Reflecting on Mark 1:40-45“Jesus was indignant.” (Mark 1:41)
As a Jesus follower, I have experienced the compassion of Jesus.
What seems odd to me is that the NIV says Jesus was ‘indignant’.
All the other translations say ‘moved with compassion’.
And that is what the word being translated normally means?
I could go down the rabbit trail of bible interpretation.
But I will stick with the story itself.
“He reached out his hand and touched the man. ‘I am willing, be clean!'” (Mark 1:41)
This is the internal support in the story for compassion.
He did not push this unclean man away, but reached out to him.
Jesus touches this untouchable man, making Himself unclean.
Jesus is able to heal Him, and is willing to heal Him.
I see compassion, not indignation!!!
This is the compassion that ultimately gets Him in trouble.
He touches lepers, eats with tax collectors, welcomes sexual sinners.
He defies the religious idea of holiness, and reveals God’s holiness.
To be holy is to be set apart, to be unlike or different in a special sense.
The temple, the priests, the people of Israel were all set apart.
They were unlike the temples, priests and people around them.
These were filled with indignation, judgment and appeasement.
According to Jesus, this is NOT what it means to be holy.
Holiness does not act like the world, but like God.
And God is filled with compassion, moved by compassion.
God reaches out to us and touches us.
God is willing to make us clean, and makes us clean.
If we read the OT story wrong, we see a worldly kind of holiness.
We think that God is indignant, and demanding justice and payment.
And then we apply this to God today, and to Jesus today.
“The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. ” (Exodus 34:6-7)
This is the heart of the OT message, and how we need to understand God.
It is the filter through which we interpret all God’s ways and words.
Anything that seems contrary to this must be reconsidered in light of this.
God is not indignant, God is compassionate – that’s the good news!
“Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.” ((Exodus 34:7)
Some people point to this next line after God reveals His compassion.
‘See, God is just too, God must be BOTH just AND merciful.’
Once again, I believe this is a worldly misunderstanding of God.
God’s justice and anger are not parallel to God’s mercy.
God is love, and it is love rejected that leads to anger.
It is those who persistently refuse to be merciful that rouse His anger.
This latter part is a YET or BUT, a warning not to reject the compassion and mercy of God.
“Judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!” (James 2:13)
Compassion and mercy are the essence of God’s glory, goodness and holiness.
Jesus is the living embodiment of God’s glory, goodness and holiness.
If we want to be holy like God is holy, be moved by compassion.
May we, and our churches, be holy and compassionate like Jesus, like God!
May we not provoke God’s indignation by refusing to be merciful and compassionate.
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, everything about You is compassion and mercy. You have shown me Who God really is, and what God is really like. Forgive me for thinking of you like worldly religions and gods. Forgive us for translating God's heart as 'indignation', and for developing a theology of wrath and judgment.
May the untouchables and the unacceptables that I encounter sense Your compassion and willingness to heal and restore through me, as I reach out to them and associate with them!