Anger: Good or Bad? Part 3

November 24, 2024

"Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, 'I will take revenge; I will pay them back,' says the Lord." (Romans 12:19, New Living Translation)

What Did Jesus Get Angry About?

1. Jesus got angry when people made worship about money.

"In the Temple area he saw merchants selling cattle, sheep, and doves for sacrifices; he also saw dealers at tables exchanging foreign money. Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased them all out of the Temple. He drove out the sheep and cattle, scattered the money changers' coins over the floor, and turned over their tables. Then, going over to the people who sold doves, he told them, 'Get these things out of here. Stop turning my Father's house into a marketplace!' Then his disciples remembered this prophecy from the Scriptures: 'Passion for God's house will consume me.'" (John 2:14–17, NLT)

What Did Jesus Do?

• He got rid of barriers to worshipping God.

2. Jesus got angry when people cared more about "following the rules" than caring for the hurting.

"Jesus went into the synagogue again and noticed a man with a deformed hand. Since it was the Sabbath, Jesus' enemies watched him closely. If he healed the man's hand, they planned to accuse him of working on the Sabbath." (Mark 3:1–2, NLT)

"Jesus said to the man with the deformed hand, 'Come and stand in front of everyone.' Then he turned to his critics and asked, 'Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing evil? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?' But they wouldn't answer him. He looked around at them angrily and was deeply saddened by their hard hearts." (Mark 3:3-5a, NLT)

What Did Jesus Do?

• He ignored his critics and went right on loving people.
• "Then he said to the man, 'Hold out your hand.' So the man held out his hand, and it was restored!" (Mark 3:5b, NLT)

3. Jesus got angry over the pain caused by sin and death!

"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." (John 11:33, NLT)

"'Where have you put him?' he asked them. They told him, 'Lord, come and see.' Then Jesus wept. The people who were standing nearby said, 'See how much he loved him!'" (John 11:34-36, NLT)

"Jesus was still angry as he arrived at the tomb, a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance. 'Roll the stone aside,'... Then Jesus shouted, 'Lazarus, come out!' And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, 'Unwrap him and let him go!'" (John 11:38–44, NLT)

What Did Jesus Do?

• Jesus conquered sin and death!
• "I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die." (John 11:25–26, NLT)

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him." (John 3:16-17, English Standard Version)

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