Righteous Anger
“And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other.” Mark 3:5
You can tell a lot about a person by what makes them angry. It reveals their values and priorities. Anger is a natural response to something that offends our values and sense of justice. There were at least five times when the Bible explicitly says Jesus was angry
1. Let the Little Children Come to Me (Mark 10:14–16)
2. The “Cleansing” of the Temple (Matthew 21; Mark 11; Luke 21)
3. Sickness (Mark 1:41)
4. Death (John 11:33)
and in this text over the hardness of the religious leaders' hearts. The Bible doesn't say we can't ever be angry, which would be quite impossible because anger is an emotion built into us all who are made like God who can be angry.
The Bible says deal with your anger quickly and with wisdom. Quoting Psalms 4:4-5, Paul writes, “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath.” Ephesians 4:26 In others words, it's ok to be angry but don't sin in the midst of your anger by staying angry. We've all met people who are constantly angry with everyone, even at strangers who have done them no harm. It's not just that we tend to act rashly and harshly when we are angry, it's that it affects our relationship with the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 4:30 warns us about the fruits of unguarded anger which include physical fighting, verbal fighting (quarreling), malice (harboring a desire to do harm), bitterness (long term resentments) and clamor (noisy uproar). Apostle Paul warns of the inevitable result "And do not grieve (causing distress or emotional pain) the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” Mark 3 shows that hardness of heart grieves Jesus, and Ephesians 4 tells us that the fruits of unguarded and unbounded anger grieve the Holy Spirit. May the Lord give us His wisdom and strength today to guard our hearts in world full of evil and injustice.
You can tell a lot about a person by what makes them angry. It reveals their values and priorities. Anger is a natural response to something that offends our values and sense of justice. There were at least five times when the Bible explicitly says Jesus was angry
1. Let the Little Children Come to Me (Mark 10:14–16)
2. The “Cleansing” of the Temple (Matthew 21; Mark 11; Luke 21)
3. Sickness (Mark 1:41)
4. Death (John 11:33)
and in this text over the hardness of the religious leaders' hearts. The Bible doesn't say we can't ever be angry, which would be quite impossible because anger is an emotion built into us all who are made like God who can be angry.
The Bible says deal with your anger quickly and with wisdom. Quoting Psalms 4:4-5, Paul writes, “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath.” Ephesians 4:26 In others words, it's ok to be angry but don't sin in the midst of your anger by staying angry. We've all met people who are constantly angry with everyone, even at strangers who have done them no harm. It's not just that we tend to act rashly and harshly when we are angry, it's that it affects our relationship with the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 4:30 warns us about the fruits of unguarded anger which include physical fighting, verbal fighting (quarreling), malice (harboring a desire to do harm), bitterness (long term resentments) and clamor (noisy uproar). Apostle Paul warns of the inevitable result "And do not grieve (causing distress or emotional pain) the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” Mark 3 shows that hardness of heart grieves Jesus, and Ephesians 4 tells us that the fruits of unguarded and unbounded anger grieve the Holy Spirit. May the Lord give us His wisdom and strength today to guard our hearts in world full of evil and injustice.