. Bob Terry wrote: "The Bible speaks clearly about the wrath of God and warns that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of an angry God (Ps. 90:11). Yet there remains a question about whether God was an angry God at Golgotha whose wrath had to be appeased by the suffering of the innocent Jesus. Sometimes Christians carelessly make God out to be some kind of ogre whose angry wrath overflowed until the innocent Jesus suffered enough to calm Him down. It is the ultimate "good cop/bad cop" routine where God is against us but Jesus is for us. Some popular theologies do hold that Jesus' suffering appeased God's wrath. That is not how I understand the Bible and that is why I do not sing the phrase "the wrath of God was satisfied" even though I love the song "In Christ Alone."

Who did God pay off to purchase us?

I suppose that one of the biggest questions that comes to my mind after reading that is: "Who did God pay off to purchase us?" Because, very clearly in Scripture, we understand that a price had to be paid to save us.

"Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) 

"You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants of men." (1 Corinthians 7:23)

"knowing that you were ransomed (bought out of slavery) from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. (1 Peter 1:18-19)

"...the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Matthew 20:28)

"Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree'—" (Galatians 3:13)

I could keep going but you get the idea. God purchased us. But, from whom? Did he pay the Devil off? Did God buy us from Satan?

Absolutely not! God has never owed Satan anything! The last reference I gave in Galatians 3:13 lets us know. "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law", specifically God's law. God, the lawgiver is the One who judicially expected complete compliance. He expected nothing short of complete holiness.

It was in His court that we stood guilty of breaking His laws. His justice demanded that payment be made for offenses committed. So, the payment to erase our sin debt was made to God's holy justice.

"Redeemed us from the curse of the law" (Gal. 3:13)

But, notice the language used in Galatians 3:13. It says "the CURSE of the law." Hardly tolerant, compassionate language. Cursed means to be condemned and experience the resultant consequences.

Who placed the curse on us before we were redeemed by Christ? In fact, who made Jesus a curse as He hung on the cross? Read Galatians 3:13 again and see that Jesus had a curse put upon Him as He hung on the cross. "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree'—".

All you need to do to see who placed the curse is to look at Deuteronomy 21:22-23 where Moses recounted the law that God gave to the people of Israel: "And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God..."
  Did you catch those last few words? "Cursed by God." When Jesus hung on the cross, He became a curse for us. To use the vernacular of Galatians 3:13 and Deuteronomy 21:22-23, He was cursed by God. He wasn't just paying our sin debt as a loving God watched. He was bearing our sin as He became our curse.

It's hard to understand how anyone could say that God was only expressing His love while Jesus died on that cross because on that cross, Jesus was bearing the curse of God. Of course God the Father loved His Son. Yet, He sent His Son so that His wrath could be poured out on Him and not us so that we could come into God's family. (The truth is, God expressed BOTH while Jesus was on the cross: anger AND love.)

Anger and Love Side-by-side

To show how these two attitudes (anger and love) were equally expressed by our incomprehensible God, I'll end with one final passage of Scripture. It shows very clearly how God, who was and is incensed at unbelievers is also a loving God who appeased His wrath and satisfied His justice by sending His Son to die as our substitute. (The beauty of the cross is that God sent Jesus to take the punishment we were due so that we could be completely forgiven and brought into His family.) Here's Ephesians 2:1-10 - 

God's wrath directed at us while we were unbelievers

1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—
3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

God's love directed at us to draw us to Himself

4 But God (I LOVE those two words!), being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Sermon (video): Anger & Reconciliation (Matthew 5:21-26)

While we readily condemn murder, far too many believers have a problem with anger. And yet, Jesus said that anger, in God's sight, is equated with murder.

This sermon seeks to clarify that connection by showing what Jesus said about anger. It concludes with some biblical principles on how to effectively combat this stronghold.

To view the sermon, click here.