Jump Start # 1051

Mark 3:5 “After looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored.”

  Our passage today comes from the healing of the withered hand. This took place in a synagogue. It was on a Sabbath day. The place was a buzzing with the thought of whether or not Jesus would dare heal this man on the Sabbath. Some were ready to pounce on Jesus. We wonder if the man was planted there as a trap. It seems that the Pharisees didn’t have any problem using people to get to Jesus. This would not be the only time they did something like that. The man with the withered hand is called forward by Jesus. Everyone is watching. Instead of immediately healing him, Jesus asked a question, not to the man, but to the crowd bent on accusing Him. The question was about the Sabbath. He asked if it was lawful to do good or harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill? It was a loaded question. Jesus knew. He was ready to save a life and do good, even on the Sabbath. The twisted Pharisees were set to do harm and even kill on the Sabbath. The question revealed the polar opposites between Jesus and these Pharisees.

The crowd didn’t answer Jesus. They kept silent. Their hearts were made up. There was no turning them. Jesus healed the crippled hand and the Pharisees left plotting how they could destroy Jesus.

Our verse shows Jesus’ reaction to their stubborn hearts. He looked around at them with ANGER. Jesus mad? You don’t hear many talking about that these days. The impression some leave us with is that Jesus was always smiling, even at disrespect and sin. Jesus was always handing out flowers. They forget about the two times he flipped tables over and drove some out of the temple who were taking advantage of people. An angry Jesus doesn’t fit into the theology of many moderns. They ignore passages like this, hoping that no one will notice. The Jesus of many people, didn’t care what people thought, did or said. He just loved everything and everybody. This modern version of Jesus stands for nothing, has no backbone and is without conviction. Mostly, it is not supported by Scripture and not the impression one has from reading the Bible. Modern books have reshaped Jesus into an image that offends no one. That’s not the Jesus of the Bible.

Jesus was angry. Some thoughts:

1. Verses are intended to connect together. Jesus was angry, yet Jesus never sinned. The conclusion is that anger itself is not a sin, but it can lead to sin. This is why Paul said, “Be angry; and yet do not sin.” He did not say, “Do not be angry.” Sin invites the Devil. Anger can and often leads to angry words, angry thoughts, angry actions. Violence comes from angry hearts. Vengeance is fueled by anger. In anger, we often say things that we regret later. Not Jesus. He never sinned even though He was angry.

2. The things that angered Jesus were faith based. Our story shows the closed minded Pharisees using a crippled man to get to Jesus. They didn’t care about him. They motive was to destroy Jesus. They did not have an open mind. They were not willing to look at what Jesus was doing and definitely were not willing to listen to what He was saying. Sometimes, often times, we get angry at shallow and superficial things that do not matter in the big picture of things. Our team loses a ball game and we get so mad. We get angry at politicians. The way people drive angers us. Our favorite TV show gets canceled and we get angry. There is a long line at the check out and we get angry. Our food is slow getting to our table or it’s cold and we get angry. We get mad at prices. We get mad at flights delayed. We get angry at the weather. We get angry at the weather man. Some get angry at church. If the preacher says something just a bit too close for comfort, they leave in a huff. Have you noticed how angry so many people are? A lot of music today is angry. The movies are angry. The things that really matter, seem to go unnoticed. No one seems angry about abortion. Redefining marriage seems to be ok with far too many people.  Jesus was angry. He was angry because the crowd was missing the point. He was angry because people were being misled by the Pharisees. He was angry because they refused to believe in Him. What more could He do? He told them. He showed them. He proved it. He connected the dots from the O.T. to Him. Evidence upon evidence showed that He was God’s chosen Messiah. He was God on earth. They, like a three year old, with his hands over his ears, refused to listen. This angered Jesus. His anger did not cause Him to strike the Pharisees. He did not open up the earth and swallow them, though He could have. He did not sit them on Pluto for a couple of hours, though He could have. He was angry, but He didn’t do anything mean, wrong or ugly to them.

3. Jesus was angry, yet He stayed the course. How easily He could have shot up to Heaven and declared, ‘I’m through with those people. They won’t believe in Me, I’m done.’ He didn’t. He continued to do miracles demonstrating who He was. He continued to teach. He continued on to the Cross. Jesus stayed the course. That’s a lesson for us. Sometimes in our anger, we quit. We quit marriages, church, work, life—because someone upset us. We declare that we can’t work with THOSE people. Jesus did. We claim how can we continue on when some have it in for us—Jesus did. We use the failures of others as a reason for us to stop what we ought to be doing. Jesus didn’t do that.

