What made JESUS angry?

In every scriptural instance where Jesus expresses anger or dismayed —the rawest of all emotions—this is the match that lit his fuse: Do not get in the way of God’s love. Think about it this way: Jesus came to provide his people direct access to the Father as demonstrated by the veil in the temple being torn at the crucifixion (Matt. 27:51). 

This was an enormously symbolic part of the crucifixion that most people miss. The area behind the veil was the Holy of Holies, where God dwelt. Only the high priest could go into the Holy of Holies, and only once a year. It was such a holy place that they literally tied a rope with a bell around the priest’s leg to pull him out in case he had a heart attack when he came in contact with the Creator of the universe. If the bell stopped ringing, they started pulling. 

No one else was allowed to go in, ever. God Made it this way because, although he wanted his people to know how much he wanted a direct relationship with them, there was too deep a divide between their sinfulness and his holiness. He was preparing them for a Savior. At the crucifixion, the veil was torn “from top to bottom.” This was God’s way of showing us that Jesus’ mission was complete. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:16–17) Everything Jesus came to accomplish had to do with reuniting the Father with his children. So if access to the Father was Jesus’ purpose on earth, then it logically follows that it angered Jesus the most when people created barriers to that access. 

There are three obvious instances of Jesus’ anger in response to the barriers people put up: 

1.​In the temple, where money changers were literally denying access to the Father, especially for the non-Jews and the poor. 

2.​During his teaching, when little children were denied access. 

3.​On the Sabbath, when religious leaders put rules above relationship and suffering above healing. There are many more times when Jesus’ language seems to be directed in anger. Did you notice at whom his anger was most often directed? It was at the religious people of his day. Well, the leaders of the religious people. That would be me today, okay? He was mad at the people who supposedly spoke for God. He was angry because they were blocking the little people from him: children, non-Jews, women, tax collectors, prostitutes, and sinners. Nope. Access denied.

 It’s very easy for the church today to fall into the same bad behavior that the Pharisees, Sadducees, and religious teachers exhibited in Jesus’ day. But we have less excuse for blocking access to the love of the Father, because we’re supposed to be learning from the example of Jesus! 

Which leads me to ponder what Jesus might think if he came to my church and observed the way we are helping people connect to the love of the Father—or denying them, as the case may be. Would Jesus like my church? Would he attend my church?

My name is Cesar and I’m A Voice in The Desert 

#avoiceinthedesert 

#vozeneldesierto

www.mywalkwithmycreator.com