The Wrath of God

Mark 11:12-33

It seems that God has an attitude problem – towards the wicked.  That permanent attitude (for God is eternal) is known as the wrath of God.  Its penalties are delayed until the Day of Wrath – but he wants to let us know it’s coming.

The Holy Bible, New International Version

¹²The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. ¹³Seeing in
the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he
reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs.
¹⁴Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his
disciples heard him say it.

¹⁵On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out
those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money
changers and the benches of those selling doves, ¹⁶and would not allow anyone to
carry merchandise through the temple courts. ¹⁷And as he taught them, he said,
“Is it not written:

“‘My house will be called

a house of prayer for all nations’^£ ?

But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’^£”

¹⁸The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking
for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed
at his teaching.

¹⁹When evening came, they^£ went out of the city.

²⁰In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the
roots. ²¹Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you
cursed has withered!”

²²“Have^£ faith in God,” Jesus answered. ²³“I tell you the truth, if anyone says
to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his
heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.
²⁴Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have
received it, and it will be yours. ²⁵And when you stand praying, if you hold
anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive
you your sins.^£”

²⁷They arrived again in Jerusalem, and while Jesus was walking in the temple
courts, the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders came to him. ²⁸“By
what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you
authority to do this?”

²⁹Jesus replied, “I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you
by what authority I am doing these things. ³⁰John’s baptism—was it from heaven,
or from men? Tell me!”

³¹They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’
he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ ³²But if we say, ‘From men’.…”
(They feared the people, for everyone held that John really was a prophet.)

³³So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

Jesus said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

The character of God

You will please forgive me if I begin this lesson with a bit of review.  It makes it much easier to understand one of the most difficult sections of Scripture.  We need to review the character of God.

Righteousness

Do you believe that the universe is a moral place?  By that I mean a place where “what goes around, comes around?”  If you’re like most human beings, you hold two contradictory beliefs:

There’s a reason for this belief.  It is rooted in the character of God:

This tells us that “just desserts” have only been delayed (God is eternal, he has plenty of time.)  At Christ’s return we shall see the Judgment.  But we need to remember that this will not be a change in God’s attitude – only the final act of it.

Mercy

Christians know that God is merciful.  Again, we must consider the character of God.  God is merciful “all the time.”  His mercy is pure.  His mercy is without limit.

Mercy, however,  carries with it one intrinsic characteristic:  it must be asked for.  The defiant do not receive it;  the humble do – if they will but ask.

Power

It is trite to say God is omnipotent.  But we need to recognize that point.  It brings out the question, “If God is righteous and omnipotent, what are all these rotten people doing here when there are lightning bolts left?”  We need to remember that in mercy he has delayed things until the Day of Wrath.  But there are two things in today’s Scripture which bear on the subject of power:

Three Examples

Do recall the lesson on symbolism regarding the Triumphal Entry.  This set of events happens immediately afterwards.  The symbolic method of teaching is still in session.

The fig tree

The first and obvious question is, “Why?”  We know of no evil done by the fig tree!  The answer is more clearly seen when you look at this as a symbolic event.

Jesus takes the symbol for Israel and deals with it.  He has already taught them the parable of the tree without fruit, and now he makes the lesson come alive, visually.  In this the disciples see the power of our Lord – which, by the way, should teach them that he is going to the Cross voluntarily.  His power is sufficient to prevent the Cross;  but it was for the Cross he came.

The lesson?  No fruit, no more tree.  In AD 70 the Romans sacked Jerusalem and dispersed the Jews over the face of the earth.  The fig tree bore no fruit, and it was withered.  Matthew tells us the tree was withered from the root up – the fate of any who will not have Jesus as their true vine.

Cleansing the Temple

Are “things” holy?  Can a place be holy?  Can objects be holy?

Indeed, they can.  If God sets them apart, they are holy.  All through the Old Testament this concept is reinforced.  God sets the Jews apart, they are his, therefore they are holy.  Dishes, candlesticks – all manner of things are declared to be holy.  Holy means to be set apart for God.

