Feeling Indignant

The dictionary definition of ‘indignant’ is: feeling or showing anger or annoyance at what is perceived as unfair treatment. So, basically, it means to be mad about injustice.

Hold on to that definition as you read this passage about Jesus.

People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” - Mark 10:13-15

So many of us grew up with a kind and gentle Jesus - and rightly so. But sometimes, perhaps because our family or our religious institution didn’t feel comfortable with anger, we white-washed those parts of Jesus that we didn’t like. As Judy Kim pointed out yesterday, that means those of us who had anger were stuck with repressing it and then feeling guilty for it.

But not Jesus. He got angry. Indignant. Annoyed. And he showed it! In this passage he rebuked the rebukers so that he could remedy the situation with a blessing. The anger wasn’t the thing in an of itself - it was just the energy that got him to break through the injustice and get to the blessing.

Does your Jesus get mad at people who are mistreating children? Does your Jesus get mad at people who are blocking others from getting God’s blessing? And how about you - do you get angry at injustice?

Spend a little bit of time today trying to get angry like Jesus.