Mk 3:1-6
1[Jesus] entered the synagogue. There was a man there who had a withered hand. 2They watched him closely to see if he would cure him on the sabbath so that they might accuse him. 3He said to the man with the withered hand, “Come up here before us.” 4Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?” But they remained silent. 5Looking around at them with anger and grieved at their hardness of heart, he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out and his hand was restored. 6The Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel with the Herodians against him to put him to death.
He looked around at them with anger and grieved at their hardness of heart: Among the few times the gospels speak of Jesus being angry are when he drives the merchants out of the temple area and when the disciples prevent children from coming to him. The third instance is today’s Gospel when Jesus heals a man with a withered hand and perceives the Pharisees’ hardness of heart.
Jesus’ anger is never for himself. It is always for the sake of others—the poor, the little children, the sick, and the outcasts. Moreover, Jesus reaches out to these people with his heart, not with curses or fists or weapons. His soft heart is awakened by his anger. And he invites mercy even from those he is angry with.
We can check out our anger and keep it at bay by asking, “For whom or for what are we angry—for our pride, for our overly sensitive egos, or for our comfort?” There is such a thing as holy anger, when it is for the rights of others, especially the defenseless.