Was Jesus ever angry?
The Gospels do not hide it: in a synagogue, watched by men hoping He would break their Sabbath rules, Jesus healed a man with a withered hand — and looked round at His critics with anger. That raises a real question for anyone who thinks of Him only as gentle: what kind of anger can exist in someone perfectly holy, and what set it off?
Anger and Grief Together
The same sentence that records His anger records His sorrow, and commentators keep the two joined. This was not a judge passing sentence.
J. G. BellettThough we read of His looking round in anger, we soon learn that this was not the anger of one who has taken the seat of judgment, but of Him who was grieved at heart for the hardness and unbelief of men. It was the sensitiveness of the spirit of holiness.
Writers note that Mark, more than the others, lets us see what the Lord felt.
C. E. StuartThis is not the only place where Mark carefully notes the feelings of the Lord. From him we learn how in the synagogue (3:5) He looked round at the Pharisees with anger, grieved at the hardness of their hearts. From the same writer we learn what the Lord felt when the disciples rebuked those who tried to bring young children to their Master, that He might touch them: "He was indignant" (10:14).
What Provoked Him
His anger was not at being personally insulted. It was at hearts so hard that a suffering man's healing counted for nothing beside their tradition.
William KellyHe told the man to "Stand up" before He asked His fuller and withering questions: "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" And when they stayed silent, yet full of malice, He looked round at them with anger, distressed at the hardening of their heart. What right had selfish, murderous men against God's grace?
The reaction proved His reading of them right. Instead of shame, they organised.
Leslie M. GrantSeeing such a result, the Pharisees, instead of being rightly ashamed of their hardness, became all the more hardened in hostility toward Him. They reject grace — in which the power of God had been clearly shown — in favour of a cold, stern legality that prefers a withered state.
The Temple
The synagogue was not the only scene. In the temple His indignation took physical form, and one writer counts the actions to show how unusual that was for Him.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinThe whole event is remarkable, showing our Lord using more physical effort and energetic bodily action than we see Him use at any other time in His ministry. A word, a touch, or the reaching out of a hand are the usual limits of His actions. Here we see Him doing no less than four things: making the whip; driving out the animals; pouring the money changers' coins onto the ground; and overturning the tables. On no other occasion do we find Him showing such strong outward marks of indignation as at the sight of the temple being profaned.
That zeal cost Him. It was, one writer says, a signpost to the cross.
Samuel RidoutOur Lord drives them out with a whip of small cords and throws out all their trading. "Do not make my Father's house a house of trade," He says, and His disciples remember the words of Psalm 69 — one of the sacrificial psalms — "Zeal for your house will consume me." This very zeal and devotion to His Father's glory was a pledge of His death.
Anger Without Sin
Because Jesus was angry, anger itself cannot be sin. Commentators use His example to explain the command in Ephesians 4:26.
Hamilton SmithThere is such a thing as being rightly angry, but such anger is indignation against evil, not against the evil-doer, and behind such anger there is grief on account of the evil... The anger of the flesh always has self in view; it is not grief over evil, but resentment against someone who has been offensive. This fleshly anger against the wrongdoer will only lead to bitterness that fills the soul with thoughts of revenge.
The test offered is how quickly the heart settles again: "if the anger is that of the new man because of evil, then as soon as the evil is removed the soul returns to its rest; but if anger lasts, then there is bitterness" (J. N. Darby).
A Flash of What Is Coming
Some writers read that look in the synagogue as a brief preview of judgment still ahead.
The Bible TreasuryThe zeal for God which consumed the Righteous Servant drew out a momentary flash of that "wrath of the Lamb" from which the rulers of this world will vainly seek shelter in a future day (Rev. 6:15-17). But the Lord was not there to judge. So He viewed their desperate condition with sorrow and grief.
Summary
- Anger — Yes, Jesus was angry: in the synagogue at hardened hearts, and in the temple, where He showed stronger outward indignation than anywhere else in His ministry.
- Grief — His anger came with sorrow, not with sentence; it was the sensitivity of holiness, not a judge on the bench.
- Cause — Evil provoked it, never wounded pride: indignation against the wrong, grief over the wrongdoer.
- Cost — The zeal that cleansed His Father's house was a pledge of His death.
- Pattern — Be angry and do not sin: when the evil passes, the heart returns to rest; when anger stays, it has turned into bitterness.