What manner of spirit
‘And he sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him. And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.’ (Luke 9:52-56)
In my current state of mental and emotional fragility, brought on by burnout, anger has become a danger in my life. I have found it can consume me in an instant. That is not to say I am often angry, but it can flare without warning. It seems part of a ‘fight or flight’ response to some unexpected antagonism – often, some kind of infuriating disregard for me by others – and in this response, to view it from a medical or material perspective, the part of my brain which makes rational decisions switches off. In such moments of extreme stress, the body apparently is wired to act on instinct rather than conscious reasoning. A saying of young people (probably a well outdated saying by now) used to describe their dad or some other authority figure losing his temper is, ‘he went ape’. In other words, his normal, rational mental function was replaced by something more primitive.
In actual fact, I believe there is never any reason for any of us to be angry. That is because God has enough anger to meet any requirement for it, should there be any. And only God is, without exception, only angry about the right things, or with the right people, for the right reason.
Nowadays I expect it is unpopular to depict God as being angry at all. Nonetheless, David wrote:
‘God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.’ (Psalm 7:11)
And in Revelation we read:
‘And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.’ (Revelation 19:11-16)
I believe a problem we have when trying to comprehend the anger of God is that his anger is fundamentally different to our own. Human anger is rarely grounded in any good reason or sentiment. Our anger is almost always selfish.
‘Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.’ (James 1:20)
It is poignant for me personally to read James’ association of quickness in anger, with anger not of God.
‘He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.’ (Proverbs 25:28)
‘But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.’ (Galatians 5:22-23)
Angry outbursts are quite literally ungodly, spiritual manifestations – whether of the spirit of man, or a demonic spirit, I do not fully know; I expect either or both may at times be the case. But, ‘longsuffering, gentleness, meekness, temperance’ are fruits of the Holy Spirit. These things are the opposite of uncontrolled, selfish anger.
It is easy enough to see that unwise words and actions may break out from a person who has a quick temper, who lacks self-control. What the scripture above from Proverbs teaches us it that such a person is not only in danger from within, but from without. Angry outbursts bring a danger of manipulation and invasion of the person by other spirits; a ‘city without walls’ lacks defences.
Patience, longsuffering, kindness, gentleness and love characterize our God. He is the source of all mercy, the great forgiver. Perhaps that is why, when his anger appears as in the description above from Revelation, his anger is notable to say the least. God’s anger is pure, and arises when all other expressions of his nature no longer find place.
Jesus shows us the nature of God in the most special way.
‘Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?’ (John 14:8-9)
But how do we reconcile the image from Revelation of Jesus treading ‘the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God’ with Jesus of the Gospels, almost never angry about anything?
Even in his great denouncement of the scribes and Pharisees in Matthew 23, the phrase Jesus repeats so many times is, ‘Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!’ (e.g. Matthew 23:13) This is not an attack – it is a warning. It was for their sakes, not his own, that Jesus spoke.
This seems to me part of the reason why Jesus was seldom angry. He had absolute faith that the Father knew, and would answer every offence. God’s awareness of people’s hurtful ways and his anger about it were not in doubt; Jesus’ mission was to save men from it.
‘For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.’ (John 3:16-17)
Jesus knew his role: not to condemn, but to save. Hallelujah!
In Revelation 19 Jesus is shown with a different role: the conquering King. (But spiritually, it was by his suffering and sacrifice and at the cross that Jesus won ‘the keys of death and of hell’ and conquered his enemies indeed; Revelation 1:18; Colossians 2:15.) There is no contradiction between Revelation 19 and John 3:16-17; both represent aspects of the character of God. Jesus knows, and submits to the expression of the Father which is appointed to him in each case, and is fully at one with the Father in every part of his nature.
The few times when the Bible records that Jesus was angry are also instructive.
‘And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand. And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him. And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth.
And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace. And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and is hand was restored whole as the other. And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.’ (Mark 3:1-6)
It is clear that the Pharisees and others who were present in the above incident would be enough to infuriate any person by their callous insincerity and self interest, and indifference to a beautiful miracle of God. However, Jesus’ anger was kindled not by their antagonism or schemes against himself, but by their indifference to the wonderful healing of a man which any person with any kindness would delight in, and also their disregard that what was done honoured and glorified God, whom they claimed to serve. None of Jesus’ anger was on his own account; it was his love for others, and for the Father, which made him angry for their sakes.
‘And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables; And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise. And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.’ (John 2:13-17)
Again, it was not on his own account, but on account of the Father that Jesus was angry.
As a final comment on this subject of anger, and what place and consequences it may have in our lives, I will digress to a very different context, but one I found instructive as I observed it today. Watching the beginning of a rugby match between Australia and New Zealand, I observed the phenomenon of a ‘reversed penalty’.
In this incident one of the players had attempted within the rules of the game to wrestle the ball from an opposition player, who withheld the ball in circumstances where they were obliged to release it. The player attempting to gain the ball thereby won a penalty against the opposition player. He also took the opportunity to shove the opposition player to the ground to express his displeasure at their actions.
In predictable fashion there were loud objections by various players and some began grabbing and pushing each other in response to the incident. The referee blew his whistle, signalled the penalty for the unlawful retention of the ball, then called over the player who had won the penalty, and his captain.
The referee stated that he recognized the unlawful retention of the ball and had awarded a penalty accordingly, but was now reversing the penalty due to the aggressive shove by the player who was until then ‘in the right’, which had led to the onset of pushing and shoving among the players.
I realised the above incident had parallels with the subject of anger which I had been studying. The main reason we need not, and indeed must not be angry with those around us is that it is not our place. Paul counsels us, ‘Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:’ (Ephesians 4:23). Yet in truth, while the words of Paul acknowledge that anger is sometimes inevitable for us, it is never reasonable. Because much of what we can be angry about we have also done ourselves in some way, at some point. But more particularly, even if we do have good cause, it is not our role.
Nothing at all escapes the attention of our God; he alone is the rightful ‘referee’. As Jesus said, ‘every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment’ (Matthew 12:36). And if there is any place for anger, God alone can express that in a way that is just. But his preference is always for mercy – and is it not that hope to which we ourselves must fervently cling?
When we try to supplant the authority of God by our own, selfish anger, because we ourselves have been hurt or wronged, we put ourselves in danger of sharing the punishment we imagine should be dished out on God’s behalf. There is a danger ‘the penalty may be reversed’.
Whereas Jesus, being without sin and rightfully able to be angry on his own behalf as well as for the sake of others, instead trembled at the fate he saw might befall those who wronged him. At the cross he cried, ‘Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.’ (Luke 23:34)
‘Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.’ (Romans 12:19)
May the knowledge of our great, terrible and merciful God dissipate our selfish anger and inappropriate disputes which obstruct the grace he would otherwise show us, and which might otherwise flow through us to others, ‘seasoning’ our world with the better, wholesome fruits of the Spirit: patience, forbearance, gentleness, self-control, and love.
Thanks be to God for his great, great mercy which rejoices against judgement (James 2:13).
Amen.
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