Why Was Jesus So Angry?

 

Only once, in all of Scripture, is Jesus portrayed as passionately, actively angry. Matthew 21:12-13, Mark 11:15-17, Luke 19:45-46 and John 2:12-17, all record how Jesus entered the temple in Jerusalem, saw the buying, selling, cheating and utter chaos that was going on, took a whip and drove out all those who were selling. I used to wonder at this. Why did He get so angry at the moneychangers and sellers of sacrificial animals in the Temple? Shouldn’t He be more angry about the injustice to people He saw every day -- slavery, treatment of lepers, shunning of children, disbelief, corruption of the religious leaders? But His righteous anger at the Temple points to a truth that I have only recently discovered.
      Jesus did not come to earth primarily for us, as we like to believe and are often taught. Yes, He came to earth to show us God, to teach us how to live and to die for our sins, thus purchasing salvation for all those who would believe. But his primary reason for coming to earth was to bring glory to God. “I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do.’ And what was the work? ‘I manifested Your name to the men You gave me out of the world” (John 17:4, 6)                                                                    
Jesus’ main concern was that His Father in Heaven might be worshipped fully and completely by those He had created. God is the creator of all things. He is so incredibly holy, mighty, just, beautiful...truly beyond words. He made us and sustains us and deserves all our thankfulness, praise, wonder and worship. Jesus recognized that more than any other human being on earth and He was jealous for His Father’s glory and worship.
     When He entered the Temple that day, whose actual building was directed by God “to establish His name there for His dwelling” (Deut. 12:2-14), His anger was roused by what He saw. In the Court of the Gentiles, the place set apart for non-Jews to encounter, worship, pray to and find relationship with God, He found noisy, smelly, deceiving distractions to this relationship, prayer and worship. How could people encounter God, pray to and worship Him amidst the buying and selling of animals and the hundreds of pilgrims yelling and arguing with money changers who were doing their best to make a profit and cheat country folks out of their meager earnings?
The fact that all this money changing and selling of animals was being done in the Court of the Gentiles showed the lack of concern and love that the Jewish leadership had for non-Jews. Time and again Jesus had seen their lack of concern for the Gentiles surrounding them. Like Jonah, they hoarded their “privileged” status as followers of God and were not eager to see Gentiles coming to faith in the one, true God. This, of course, did not reflect the mentality of all Jews but it certainly seemed to be the mentality of the Jewish Temple leadership who would allow such a cacophony of noise and corruption in the very place set aside by God for the prayers and worship of foreigners. This angered Jesus! How dare they prevent people from coming and worshipping the Lord? The Lord deserves all praise and glory and anything that hindered that, and hindered the salvation of Gentiles, needed to be destroyed.
I believe that all those who were there knew, in their hearts, that what was going on in the Court of the Gentiles was wrong, even before Jesus so publicly pointed it out. The reason for my belief...no one challenged what He had done; no one tried to stop Him. He was justified in His anger and His actions and they knew it! God deserved every bit of praise and worship and all people deserved an opportunity to meet Him, fall in love with Him and worship Him.
I wonder what Jesus would do today if He stepped into some of our churches? Would He find congregations totally focused on prayer and the worship of Him; congregations that welcome all who would seek Him, causing no hindrances to the worship of Him? Or, would He find churches eager to show off their wealth, eager to sell the worship goer the latest best-selling Christian novel, eager to entertain the congregation and the visitor rather than challenge them to serve God more whole-heartedly. Would He find red-hot worship of God, people whose primary goal in life is to glorify the Lord and find total satisfaction in Him or would He find luke-warm, self-serving, self-focused weekly gatherings of a bunch of people who call themselves Christians but who are living lives no different from the world around them?

Are we like Jonah?

     Did the idea of missional outreach, of sharing the message of who God is and of His love for mankind, begin with the Great Commission? Is this the first time God tells His people to share the message of who He is with the surrounding nations? No, in fact the idea of mission outreach can be seen throughout the entire Bible, beginning with Abraham. 

     God did not choose Abraham solely because He liked Abraham and wanted to bless him alone. No, God chose Abraham so that "all the people on earth will be blessed through you," (Gen. 12:3). 

     Why was Israel chosen? Why were they set apart from the other nations? Was it because this people was better, more holy, than the nations around them? It only takes reading the Bible just a bit to see that this is not true. Israel sinned and disappointed God just as the other nations did. God singled them out to show Himself through them. They were set apart so that "God can pave the way toward achieving His world-embracing goals. In choosing Israel as a segment of all humanity, God never took His eye off the other nations; Israel was a minority called to serve the majority," (The Biblical Foundation for the Worldwide Mission Mandate by Johannes Verkuyl).

     Israel wasn’t blessed just to be blessed, but they were a nation, set apart by God, to call all other nations to Him; to reflect His glory; to not only be blessed but to be a blessing, This idea of being blessed to be a blessing to others is what we, as Christians, are also called to do.  Since the beginning of time, God has loved all nations and desires to see all nations come to Him.  (To see this through Scripture, read Psa 67:1-7; Matt 24:14; Matt 28:18-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:45-49; Acts 1:8, Rev 5:9-10 and Rev 7:9-10.

     Following Genesis 12, God gradually and indirectly draws people from other nations to Himself through His miraculous interventions on Israel’s behalf and through His show of power to bring them the promises of the covenant (land, children, His presence). In the process, some people of other nations (Rahab, Ninevah, Egyptians, Ruth, ...) are drawn to Him as well.                                                                                                               

     One story that has a lot to say about mission outreach is the story of Jonah. "Jonah is a lesson in educating a person to be a missionary. It reveals the need for a radical conversion of one's natural tendencies and a complete restructuring of his life to make it serviceable for mission," (Verkuyl).
     Basically, Jonah did not want to share the message of God's call and His forgiveness with the people of Nineveh because he did not think they deserved it. Nineveh had persecuted the Jews horribly in the past. Jonah didn't just fear this godless nation, he hated them. They did not deserve salvation in his eyes. But, as Jonah learned, it is not up to us to determine who deserves salvation...that is God's call and He wants all nations/people groups to turn to Him.

     No matter what Jonah did, he could not escape God's missionary mandate on his life. God pursued him relentlessly until he finally obeyed God. And to his amazement, the people turned to God with all their heart and repented. "What Israel continually refused to do, the heathen Gentiles did do: the cruel king of Nineveh stands as anti-type to the disobedient kings of Judah," (Verkuyl). 

     So we see throughout the rest of the Old Testament, God countering Satan’s evil reign with His presence, blessings and intervention on behalf of Israel, for the nations. Israel is given the primary blessing but they are then expected to confer that blessing on the nations around them. When they ceased to do that, He caused them to be scattered in the diaspora. This scattering of the Hebrews resulted in their living in various nations, thus bringing to these nations the message of one, sovereign God, a message foreign to the polytheistic cultures around them.  The results of this missional outreach by the Jews during their dispersion is evidenced when, at Pentecost, there "were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven," (Acts 2:5).                

     As believers in Christ witnessed His return to Heaven, Jesus assured them of the blessing of His continued presence with them through the Holy Spirit, but He also charged them with a responsibility that went along with the blessing. Like the Hebrews, they were blessed to be a blessing to all nations. In the “Great Commission” they, and all Christians since them, are directed to go into all the world, past Jerusalem, Judea, Syria and even the Roman Empire and preach the good news of Jesus to everyone. And for each person that receives Christ as Savior, Satan loses a bit of ground.                                                                                                                      It is now up to us, as Christians, to follow in the footsteps of Israel and Jonah; to be a blessing to the rest of the world by blessing them with the message of Jesus Christ. But we have a choice, will we obey or disobey? And will we obey joyfully or reluctantly? "While God never forces any of us, He tenderly asks us to put our whole heart and soul into the work of mission. God is still interested in transforming obstinate, irritable, depressive, peevish Jonah's into heralds of the Good News which brings freedom...If a person draws his lifeblood from the one greater than Jonah and yet declines to spread the Good News among others, in effect, he is sabotaging the aims of God Himself. Jonah is father to all those Christians whe desire the benefits and blessings of election but refuse its responsibility. Thomas Carlisle's poem, 'You Jonah,' closes with these lines:

     And Jonah stalked

     to his shaded seat

     and waited for God

     to come around

     to his way of thinking.

