Anger toward God

Matthew 21:23-32 And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?” And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From man,’ we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a prophet.” So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
“What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.

I. Introduction of Matthew 21:23-32

Jesus did many things after he entered Jerusalem the holy city, including the cleansing of the temple (21: 12-13), healing the blind and the lame (21:14-16), and teaching in the temple (21:23). When he was teaching in the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to question/challenge his authority (21:23). Jesus didn’t answer them directly, but asked them a question instead, “The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?” (“from heaven” means “from God”, that it was God who gave John the authority to preach God’s way and to baptize people; “from man” means “from people”, that it was John himself or other people who gave him the authority to preach God’s way and to baptize people.) But they answered “We do not know.”

The reason why Jesus asked them this question was because there could only be two sources of authority: either from God or from man. If they answered “from heaven/God”, that would mean they admit that John’s baptism and ministry was authorized by God, then they would have to admit that John’s testimony about Jesus being the Messiah (Matthew 3) was also from heaven/God (21:25), which means that they would have to admit that Jesus was the Messiah, the Savior, the God that they must love and obey. If they answered “from man”, then that would make the crowd angry because they all held that John was a prophet (21:26). The reason why they came to question/challenge Jesus’ authority was because they were jealous that Jesus was loved and supported by people, receiving the glory that they themselves wanted, so they also didn’t want to say that the baptism of John was from man because they were “afraid of the crowd” (21:26) – they were afraid of not being able to receive glory. Therefore, they answered, “We do not know.”

Then Jesus told a “parable of two sons”: A father said to his two sons, “Son, go and work in the vineyard today.” The first son said that he would not go, but then he changed his mind (repented) and went; the second son said that he would go but didn’t go. Jesus asked the chief priests and the elders of the people, “Which of the two did the will of his father?” (Note: doing the will of the father is an expression of love,) Obviously, the answer was “the first son”. Jesus used this parable to illustrate that the chief priests and the elders of the people who came to question/challenge his authority was “the second son” – they said that they believed in God and loved God, but their behaviors showed that they didn’t believed in God, they didn’t love God, and they were not repentant (21:31-32). Just like Jesus says in Matthew 7:16, “You will recognize them by their fruits.” A man’s behaviors show whether they love and obey God or not.

Like many other Scriptures, this passage can have various applications in our lives. Today, we will take a look at how it can apply to a person who is angry toward God.

2. Your Anger toward God

It’s not surprising that there are many sufferings in life, but sometimes we would meet Christians who are full of anger toward God when they are going through sufferings or unpleasant things in life. Sometimes, we ourselves might complain about God or be angry toward him, accusing him of being unjust, unrighteous, and unloving towards us.

People’s experience and ability of endurance vary, and each person might experience each kind of suffering differently, but many sufferings are as heavy as lead. We are compassionate toward those who are going through sufferings, and hope to be able to walk alongside them in faith before God in this difficult journey. However, the main goal of this article is not to discuss or analyze what this process of walking alongside them look like in a comprehensive way, but is to focus on providing some encouragement through the passage of Matthew 21:23-32 to Christians who are angry toward God when they are going through sufferings or unpleasant things in life, in the hope that it might help them understand their circumstances and their hearts better, so that they would humble themselves before the Lord in faith, and to live a victorious life in Christ (Proverbs 18:12).

Facing a person with this kind of angry emotion, we might feel that their anger toward God is so obvious in their words and actions, but when we ask them, “Are you angry with God?” They might immediately deny it, “No, I am not.” Let’s consider ourselves – we might sometimes be angry with God too and won’t admit it, but if we are willing to be honest with our hearts, deep down we might know that we are actually angry with God. Maybe we know that we shouldn’t be angry with God, so we are not willing to admit it, otherwise it would be like exposing our own fault and then we would have to face our guilt and shame before God.

However, what is more common is that we actually don’t know that we are angry with God because angry people are usually blind to their own anger. Even if everyone around the angry person knows that he/she is full of anger (no matter with whom they are angry), he/she often doesn’t see their own anger. And if you question them, they often would deny it and are most likely to give you a taste of their anger too. Therefore, we often need to help a person see clearly of their anger and admit it first.

