Wild With Rage

There’s a story written in three of the gospels—Matthew, Mark, and Luke—about Jesus healing a man with a deformed hand in the synagogue on the Sabbath. Working on the Sabbath was against the law, and some of the religious leaders were watching Jesus closely for an opportunity to accuse Him. After Jesus healed the man, the leaders were “wild with rage” and immediately began plotting a way to kill Him—all because He healed someone on the Sabbath.

I read the phrase “wild with rage” in Luke’s account, and it stopped me. Wild with rage feels drastic and dramatic. It also seems like the exact opposite of how someone would expect people to respond after seeing a man’s deformed hand suddenly restored to health.

Their reaction makes me wonder: What if it had been one of the leaders’hands? What if it had been their daughter or grandson? What if one of them had been managing life with one hand, and suddenly both hands were whole? Would their reaction have been different?

Those questions led me inward. As I think about the religious leaders’ extreme anger, I realize I can relate to them. While I don’t think I’ve been “wild with rage” to the point of plotting murder, I have been “wild with rage” to the point of saying something or making a decision I regretted. I feel it in my chest. I feel a little out of control. I’m not thinking clearly. I’ve heard it said, “When emotions are high, judgment is low,” and from personal experience, I wholeheartedly agree.

After some reflection, I’ve noticed my most intense anger usually comes from the same root causes: feeling out of control, not getting my way, or when things don’t go as expected. That’s when this story connects with me. Maybe that’s how the religious leaders felt. They had always been in control. They were used to getting their way. Now Jesus was disrupting everything they had known. So instead of being filled with excitement over an incredible miracle, they were wild with rage. Instead of rejoicing with a man whose life had just been radically changed, they immediately began plotting the death of the One who brought healing.

What if Jesus had waited until the next day to heal the man? Would the leaders have been satisfied then? Maybe. So why didn’t He wait? I don’t really know, but maybe Jesus was saying, “I’m not doing this your way anymore, because the old way doesn’t work. I’ve come to show you a new way. I am the new way.” It’s easy to judge the religious leaders—but I think we can learn from their extreme reaction. How do we respond when circumstances don’t follow our intended path? As we walk through life, things happen that are unplanned and even unwanted. We each have a choice in those moments. We can become angry and grip tightly to getting our way, or we can release control and ask for God’s peace and strength to walk through difficulty.

With that in mind, let’s invite the Lord to help us trust that His way is better than our way. May we learn to turn from rage to wonder as He weaves His plan into our lives. It may sound like, “Lord, I don’t fully understand what’s happening, but I want to trust you. Please help me.” In time, we’ll begin to recognize that He is working, and we can trust His timing.