     And God is still waiting for a host of Jonahs

     in their comfortable houses

     to come around

     to His way of thinking."  (Verkuyl)

How A Peace Child Overcame Cannibalism

Imagine a group of people who honor treachery as an ideal, the way we honor friendship, sacrifice and loyalty. Imagine telling stories to your children about the heros of old but instead of men like Daniel or David or George Washington, the stories are about "men who formed friendships with the express purpose of later betraying the befriended one to be killed and eaten...'to fatten with friendship for the slaughter.'" Now imagine that it is your husband or your father or your son who has been not only killed by his enemies, but then roasted, eaten and that his skull is used as a pillow by his murderer. Can we even begin to imagine such horror?

Now imagine that you are a missionary, sent to tell these headhunting, cannibalistic tribes that Jesus loves them. That God sent His Son to die for them and that His desire is that they spend eternity with Him in Heaven. But there is no response to your stories from the Bible. They have no concept of God, only demons. The only person in any Bible story they relate to is Judas. In fact, they admire Judas because of his betrayal of Jesus...he fattened Jesus with friendship for the slaughter!

This isn't fiction and it's not even ancient history. This describes many of the tribes living in the former Netherlands New Guinea, now part of Indonesia, known as Irian Jaya. And this took place in the 1960s!

But God did not leave these people alone, no matter how barbaric and scary their lifestyle was. No one is lost to Him and there is no darkness too dark for the Gospel to penetrate. God sent Don and Carol Richardson to the Sawi people. And the message the Richardsons shared with them drastically changed every part of their lives.

"It had taken nearly two thousand years for the message of that new value system to range from Galilee to the miasmal swamps of southwest New Guinea. On its way, that message had already challenged, engaged and conquered barbarity in many forms in the minds of millions of people, for it was an extremely mettlesome message. It was not cowed by earthly obstacles, for its strength was supernatural. It could not be intimidated, for it was itself the ultimate antidote to fear.

The message would not back away from any form of darkness, for it was light itself! It was not embarrassed if its bearers were sometimes plain, homely or even untaught - in fact it was fond of executing its most subtle strategies through such! To the consternation of its enemies, it could triumph even when its adherents were being decimated by sword or spear.

That message was the gospel of Jesus Christ. Its purpose was nonnegotiable - to persuade men from 'every kindred, and tongue, and people and nation' to repent and be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. That message was now about to invade the Sawi world, about to confront their idealization of treachery eye to eye in a relentless spiritual struggle for the souls of men, women and children. It would match prayer and preaching against spear and barbed arrow; faith and hope against systematized barbarity; love and compassion against entrenched fear and evil," (Don Richardson).

But how to reach these people with the Gospel? What would they understand? Had God left any witness of Himself in their culture which could give a clue to the Richardsons as to how to penetrate this darkness? Yes!!!!

To this people who would betray even their own families, there was one act that they would never betray...the giving of a peace child. The only way to ensure a lasting peace between tribes was if the two tribes exchanged children...a son from one tribe for a son from another tribe. As long as these peace children lived, there would be peace between the two tribes. Once Don Richardson witnessed this sad exchange (tragic for the parents who had to relinquish their children forever), the Lord showed him how this was an example of the ultimate peace child...Jesus Christ. So it was through this cultural window, and a few others, that the Richardsons were able to share of God's great love for the Sawi people. The light had penetrated the darkness and the darkness could not overcome it. Jesus had indeed brought peace to the Sawi!

Don Richardson's prayer so aptly expressed the wonder that I continue to feel as I read of such encounters: "I thank You, my Father, for laying the groundwork for our ministry to these people. The Sawi were strangers to our Judeo-Christian heritage, yet You so providentially ordained these redemptive analogies within their culture ages ago, so that one day we would find and use them for Your glory. You were concerned, not only to send messengers, but also to prepare a culture to receive their message.

As You prepared the Hebrews and the Greeks, so also the Sawi were not too insignificant or too pagan to receive this much of Your providence...I see now more than ever why You are called the God of wisdom and the God of love and the God of power. I praise You!"

To read more about this incredible story of how the Sawi came to know Jesus, read Peace Child by Don Richardson!

Why Pray?

