Filled with Jealousy
Acts 13:42-52
This section of the book of Acts tells of the ministry of Paul and Barnabas entering into the synagogue of Pisidian-Antioch to speak the good news of Jesus. After their first sabbath of preaching, many from the synagogue were overjoyed and asked that they come back and speak on the next sabbath. By the time they spoke, the population of the city had heard about this great teaching and so came to hear the word of God being preached, i.e. many gentiles. Seeing this, the Jewish worshippers saw this, they were overcome with jealousy and then began to speak against Paul and Barnabas. They ridiculed them to such extremes that they influenced the leaders of the city to have Paul and Barnabas expelled.
What caused such a backlash from the synagogue leaders? Jealousy. Jealousy comes from a fear that someone is better or getting more than us. And no one admits when they are jealous, because we have been conditioned to think jealousy is wrong. Instead, we say things or tell ourselves things that justify our jealous actions and thoughts. ‘This or that person is doing something wrong or didn’t do it the right way, so my anger or my vengeful actions are justified.’ It is easier to deflect and blame others for our anger or outrage rather than looking inside and pondering what needs do I have that are not being met? Is this skewing my view of things? Is this making me act in anger towards another?
It is easy to see why the leaders would have been jealous of Paul and Barnabas. They were attracting great crowds. They were seeing people commit themselves to YHWH worship, something they themselves longed to see happen. But it wasn’t them receiving the honor of sharing it, and so they looked upon Paul and Barabas with ridicule- picking apart their words and seeing where they were wrong- seeking to justify their mistreatment of Paul and Barnabas. But with all their ‘righteous anger’ they were only fighting against God and His message.
Is my anger with another really about them or is it about me? Are my words and actions justified when I compare them to the words and actions of Jesus? If not, then what is the root cause? If we take Jesus as the standard of life, we should seek to understand how our words, actions, and hearts still need the work of the Holy Spirit in molding us more and more in alignment with Christ.
May we ask that the Spirit to work in our lives and hearts enabling us to see clearly what is motivating our actions. And may we have the humility to see that God is still working on us.
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