The anger and mercy of Christ

THE gospel of Friday of the 8th Week in Ordinary Time (cfr. Mk 11,11016) shows us Christ showing two apparently contrasting qualities of anger and mercy. When he got hungry and saw a fig tree that did not have any fruit, he got angry and addressed the tree, “May no one ever eat of your fruit again!” And the tree, while still having a luxuriant foliage, later on withered away.

Then when he visited the temple area and saw how some people turned it into a market place, he used some force to drive the vendors and money changers away. He justified that action by saying, “Is it not written: My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples? But you have made it a den of thieves.”

But in the same gospel, Christ also told his disciples, “When you stand to pray, forgive anyone against whom you have a grievance, so that your heavenly Father may in turn forgive you your transgressions.”

Indeed, God as shown in Christ, the ever-merciful and compassionate God, can be angry. His anger can even turn into fury and wrath. Just read the Old Testament, and you will have a good dose of vivid instances of this divine anger and wrath.

Which reminds us that anger is not bad after all. If God can be angry, we, who are his image and likeness, can be angry too. Anger has a place in our life. Except that we have to be most careful with it, since our anger can only be good and righteous only when we are truly identified with Christ. And given our current condition, that identification can only be at best tenuous.

To be sure, God’s anger is not a lasting, much less, permanent feature. It’s a passing emotion. As Sacred Scripture puts it, he is slow to anger, quick to forgive. His anger is just for a moment, but his mercy and compassion are forever.

If we truly are to be like Christ as we should, then we should not let anger stay with us for long. What should dominate in the end is mercy. Let’s remember what Christ told Peter about how many times we should forgive others.

“LORD, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.” (Mt 18,21-22)

With those words, Christ clearly tells us to be always merciful of everybody. Such attitude would truly make us like God as we are supposed to be. God forgives everyone, or at least offers it to everyone, including those who are openly opposed to him. It’s up to us to receive that divine offer.

If need be, we have to make a shout-out of this word of forgiveness if only for everyone to follow this clear commandment of Christ: “Forgive and you shall be forgiven.” (Lk 6,37) He reiterated this injunction when he said: “For if you will forgive men their offences, your heavenly Father will forgive you also your offences. But if you do not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive you your offences.” (Mt 6,14-15)

It’s clear therefore that we can only be forgiven if we also forgive others. This injunction is meant for everyone, and not only for a few whom we may consider to be religiously inclined. That’s why when asked how many times we should forgive, he said not only seven times, but seventy times seven, meaning always.

When we truly identify ourselves with Christ, mercy would have the last word. Our anger would just be a passing emotion.