3. Why are You Angry toward God?

Now that we have taken the first step and can face our anger honestly, let’s look at why we are angry with God. Of course, these reasons often vary – some people might have suffered from some physical pain or mental distress for a long time and have prayed for a long time but God has not removed their pain or stress, so they have grown more and more angry with God, complaining that He is not faithful, not loving them, not listening to their prayers, and not blessing them, etc. Some people might have been having difficulties at work, in life or marriage, or experiencing financial distress, but the unbelievers around them seem to prosper in all things, so they have grown more and more dissatisfied and angry toward God, complaining that He is not just nor righteous, etc. Some people might have a deep longing to get married but have been single for many years and there seems no suitable person in their life, while many around them are happily getting married every year, so they become more and more angry toward God in their heart, complaining that He doesn’t love them, doesn’t bless them, doesn’t help them or answer their prayers, etc….

Each person’s situation is different and so we need to know their story and analyze their experience, but no matter what a person’s experience is, the essence of their anger toward God is a fight with God – it is a conflict and quarrel/fight with God, as if they are waving their angry fists at God, accusing and challenging God, “Why are you doing this to me? Who gives you the authority to do this to me?” (Matthew 21:23)

James continues on and reveals to us the fundamental reason of our anger toward God, “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel.” (James 4:1-2a) In other words, the fundamental reason of why we are angry with God is that we have not obtained what we want – our passions/cravings/lusts/desires are not satisfied – and we blame God, accusing Him of being wrong and being responsible for our dissatisfaction – we angrily blame him for not giving us what we want.

Thanks be to God that he reveals clearly in the following passage what our REAL problem is: “You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. ” (James 4:2b-3) Now some people might say, “I have asked, I have been praying that God would help me and give me such and such blessing, but he didn’t give me that.” Well, the problem is: “you ask wrongly” – the motivation of your asking/prayer is wrong. You ask God to bless you in order to satisfy your own desires, and that is not a prayer that would please God, so he doesn’t give you what you have asked for, so that you would not treat him as a tool or a means to satisfy your own selfish desires/passions and thus make light of and abuse him and his saving grace and walk further and further away toward destruction. As the Westminster Shorter Catechism (Q1) says, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” – not to glorify ourselves or to enjoy ourselves. If it came a day when God really did as he says in Psalm 81:12, “So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels”, that would truly be a horrifying and sad way to destruction for us!

This world, which is corrupted by sin, is full of messages against the Lord, and are used to confuse and tempt us under Satan’s manipulation, feeding us with world views like “The purpose of life is happiness and enjoyment; suffering should not exist (or suffering should not exist for long)”, tempting us to be impatient when suffering comes our way, and to cry out and blame God and thus sin against God. Our hearts are corrupted and influenced by sin, seeking things that would make us feel happy and satisfied apart from God, and leading us disobey God with various selfish desires, causing us to be angry with God when we don’t get what we want. (So be careful when anyone tells you to follow your heart!) Even though the things that we want might not be bad or evil in and of themselves (e.g., health, work, love, marriage, etc.), when we value these things so much that our hearts start to worship them, putting them above God, our love for these things have become greater than our love for God, i.e., we have made what we desire to be our “god” (idol) that we worship, and have treated the real God as a tool to satisfy our desires, thinking that “Since God has not given me what I want, it must be his fault; he says he loves me but that’s not true!” (What we are really implying is that “God is not true/real”, though we might not admit that that’s our true thought.) What a dreadful sin against the Lord God! Satan and this fallen world tell us: We have needs, such as love, work, materials, marriage, bearing children, etc., and these “needs” were given to us when God created us; and since they are “needs”, it means that they must be met/satisfied – that is the true meaning of life and that’s God’s will. However, God tells us through his Word: “The deepest and most fundamental need of human beings is to know God, to love and worship God, not to meet/satisfy those so-called worldly “needs”. So the values that Satan and the fallen world seek to feed us with is Self-centered, which is also our sinful nature is inclined to love, but we as creatures created in God’s image are made to live a God-centered life.