4. Jesus continued to love those who had hard hearts. Love and anger are not opposite choices. Jesus had both. His blood would cleanse the sins of those hard headed Pharisees if they believed. Jesus did not make a declaration that He would from that time forward not die for any Pharisee. No. In fact, later on, one was chosen as an apostle. His name is Paul. Jesus died for him. Jesus chose him as an apostle. Jesus included him. Parents understand this. We can be angry and at the same time, still love our child. Their rebellion angers us. However, we love them dearly and would do anything for them.

Now, the piercing thought: We know that God loves us. There are tons of verses that show that. Has God ever been angry with you? Have you thought about that? God was so angry with the people in Noah’s day, that He declared enough and ended the human existence other than Noah and his family. What about you? Has God been angry with you? Doubt you have heard a sermon on that one before. It’s a thought we don’t want to chase. Why would God be angry with you? Why was Jesus angry with the Pharisees? Lack of faith. Stubborn. Using people. Refusing to listen. Rejecting Him. Sin. Hardened heart. There’s a list. That hits most of us. Angry with us, but not giving up on us. Angry with us, and holding out for us to change and believe. Angry with us, yet keeping the door to Heaven opened for us.

Sometimes when we are angry with someone, we are through with them. They are “de-friended” on Facebook. We take their number off of our phone. We cut all contact with them. We are angry and we want nothing to do with them. Not God. In His angry, He still wants you. He still loves you. He still wants you to come home, as the prodigal did.

Jesus was angry. It makes me sorry for the times I’ve made God disappointed and angry with me. It makes me want to please Him even more. It makes me thankful for grace and forgiveness. It makes me realize what a precious gift salvation is.

How about you?

Roger

Jump Start # 188 

Mark 3:5 “After looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He said to the man, ‘Stretch our your hand.’ And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored.” 

  Our passage today is one of the many miracles of Jesus. This is the healing of the man with the withered hand. Sometimes Luke gives us little insights into what happened, such as a person was crippled from birth or the bent over woman suffered from a spirit. We’re not told here. Born that way? Work injury? Luke doesn’t say. The very words, “withered”  has always seemed strange to me. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a withered hand. I’ve known folks who lost some fingers. I read about a man in our area whose severed hand was reattached through a series of surgeries. But withered?

  The context of this healing mirrors the healing of the bent over woman. Jesus is in a synagogue. It is another Sabbath day. There will be an argument about healing on the Sabbath. The setting of this miracle seems more staged than the bent over woman. Luke says, “they were watching Him to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him.” They anticipated and even expected Jesus to heal this withered hand. In many ways, the critics of Jesus were starting to figure Him out. Jesus had a heart for the hurting. They knew that He couldn’t pass on the opportunity to heal this man’s hand.

  What they failed to see was that Jesus knew what they were up to. He knew it was a trap. He knew that they were using people to get to Jesus. It doesn’t seem that they really cared much about the man with the withered hand. He was bait to trap Jesus.

  In a most unusual passage, Luke says Jesus “looked at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart…” An angry Jesus? Many have never thought of that. This was not the only occasion. Remember, when Jesus turned the tables over in the temple and drove out the money changers? I don’t think He had a smile on His face when this happened.

  Paul told the Ephesians to “be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity.” I’d thought he’d say, “Do NOT be angry.” But he didn’t. He said, “BE angry…BUT.” It’s what anger does to you that makes the difference. It’s hard for us to be angry and not say things we wish later on we hadn’t said. It’s hard not to be angry and give someone a piece of our mind. Anger can make us boil on the inside until we “blow up.” Then trouble comes. The nasty phone call. The chewing out. The road rage. The invitations to Satan to use our anger to lead us to sin.

  Jesus was angry but He never sinned. He never had to apologize for saying the wrong thing. He never returned the next day and had to say that He lost his cool and was sorry for that. Not Jesus. Not once.

  And since we’re on this, did you ever notice what made Jesus angry? It wasn’t that He had to wait for supper or that the store was closed or that there was a long line waiting to get on a boat or the zillion of things that fire us up. Rather, the lack of faith angered Jesus. People using people angered Jesus. Misusing the Temple and taking advantage of others angered Jesus. His was a righteous anger. Often mine is a selfish anger. I get mad at the way I’m treated. Those are not the same. And, when I get angry I get in a sour mood. I pout. I threaten to do this or that. I get bothered. I don’t see that in Jesus. On this occasion, He used the healing as yet another attempt to open the closed minds of his opponents. His anger led Him to construction ways to change things.

  You can learn a lot from anger. You learn even more from Jesus.

Roger