Title: Why Jesus Was “So Angry”
Why Jesus Was 'So Angry'
Matthew 23:29-36
Although the morning air is summer, it is refreshing. This is probably not just a matter of temperature, but a fresh feeling of the subconscious that destroyed inertia gives. I try to preach in that atmosphere and at that length of time.
The text tells the story of what happened in the temple just before Jesus was arrested. There is no other Gospel where Jesus speaks so explicitly. In other words, it was said in a very heated state. Then why was Jesus so angry with these, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law?
The reason Jesus was so angry was because they were “finding someone out, beating them badly and hanging them on a cross to death.” Verse 34 says that the people they persecute are “prophesies, wise men, and scholars.” And in verse 35 it says that he was Zacharias the son of Barchariah. We don't know exactly who he is. However, one thing is certain: this man named Zacharias, who is being persecuted by the Pharisees and scribes, was a leader and an intellectual who criticized the religious power and system of the time. In a word, it means that he was a man who was awake, and the Pharisees and teachers of the law found him and killed him in excruciating pain. And because he keeps trying to do these things, Jesus is angry and he is pouring out nonsense.
Jesus refers to the Pharisees and teachers of the law as “serpents” in verse 33. In Korean, it's 'bastard' or something like that. Snake is often used as a word for 'cunning', but the snake metaphorically in the Bible is related to 'knowledge'. So, when Jesus refers to the Pharisees and teachers of the law as ‘serpents’, he means that they are ‘conceptual intellectuals,’ that is, people who distort the truth. Politically speaking, it is a trumpet of the regime or a source of publicity for maintaining the regime. In a nutshell, they are not honest intellectuals, but those who are trying to uplift themselves while acting as idiots.
Then why do they find people like Zacharias, torment them and kill them? That's right. They removed gritty obstacles by sifting right-speaking intellectuals out of their system. Jesus is angry with these writers and trumpeters who distort the truth as ‘serpents’ or ‘children of vipers. This applies to all kinds of people who distort the truth and spread it around the world without telling the truth.
Idioms always disguise themselves. Look at verse 29. Here, ‘intellectuals’ refers to religious leaders, and the term ‘intellectual’ refers to those who try to distort, spread, and confirm the truth by falsehood or falsehood. In today's terms, it refers to pastors who do not teach the Bible directly according to the Bible and wrap it up with all kinds of magic. In any case, as in verse 29, such phrases gracefully erect statues of critical prophets who appeared in their history in the past. And even though they disguise themselves like this, they themselves imitate the behavior of their ancestors. It is taking the lead in slaughtering the splendid critical tradition of Yahwehism and the prophetic critical spirit. On the outside, they set up a statue of a prophet and go to and from it, secretly publicizing that I am such an honest intellectual, but on the inside, I live a completely different life. It's like we're talking about Wesley and not living like Wesley.
One of them is about the ‘Messiah’ who appears today. The Messiah that the masses wanted at the time was the One who filled their lack. They were waiting for the Messiah with a standard that was closely adhered to in their daily life in response to the question of who the Messiah was. And prophets and intellectuals like Zacharias taught the crowds about such a Messiah. However, public intellectuals, intellectuals (Pharisees and scribes) who have already entered the religious power and system and escorted them, were talking about the qualifications of the Messiah differently.
The Messiah, as the establishment said, had to be knowledgeable in the law, be like a king, be admired by anyone, know how to acknowledge tradition, be free from sedition, and have a heroic appearance. This was the Messiah image interpreted by those who had it. Why should we interpret it this way, because only then can we become their own Messiah? Because of such a complex standard, he was an ideal being incomparable to any other human being. In other words, the Messiah had to be something absolutely different from us. Then, if such a person comes as the Messiah, will he be able to relieve the pain of the powerless? Of course, you can add the power of powerful people.
In this way, the Pharisees and scribes were using a strategy to separate the Messiah from the masses. That is why, when a prophet who does not meet these standards comes, they will always ridicule and throw stones at them as deceivers, instigators, and false prophets. The lawyers and Pharisees interpreted the Messiah to the masses in this way. In the end, Jesus was also handed over to the cross by the crowds caught in the false messianic learning nets laid out by these children of snakes and vipers. Jesus was furious at the knowledge that made the righteous an object of ridicule, and those who search out and kill critical intellectuals who criticize and expose those who spread it.
Why were the crowds of those days waiting for the Messiah? Because life is so hard. For thousands of years, while being deprived of spirit, body, and material by powerful people, I was in a situation of life, desperately waiting for ‘Yeahwah to be my shepherd. The Messiah of those living in poverty and suffering exists in their world of experience. But those who have it, especially religious intellectuals in the dominant positions of power and institutions, separate the Messiah of the masses from the world of experience. It is to set the Messiah back as our eternal stranger. It is to abstract the wishes of the crowd.
Often, even when we speak of ‘heaven’, the most theological understanding of this age separates us from the present by returning us to ‘the world of happiness where we go after death’. Now, even if you feel injustice, poor, sick, painful, and cold-hearted, you have to be patient. After that, if you go to the kingdom of God, you will receive a reward. It's like this. Such was the discourse of the Messiah that the Pharisees and scribes of the time were talking about. He also said that he caught and killed those who criticized such Messianic awareness. At that time, seeing that, you are pouring out your fiery anger towards those intellectuals. They are ‘serpent-like bastards’ and ‘children of vipers’. You are angry with the theology and preachers who talk about today's lack, and who turn hopes and dreams of the Messiah into excellent stories as a solution to the lack.
Simply put, today's message is that "a society that loses critique has terrible consequences in history." It is said that even the knowledge or belief that dismantles criticism can lead to great catastrophe. If taught incorrectly, it is a disaster. Jesus is pouring venom towards those who spread such discourses. “The punishment for all these sins must come upon this generation.”
So, how did Jesus discourse about the kingdom of heaven? Was it ‘here and now’ or ‘this and then there’? Where did Jesus say the kingdom of God is? What does Luke 17:20-21 say? This is also the popular theory of heaven. However, the intellectuals riding on the system separate it and make it a ‘next life’. You are angry at these teachings, the reality of killing intellectuals who criticize them, and at those writers.
Even in this age, in the church, among the teachers, there are children of snakes and vipers who disguise themselves as the Word of God and separate the public's hope into the next world, so we should not be deceived, resist and be angry.