“Part of the problem of being mad at the world is that it’s hard to know who to be mad at. Something in our flesh wants to be angry, even if we must manufacture a suitable object for our wrath. . . . Unlike all of us born in sin, Jesus never misplaced His anger. He got angry, but never for the wrong reasons.”- Alan Wright
And when [Jesus] drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.”- Luke 17:41-42 (ESV)
In Chapter 9 (“Weeping: Seeing the Lost through Tears Rather Than Rage”) of Seeing as Jesus Sees, Alan Wright stresses that it’s hard for Christians — or anyone — not to view the world with anger, worry, and hopelessness. Yet, Pastor Wright notes, Jesus entered a world that, by most moral standards, was worse than ours.
However, on the week of His death, Jesus entered Jerusalem with a soft heart. Rather than with a clenched fist. He wiped tears, rather than pointed fingers. Because Jesus saw God’s original design for Jerusalem. Before sin overran God’s brand-new, beautiful world. Therefore, Alan explains:
“If we look at the world through Jesus’ eyes, we see more than individuals — we see cities and cultures and empires. And if we see the world as Jesus does, we see perfect beauty tragically marred. Such a sight is worthy of tears.”
Certainly, Pastor Wright states, part of the problem with being mad at the world is this. We find it hard to know whom to be mad at. But something in our flesh wants to be angry. And it’s far easier to display anger at a nameless driver whose face you might never see. Jesus, in contrast, never oversimplified the problems of a broken world. Nor did He scapegoat anyone for all the plagues of the planet.
Today’s question: When do you find that we manufacture a suitable object for our wrath? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Sheep without a shepherd”
