Tuesday, September 25, 2012

What Made Jesus Angry?

I saw this tweet on someone's facebook page and had to post it.
That is a great point. Jesus didn't have much to say about the tyrannical Caesar who ran the Roman Empire with an iron fist, crucifying those that crossed him and making himself into a deity to be worshiped. You think Obama is bad? Take a look at men like Nero and Caligula. Jesus seemed to get what we don't, that unregenerate sinners are going to behave like unregenerate sinners and we are not called to convince them to act like believers, we are called to go to them and command them to repent and believe.

When we look at the New Testament we see Jesus speaking forcefully against the religious leaders of the, the hypocritical who thought their external piety made them better than others. He drove the moneychangers out of the temple, just guys trying to make a buck and provide a convenient service to make religious obligations just a little bit easier. He had a few things to say about the scribes and Pharisees, things like "hypocrites", "blind fools". "brood of vipers". Those who wield religion like a weapon for their own advantage were the targets of His wrath and anger.

The church in America gets awfully incensed about a lot of stuff that Caesar does but the things that made Jesus angry don't get much attention. Jesus was concerned about empty religious hypocrisy, about loving money, serving two masters, caring for the poor (or lack thereof), about disunity in the church and above all proclaiming the Kingdom. We would all be better of, me especially, if we worried less about what Caesar is doing and instead looked to those things that Jesus spoke out against and for. Electing a blasphemer to be President to replace a man who embraces infanticide is not much of an improvement. Calling the church to repent of our love of money and our religion? That is what we need to be focused on. 

No comments: