Today is Palm Sunday. On this day, Christians celebrate the occasion when Jesus boldly declared Himself to be the Messiah by riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. His followers waved palm branches and spread garments on the street in front of Him, joyfully shouting, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Luke 19:38).

It was a glorious celebration. But the day after the triumphal entry was anything but joyous. Jesus visited the temple and was greatly disturbed by what He saw. Instead of worship, Jesus saw chaos. The priests were charging exorbitant prices for the “approved” animals that visitors were required to purchase for sacrifices. There was a flea-market atmosphere. People were bartering, bickering, shouting accusations, and mumbling curses under their breath. Genuine worshippers couldn’t find God there. Instead, they were exploited.

Jesus grew angry and decided it was time to shut them down. He knocked over the money tables, and coins went clanging to the floor. He kicked open the cages, and cattle and sheep stampeded across the courtyard while doves and pigeons franticly flapped away. Jesus then intensely declared, “It is written…’My house will be a house of prayer’ but you have made it ‘a den of robbers’” (Luke 19:46).

What a surprising, disturbing image of Jesus! Instead of a peaceful prince, He’s presented as an angry Judge. This seems out of character to us because, in recent years, many have focused primarily on Jesus’ love and compassion. Yet clearly, there is another side to His character. Jesus is bothered by sin and is capable of wrath.

Recently I heard a progressive preacher say to his congregation,“God is not angry with you. He loves you!”

However, the Bible teaches that because of God’s love for us, He is very capable of wrath. For example, Romans 11:22 reads, “Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.”

Imagine you are a parent of a 15-year-old son and a six-year-old daughter. At breakfast, you say to your teenager, “I have a doctor’s appointment, and I will be twenty minutes late picking you up after school. So, after school, I want you to watch out for your little sister. Wait with her at the bus stop, and I’ll pick you up there. Do not let her out of your sight. Do you understand?”

Twenty minutes after school, you arrive and find your six-year-old daughter sitting on the bench while a suspected child molester lurks in front of her, offering her candy. What is your reaction? Naturally, you are furious! You bolt from the car and chew out that predator until he scurries off.

Why would you be so angry? Because you love your daughter and want to protect her. You know that the predator is capable of horrid things. If you are not angry, you are either extremely naïve or have no character. You are also likely to be angry with your 15-year-old son. You ask, “Where is your brother?”

Your daughter replies, “He’s talking to his girlfriend in the gym.”

You storm into the gym, grab your son by the ear, and chastise him all the way home for being irresponsible and disobedient. You love him, but you love him too much to let him get by with carelessness and immaturity. So, you enact some discipline.

The Bible makes it clear that God loves us so much that He made the supreme sacrifice to save us. Yet love does not trump wrath. Sometimes love initiates wrath. The Bible says, “For the Lord disciplines those he loves…” (Hebrews 12:6 NLT).

An omniscient God is not naïve about Satan’s vicious intent to kill, steal and destroy. Rather, God is enraged when our disobedience enables Satan’s plan to kill unborn babies, steal children’s innocence, and destroy families.

The Scripture warns, “But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed” (Romans 2:5).

There is a bumper sticker that reads, “Jesus is coming back – and boy is he mad!” That is rather crude, but maybe one of the reasons our culture is coming unraveled is, “There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 1:18). So perhaps we need a little more emphasis on the anger of Jesus.

Two thousand years ago, Jesus came into Jerusalem riding on a donkey – a symbol He was coming in peace. But Revelation 19 says when Jesus returns, He will come riding on a white horse, and “With justice, he judges and wages war. His eyes are like blazing fire,…He will rule them with an iron scepter. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty” (Revelation 19:11-16).

Evangelist Dr. David Reagan says, “When Christ returns, you will either be under his wrath or under His grace. Make sure you are living under his grace.”

The Apostle Paul specified that choice with these words, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

Receive His gift of salvation and walk in His grace daily. Confidently claim His promise, “…whoever comes to me I will never drive away” (John 6:37).

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