What did the chief priests and the elders of the people want (their idol) in Matthew 21:23-32? They wanted and sought glory for themselves, so they had conflict/quarrel/fight with Jesus. In your anger toward God, what is it that your heart desires but you do not have (your idol)? What are you blaming God for? Is it health, wealth, love, family, work, knowledge, marriage, sex, status, fame, a comfortable life, or even peace or joy? Beloved, I invite you to take time now to pray this prayer: “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23-24)

4. God’s Answer to You

When responding to the chief priests and the elders of the people who came to challenge him, Jesus replied with a question: “The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?” What he meant was: “Who do you say I am?” They answer, “we do not know” because they were afraid to lose people’s approval.

Then Jesus used a parable to reveal their true heart: They said that they believed in God and loved God, but their behaviors showed that they didn’t believed in God, they didn’t love God, and they were not repentant (21:31-32).

Facing people’s anger toward (or even accusations against) him, out of his love for us, God also responds this way, “Who do you say I am? Am I your God, or a tool that you use to satisfy your desires? Faith and love is active along with works (James 2:22). You say that I am your God, and that you believe in me and love me, then where is your faith and love? Is your faith in and love for me based on me satisfying your desires, giving you what you want in life? Right now, at this moment, in your anger toward and accusations against me, is it Me that you truly love, or is it the things that you want? If you really believe in me and love me, then why would you accuse me of not loving you? Have you forgotten that I created you in my own image, that I created the world for you to live in, and that all that you have are made and provided by me? Have you so quickly forgotten that I have sent my only beloved Son Jesus Christ to die for you? Have you forgotten the same Christ who has resurrected from the dead and ascended into heaven, seated at my right hand, interceding now for you every moment of the day? Is there any love that is deeper than this? Is there any blessing and gift more precious than this? If I don’t love you, what you would have deserved is to be burned in the eternal fire in hell! So now, who gives you the authority to accuse me out of your selfish desires? Do you do well to be angry?” (Jonah 4:4)

5. The Answer to Your Problem: Repent & Trust in God

Now, the truth is revealed: our problem is not that God doesn’t love us, nor that he doesn’t bless us, but that our hearts have wandered off His path to worship the idols, and we have tried to make God the tool to satisfy our desires, making him our “slave” to do our will. The human heart is indeed “deceitful above all things” (Jeremiah 17:9)!

Praise God that He does not leave us nor forsake us, and He has given us the answer/solution to our problem: “Hear, O my people, while I admonish you! O Israel, if you would but listen to me! There shall be no strange god among you; you shall not bow down to a foreign god. I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt….Oh, that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways! I would soon subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes….But he would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.” (Psalm 81:8-10a, 13-14, 16) – Worship the Lord your God; there shall be no strange god among you; and you shall not worship idols; Obey God, and He will bless you with an abundant life (John 10:10).

The Lord says to us, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” (Matthew 17: 5b) And what does Jesus say to us? It is this: “Be that first son in the parable! At first he was not willing to obey God, but then he repented and obeyed God in living a life according to God’s will. Walk in the way of righteousness that John the Baptist points you to: Repent and believe in the gospel and obey the Lord!” (Matthew 21: 28-32, Mark 1:15）

The Lord says to us in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Out of his great mercy, He reminds and encourages us in Romans 8:24-25, “For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”

When we face various trials and sufferings in life, let us learn to move our eyes away from our circumstances, and to look upward to the One who paid the penalty for our sins with his sinless life, who bore our guilt of sin, which is heavier than all the mountains in the whole world piled up together, with his life on the cross for us, once for all, so that we are reconciled to God and have the eternal hope in Christ. Trust in Jesus and rely upon Him for strength and wisdom in this battle that He has already won for us!

May the Lord be merciful to us and give us wisdom, so that we can say with Paul, “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)

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