The world very often seems an angry place. There is always someone getting angry about something. In Politics….today, everyone seems angry! I see many relationships, marriages as well as friendships in which it just seems apparent that both parties are looking for reasons to be angry! The truth is, God made it very apparent that “love” is at the center of our relationships. Not anger. I think it’s funny that God speaks to the disciples: Peter, James and John and says, “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” Indeed, Love is at the center of God’s relationship with Jesus. Love is at the center of my relationship with my wife. This is also a great lesson for me as I know the importance of listening to my wife (after all she’s always right!). LOL
Mark 9:7-9 (TNIV)
7 Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” 8 Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus. 9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
There is a major lesson to be learned from these Scriptures. Jesus is the center of our reality! He was not merely another prophet, another Rabbi, a smart man. In fact, here Jesus is in the company of two of the greatest prophets that have ever lived, Moses and Elijah….yet they defer to Jesus. Never overlook what God the Father says, “Listen to Him!” God makes it very clear that we are ALL to listen to Jesus. The Greek word translates as “listen” here is “akouete” which comes from the root, “akouo” [ak-oo-o] which has a fuller meaning of, “to hear, to head, to understand, to hear and to obey what is heard”.
It’s funny to me that Jesus then tells these disciples not to tell anyone what they have witnessed……YET….not until after He is raised from the dead. We also, I believe, just like the disciples that lived in the “here and now” of their reality, have a hard time seeing Jesus as anything but a human redeemer. They expected Jesus to free Israel from the oppression of the Romans. All along this journey with Jesus He is saying much more, He is telling them that He has come for so much more than mere human immediate political needs.
Jesus came to free us from the penalty of our Sin. Jesus came to overcome death in our reality by giving us the opportunity to enjoy eternal life with the Father, indeed, with Jesus Himself! And yes, His wisdom and love DO affect our immediate reality! Just not in the way that the disciples, or maybe even us, know. Jesus came to show us that as we turn the worlds wisdom upside down with His…..by loving, by living in peace, showing compassion and empathy, by helping people, indeed our communities and this world, HEAL….that there is a NEW LIFE that can be lived in Him. AND it is so much better than the old crusty life we once lived. Jesus didn’t come to free us from the government (Rome or otherwise), he came to truly free us from ourselves…..our sin.
We must always respond to the world’s anger with love, not more anger and hostility. As we respond in the ways of Jesus, in love and humility, the scars of our sufferings in Christ are our badges of discipleship that lead by promise to a wonderful future!
God our Father, I believe, is looking down right now at both you and I and saying, “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”
Yes, anger is a terrible thing. Especially when we use it toward those we love. It seems incongruent.