“When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled.
”
God would have us sharers in his bliss—in the very truth of existence; they worship from afar, and will not draw nigh. It was not the obstruction, the personal inconvenience, that made the Lord angry, but that they would not be his friends, would not do what he told them, would not be the children of his father, and help him to save their brethren. When Peter, in much the same way, opposed the will of the Father, saying, “That be far from thee, Lord!” he called him Satan, and ordered him behind him. Does it affect anyone to the lowering of his idea of the Master that he should ever be angry? If so, I would ask whether he knows but one kind of anger. There is a good anger and a bad anger. There is a wrath of God, and there is a wrath of man that worketh not the righteousness of God. God’s anger is at one with his love, helpful, healing, restoring; yet is it verily and truly what we call anger. How different is the anger of one who loves, from that of one who hates! There is the degraded, human anger, and the grand, noble, eternal anger. It is to me an especially glad thought that the Lord came so near us as to be angry with us. The more we think of Jesus being angry with us, the more we feel that we must get nearer and nearer to him—get within the circle of his wrath, out of the sin that makes him angry, and near to him where sin cannot come. There is no quenching of his love in the anger of Jesus. It is his recognition that we are to blame, that we ought to be better, that we are able to do right if we will. We are able to turn our faces to the light, and come out of the darkness; the Lord will see to our growth.
Commentary
by Dale Darling
Following the Light sermon, this series is interesting, as though MacDonald says, "In the Light,
all exposed, God would have us sharers in His bliss - in the very truth of existence."
Oneness in Christ; Oneness with the Father.
However, they worship from afar, and will not draw nigh, for they love the dark and their evil
deeds. And Jesus' love, even in expressing His holy displeasure, will not be quenched when He is angry.
He recognizes our blame, that we ought to be better, that we are able to do right if we will.
Indeed, we possess all that is required to turn our faces to the light, to come out of the darkness.
We ought to be better in doing our part in the exercise of our will: our choice to face Him, to
love our neighbor, to seek first His righteousness.
And the Lord will see to our growth. How is it we try to do His work and ignore our own?
Trust. Obey. Do the next right thing for the next ten seconds.
And then continue.