     Many of us may have had this question come to our minds or may have been asked it of us: "Why pray? What is the point of prayer when God knows the future and is already in control of everything. If we cannot change God's mind, why should we pray?"

     I thought this was a very good, thought-provoking answer from the website http://www.gotquestions.org/:

     For the Christian, praying is like breathing. It is easier to do it than to not do it. We pray for a variety of reasons. For one thing, prayer is a form of serving God (Luke 2:36-38) and obeying Him. We pray because God commands us to pray (Philippians 4:6-7). Prayer is exemplified for us by Christ and the early church (Mark 1:35; Acts 1:14; 2:42; 3:1; 4:23-31; 6:4; 13:1-3). If Jesus thought it was worthwhile to pray, we should also. If He needed to pray to remain in the Father’s will, how much more do we need to pray?

     Another reason to pray is that God intends prayer to be the means of obtaining His solutions in a number of situations. We pray in preparation for major decisions (Luke 6:12-13); to overcome demonic barriers (Matthew 17:14-21); to gather workers for the spiritual harvest (Luke 10:2); to gain strength to overcome temptation (Matthew 26:41); and to obtain the means of strengthening others spiritually (Ephesians 6:18-19).

     We come to God with our specific requests, and we have God's promise that our prayers are not in vain, even if we do not receive specifically what we asked for (Matthew 6:6; Romans 8:26-27). He has promised that when we ask for things that are in accordance with His will, He will give us what we ask for (1 John 5:14-15). Sometimes He delays His answers according to His wisdom and for our benefit. In these situations, we are to be diligent and persistent in prayer (Matthew 7:7; Luke 18:1-8). Prayer should not be seen as our means of getting God to do our will on earth, but rather as a means of getting God's will done on earth. God’s wisdom far exceeds our own.

     For situations in which we do not know God's will specifically, prayer is a means of discerning His will. If the Syrian woman with the demon-influenced daughter had not prayed to Christ, her daughter would not have been made whole (Mark 7:26-30). If the blind man outside Jericho had not called out to Christ, he would have remained blind (Luke 18:35-43). God has said that we often go without because we do not ask (James 4:2). In one sense, prayer is like sharing the gospel with people. We do not know who will respond to the message of the gospel until we share it. In the same way, we will never see the results of answered prayer unless we pray.

     A lack of prayer demonstrates a lack of faith and a lack of trust in God’s Word. We pray to demonstrate our faith in God, that He will do as He has promised in His Word and bless our lives abundantly more than we could ask or hope for (Ephesians 3:20). Prayer is our primary means of seeing God work in others' lives. Because it is our means of “plugging into” God's power, it is our means of defeating Satan and his army that we are powerless to overcome by ourselves. Therefore, may God find us often before His throne, for we have a high priest in heaven who can identify with all that we go through (Hebrews 4:15-16). We have His promise that the fervent prayer of a righteous man accomplishes much (James 5:16-18). May God glorify His name in our lives as we believe in Him enough to come to Him often in prayer.

The Hope of a Coming World Revival

Do you know that more people have come to know Christ in the last 100 years than in all the centuries before that combined? That is a staggering but exciting thought! Even though we may not be very aware of it in America, the Holy Spirit is moving and bringing salvation to untold millions throughout the world. That is just what the Bible said would happen as we anticipate the Lord's return. "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions; and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my Spirit," (Joel 2:28, 29). In this post, I hope to encourage you and excite you about what the Lord will do. Isn't it exciting to think that it may be done in our generation!

     So often the news tends to focus on the bad. And in reading the Bible we know that things will get worse as the end approaches (2 Tim 3:12; 2 Thes 2:1-3). "Famines, pestilence and earthquakes of staggering proportions will occur. Wars and intrigue will fill the earth. Hate will bind the hearts of men. No one will feel secure. As moral integrity breaks down, apostasy in the Church will increase. Those who do not conform to the spirit of the age will be hard pressed, and many will be martyred. (As you are reading this, many examples of these truths have probably come to mind.) Clearly, the cost of discipleship will be high. Yet, amid this terrible adversity, Scripture indicates that revival will sweep across the earth...the terrors will actually create an environment for earnest heart searching," (Robert E. Coleman).

