February 16 - Angry Jesus

Read: John 2:13-25

And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. (John 2:15 ESV)

The system was completely ridiculous. The religious elite had turned the Temple, meant to be a connecting point between God and man, into a religious market. It came complete with a pyramid scheme and fraudulent money conversion system. Herod and the Chief Priests were making an exorbitant fortune.

Jesus got mad. He didn't go sit in his room and think about it. He didn't blog. He didn't write a sad song or rebel against his family. He made a weapon. He crafted a whip out of chords. He took time to fashion the instrument he would use to deliver justice. He thought about his course. He acted upon his anger.

The difference between Jesus' anger and mine is not only how he did what he did, or what he actually did, but why he did it. Usually if I get mad it is rooted in some kind of pride. Jesus' anger derived from his understanding of the terrible corruption taking place in God's house. My anger usually erupts when something that I would typically just tolerate somehow begins to affect me. Jesus' anger boiled over at the injustice being done to the hundreds and thousands of people coming to the Temple. Jesus anger was righteous. Mine rarely is.

Jesus' active anger resulted in the righting of grievous wrongs. It's ok to get mad. It is even ok to act on your anger. It's not ok to act out of selfishness, pain, or pride.

February 15 - Believe

Read: John 2:1-11

This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him. (John 2:11 ESV)

Jesus' first miracle was turning water into wine at a wedding feast. He used containers typically reserved for a separate Jewish religious observance, the rites of purification, had them filled with water, and changed the water into wine. It was a sign to his disciples that Jesus was more than just another teacher.

It took the miraculous to convince the disciples present with Jesus at the wedding in Cana of who he actually was. Are we guilty of that same kind of doubtful default position? Is the miraculous something that should be a regular occurrence among God's people?

There are almost as many varying opinions about the subject of miracles as there are people who talk about miracles. One thing is pretty clear. Across history Orthodox Christianity has held that the miracles Jesus performed were true historical events.

In an age of automatic skepticism that is of key importance. But even during Jesus' days with his disciples there was a tendency to sometimes lean away from belief in the supernatural. Jesus changed water into wine. In doing so he made a wedding feast a little more festive, but he made his disciples a lot more attentive.

What will it take for you and I to believe in Jesus like that? Or if you already do, what are you doing with your belief? How does it shape the decisions you make or your interactions with others? Or does it?