The Sin of Wrath

"Hell, of course laughs and swallows the bodies". This quote is of course from Jeff Cook's Seven: the deadly sins and the beatitudes. This Sunday , Palm Sunday is a perfect example of what everyone wanted Jesus to do and what he ends up doing instead. Wraths tentacles have wrapped itself so tightly around our sense of righteousness that no longer do we notice the destruction but believe the destruction is itself right. 

Wrath is deadly because like Sloth it remolds us, taking the image of God and cracking the reflection. It is love for justice perverted into bitterness, revenge and violence. It is a delicious sense of rightness that we think should separate us from the other, because the other is fundamentally wrong. Wrath isn't about restoration of relationship; it is about revenge and dominance. 

Wrath is deadly because it looks a lot like Jesus coming into Jerusalem, riding on a donkey with all of the pilgrims rejoicing. Finally, Jesus is going to bring down the hammer on the cruel Romans and bring the Justice of the ALMIGHTY and wipe them all off the face of the earth. This is what they have been waiting for, this is what Jesus has been showing with all his miracles. Disciples and pilgrims alike rejoicing for the Justice what will be done. It isn't that Jesus was full of wrath, it was that everyone wanted him to be. 

Come this Sunday and let's figure out the remedy for the deep desire we have for revenge. 

Camille