I just finished watching an irate man spew venom at a lady in a CVS parking lot. It seems she was blocking a parking space he wanted. The sad part about this drama was there was both a car in front of her and a car behind her. She could not move. Finally he raged off to another spot and almost ran over another lady with a small child because he had lost control.
Rage, especially stupid rage, makes the rager look like the idiot he has reduced himself to be. Paul wrote, “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (Eph 4:30-31). But someone is sure to say, “Jesus got angry.” One does not have to read any further in Mark than chapter three to read of Jesus becoming angry. “ He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored.” This is not the only account of Jesus being angry. What is unique about each incident is why He was angry. Most of us are angered because someone has taken something we want; real or imagined. Each time Jesus’ ire is raised is because someone with power is abusing someone without power. He was a champion of the weak.
This was so different from the idiot in the CVS parking lot. The only person he was championing was himself and the product was a load of poison that surged through his own system. The person he hurt the most was himself.
Written by Roger Bothwell on February 16, 2015
Spring of Life, PO Bo 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
Rogerbothwell.org