     We are seeing this today in countries like China, Iran and Vietnam, where greater persecution of Christians is leading to greater growth in the Church! "Through the purging of revival, God's people will be brought to the true beauty of holiness. Our Lord expects to present His bride unto Himself 'a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless,' (Eph 5:27; 1 Jn 3:2-3; 2 Cor 7:1; 1 Pet 1:13-16; 3:4). The trials of the last days will serve as fires to refine the gold of Christian character. A purified Church will be able to receive unhindered the power of the outpoured Spirit, and thereby more boldly enter into the mission of Christ" (Coleman).

     God has never promised that He would save every Christian from suffering on this earth. That belief is easy to come by in the relatively safe Church of America but is not found in the Church in much of the rest of the world. Instead, Jesus promised His followers hardship at every turn. But in that hardship, He also promised to be with us, to refine us, and to use us for His glory and to draw others to Himself. We must not fear the affliction but understand it when it comes. This is a message for the Church in America! I believe our time of ease may be soon over. We, as a Church, need to prepare to suffer affliction as our brothers and sisters in Christ are doing throughout the world. And we must not fear this affliction but see it for what it is - a means for growing the Church of Christ, growing closer to the Lord on an individual level and ultimately glorifying Him as we show the world that our Lord and Savior, who suffered for us, is worth suffering and dying for!

     But in this suffering is the hope of a coming world revival! People who are full of the Holy Spirit as a result of their suffering, are committed to God's work. Do you know where there is a huge movement of people to bring the Gospel to the Muslims...China! A country of great persecution is burning with the desire to see those, lost in a religion of great persecution (Islam), come to Christ. An example of this is the ministry Back to Jerusalem. You can learn more about them at http://www.backtojerusalem.com/  When you go to the website you may notice that the pictures of many of the Christian leaders of this movement need to be obscured so as to protect them from a government who would like to destroy them. Where is this same passion for the Muslims in America? I believe that passion often comes with persecution, thus we see that the persecution that God allows His church to undergo is not in vain. It has a purpose!

     I believe that God's passion to get out the message of Jesus to the lost nations of this world will increase. You are reading this blog and I am writing this blog because He is growing in us a passion for the lost! Be encouraged that the greatest day of evangelism, what Joel 2:23, Hos 6:3, Zech 10:1 and James 5:7 refer to as the "latter rain," is before us. "The harvesting may be short in duration and may require enormous sacrifice, but it will be the most far-reaching acceptance of the Gospel this world has ever seen. The massive turning of Christ by people from the four corners of the earth will prepare the way for the coming of the King," (Coleman)

     "Anticipation of our Lord's return is a summons to action. We must cast off anything that blocks the flow of the Holy Spirit and commit ourselves to being about the Father's business. World evangelization now is the responsibility around which our lives should be centered. Whatever our gifts, we are all needed in the witness of the Gospel," (Coleman).

     Let's make this more personal for a moment. What trials are you facing in your life right now? For me, I struggle with the day-to-day challenges of raising a family of six, homeschooling, meeting the needs of my husband and involvement in outside organizations. When the daily trials occur, it is so easy to forget all about the Lord and act in the flesh...to get irritated, angry and then feel guilty. But what if I asked God for a new perspective? What if I asked Him to help me see the trials He allows in my daily life as ways to be purified in Him? As opportunities to pray more, trust more and grow more in the grace and knowledge of Jesus? He may be using the daily struggles of motherhood (or fatherhood, work, singleness, etc.) as periods of refinement to grow compassion and patience in us, compassion that may one day extend beyond our own homes to the nations; patience that may one day be manifested in mission work for the Lord.

     Through the daily struggles and as we anticipate a coming world revival, prayer is our greatest resource. We need to be asking God daily, how do you want to use me? Who should I be praying for? What are You doing in the world and how can I get involved?

     "Something great is on the horizon. You can almost feel it in the air. Though forces of evil are becoming more sinister and aggressive, there is a corresponding cry for spiritual awakening. Across the world, never has there been more yearning by more people for spiritual reality, nor has the Church ever had the means it now has to take the glad tidings of salvation to the lost, unreached people of the earth. What a day to be alive!

     Certainly this is a not a time for despair. The King's coming is certain. And in preparation for His return we may be the very generation that will see the greatest movement of revival since the beginning of time!" (Coleman)