I was reading about Abraham’s death this morning and it struck me that for the first time Jacob and Esau came face-to-face after the famous “bowl of stew” incident (Gen 25:9). I was reading something Jon Courson wrote and it got me to thinking about “reconciliation” and I wondered if Esau thought about reconciling with his brother? The last time we heard him say anything about it he swore that when his father was dead he was going to kill Jacob (Gen 27:41-21). I’m pretty sure that “forgiveness” wasn’t what he had on his mind and it was certain that Jacob didn’t think so.
Anger is a “killer” and it reeks such havoc in our lives that Jesus went out of His way to tell us that we need to deal with it and not let it fester into a root of bitterness. Jesus knows all about reconciliation:
2 Cor 5:18-19 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
Remember what He told us about how important it is to deal with anger?
Matt 5:23-24 23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
Notice that Jesus said “if your brother has something against you.” That means we need to vigilant when it comes to protecting our relationships. And if we are the one who is holding the anger it’s all the more critical that we deal with it.
The Greek word for reconciled used by Matthew is diallasso. It’s a word used by tailors with regard to alteration. That’s what Jesus was saying. If you know that someone is angry with you or you find yourself with anger in your heart for someone, then your relationship with them is in danger. In other words, if your relationship isn’t fitting right you need to get it altered. Just because a suit doesn’t fit right that doesn’t mean you throw it away, give it to Goodwill or hang it in the back of your closet and forget it. You need to take it to “The Tailor” and get it altered so you can wear it again.
If you are dealing with anger right now, take the time to get your relationship altered. Walking around in a suit that’s too tight or too loose makes for a miserable walk. Don’t wait for the other person to get their suit tailored; it may never happen. It’s probably going to take a little dying-to-self to get the fit right, but it will be well worth it… I speak from experience.