The Nations Rage

“The nations rage and the people plot against the Lord and His anointed!”

These words are from Psalm 2 and describe the age-old rebellion of mankind against the Lord, Who is creator of all things. This rage or plotting is our way of saying, "We will be our own boss! We’ll set our course! Don’t tell us what to do!”

This translates into anger and rage when we encounter the Lord of all.

This carries on to our passage in the Gospel of John, except now the anger and rage has turned to murder. They hate the idea that this rogue preacher (Jesus) would change the way things were, with the leader’s control and power (John 11:47-53). So they’ll kill Him!

An old pastor friend told me once that when you see or experience anger, look behind that door and you’ll find your idol. When the idol is threatened, anger shows up.

Here was the Son of God, and the religious leaders were angry and killed Him.

Most of us have never murdered anyone or were even temped to do so. Yet, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said if we hate or call people names we are guilty of murder.

Especially in our election season, name-calling is the name of the game in politics. I wonder if it doesn’t simply come down to a practical recognition on Jesus’ Lordship over every aspect of our lives? It becomes a lens through which we understand everything differently. Submission may be a rejected concept in our culture, but for a follower of Christ it unlocks our spiritual ability to see that which is unseen (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).

Perhaps, in some of our lives, the anger (often hidden within) exists because we are pushing against the very working of our Lord.

Why not begin today?

Let’s bow together and surrender control and power in our lives to the One Who knows us best and is our Maker and loved us so much to die save us. You can trust Him with everything!