And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other. (Mark 3:5)

Jesus Got Angry

The synagogue was a favorite venue for Jesus to teach and show His power. On one occasion, a man was in attendance who had a crippled and deformed hand. The day was Sabbath, and Jesus, knowing the hearts of those who were gathered, knew they were watching to see if He would heal the man. He could have waited to heal the man or found him elsewhere, away from the peering eyes of His critics. Jesus asked the man to step forward and challenged the crowd: was it against the Sabbath to do a good deed? He wanted to know if a man was dying and could be saved, if they would be willing to save the man if it were the Sabbath.

God gave Israel the Sabbath when He established the Law of Moses. The Sabbath was a holy day devoted to learning of God’s mercy and accepting His rule in their lives. After the Lord delivered the Hebrews from the slavery of Egypt, He ordained the Sabbath as a memorial for Israel to show gratitude for God’s delivering His people. Strict laws governed the Sabbath. A man was found picking up sticks on the Sabbath and was stoned to death. While God imposed strict laws in keeping the Sabbath, it did not forbid acts of mercy.

The Jewish leaders had so hardened their hearts that they believed the six days of the week were given for men to work and on the Sabbath forbid any work, even if it meant helping or saving a life. Yet, they would loose their ox or donkey from the stall and lead it away to water. Jesus is in the synagogue with a child of Abraham who was afflicted with a crippled hand, and the leaders dared Jesus to heal him because it was the Sabbath. Jesus got angry.

The anger of the Lord was righteous indignation against the hypocrisy, hatred, and unmerciful conduct of God’s people. A man with a crippled hand lived a destitute life. Jesus had the power to heal the man, but the Pharisees cared only about whether Jesus would heal a man on the Sabbath. The anger of the Lord was aroused against the hearts of those who used the law to disavow the principles of God’s law. Jesus looked around at the people with anger. It grieved Jesus’ heart to see the hardness of their hearts.

Anger is an emotion of displeasure. There is a sinful anger forbidden by God. Jesus had righteous indignation against the sinful hearts of those who should have known better. When the Lord saw the sinfulness of those who judged Him to heal the man, He showed them His power. Telling the man to stretch out his hand, the hand was restored as whole as the other. To further illustrate the hardness of their hearts, Mark records that the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians how to destroy Jesus. They wanted to kill a man who healed a man with a crippled hand in their presence. What they did not realize was how crippled and deformed their hearts were.

Sinful anger has no place in the life of a Christian, but righteous anger does. Sin must be viewed in its proper context of how God views sin. Often in Israel’s history, the anger of the Lord grew hot toward rebellious Israel. God’s long-suffering waited for the people to repent until there was no more grace. Then God punished his people because of sin. The man Job “eschewed evil” (KJV). In other words, he turned away from it, refused to follow evil, and shunned it. He had a proper view of sin. Anger toward sin is knowing the danger of what sin will do to the heart of man. Be angry and sin not – but be angry about sin.