So we see that Jesus’ anger is reserved for those who misuse the things set apart for God.  It is a sin against holiness.

It is indeed a grievous thing.  We can understand this better by examining a principle that all of us hold:  sins against the innocent are more grievous than sins against the guilty.  For example, if two drunks get into a brawl, and one beats the other nearly dead, that is an evil thing.  The police will be called.  But if that same drunk beats a small child like that, we are much more outraged, and call for more severe penalties.  Why?  Because sin against the innocent is more grievous. 

The same thing applies here.  The Pharisees and such are the keepers of the Temple.  By their swindling the pilgrims who have come to God’s holy place they are abusing their authority – and sinning against the innocent.  It is an outrage, and Jesus treats it as such.

Notice, too, that this is blasphemy.  Blasphemy, we are told, is “taking the Lord’s name in vain.”  It is not just obscenity using his name;  here, it’s much worse.  In this instance we have people who have said, “God commands,” when in fact he has not.  This is a terrible sin, and Jesus acts against it properly.

We often miss this fact:  Judgment begins with the house of the Lord.  To those who claim to be God’s people God will apply his measure of justice.  Better to be an open sinner than one who piously spouts “the will of God” in his own thoughts.

By what authority

There is a curious paradox here.  The Pharisees complain to Jesus about the children who are praising him in the Triumphal Entry – but offer no objection to his cleansing of the Temple.  Only afterwards do they question his actions.  The reason?  Righteousness in action is very powerful;  children are not.

That – it is obvious to see – is the problem the Pharisees have.  They understand that all legitimate authority must somehow stem from God, who is righteous.  They see that righteousness in his Son.  Not until Jesus allows it will they use superior force to take him.  Until then, He is the authority they dare not challenge directly.

But they can attempt to undermine that authority.  That’s there attempt here.   It hasn’t changed in two thousand years.  When you speak of righteousness, do you ever hear “What about the Salem witch trials?”  The argument being that those upholding the right are not perfect – and therefore should shut up.

What shall we do?

There is no sense in reciting all this if you are not willing to make changes in your life.  What would Jesus have us do? 

Confession

Evangelicals are curiously silent on this point.  Confession of sin is almost never a sermon topic;  it sounds too “Catholic.”  But confession is required:

Prayer

Christ’s words on prayer here sound unbelievable.  But you need to remember that the entire lesson has been one based on symbolism.  Where would we find a mountain and a sea in symbolism?  Take a look at the second chapter of Daniel.  The sea represents the people of the world;  the stone is our Lord Jesus Christ.  We will indeed take that stone and – by faith – cast it into the sea.

So sure of this is Christ that he tells us to pray – in the past tense!  Pray as if your prayers were granted;  this is great faith indeed.

Forgiveness

We must remember that God is righteous.  If we are to approach him, we must be righteous too.  That comes from Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross;  but we put it into effect by confession (see above) and forgiveness.  Remember that mercy must be asked for?  His condition for mercy is that we extend it to others.

This is just – righteous, if you will.  In forgiving others I proclaim to God that I beg his mercy in accordance with his righteousness.  Forgiving others is “fair” when I ask for forgiveness for myself.  I can ask forgiveness with confidence when I forgive others – basing myself on the righteousness of God.

More than that:  it shows that I am a child of God, for children imitate their parents.

Faith

Distinguish, please, between magic and faith.  Magic says, “If I just really believe, and say the right words, I will get what I want.”  Bill Cosby gave us the antidote to this.  He once had a comedy routine about learning karate.  The instruction manual on how to break a brick told him to “think right through the brick.”  So he was thinking right through the brick when he hit.  Unfortunately, the brick was thinking “Oh no you’re not.”

The prayer of faith is God’s way of letting his power flow through us.  If you want mountains moved, they will have to go where God wants them to.

Tie it all together:  By confessing our sins, asking for mercy (and giving it freely to others) we have the ability to tap into both the power and mercy of God.  It must be done in faith – but so doing brings us into harmony with his purposes.