256. HOW ENVY AND JEALOUSY BLINDS

(The Single Woman Series – Batch 4)

TODAY I was reading Matthew 12:1-14, where Jesus healed the hand of a man which was withered. The Bible says in verse 13 that he told the man: “…Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other.”

This was GOOD NEWS! A lovely miracle had just happened and this man certainly would have gone home rejoicing. Yet, the Pharisees (that religious group of people that was not really serving God but loved to give the impression that they were pious and holy) were blinded by their ENVY, JEALOUSY and HATRED of Jesus, to really see that he was the Son of the true and living God.

How else could he have worked such a miracle? Clearly, God the Father was endorsing and approving of him from heaven or else he could not have had such supernatural power on earth!

Even Nicodemus, a Pharisee, realized this. The Bible states in John 3:1-2 that:

“There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.”

Yet, the Pharisees generally hated Jesus because they had grown to love the power, position and attention that came with being a Pharisee and in having influence over the people. When Jesus came on the scene therefore and started working all sorts of miracles (which they could not do), instead of believing on him, humbling themselves because they were in the presence of deity (although in human form) and worshipping him, they were mad because people started to gravitate towards him and away from them. People were going where the light was because Jesus was THE LIGHT and they were being healed of all manner of illnesses and disease.

THERE IS A LESSON FOR US IN THIS STORY. The Bible says in verse 14, that after Jesus had worked the miracle, “Then the Pharisees went out and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.”

Can you imagine that? He had just done something wonderful, something truly miraculous yet, all they could think of was how to get rid of him.

It may sound incredible, yet some of us do the same today. When Jesus has worked a miracle in the life of a family member, friend, Church member, neighbour, acquaintance or work colleague, sometimes we are blinded to the beauty of what Jesus did because of our envy and jealousy. Some of us are mad that God sent that sister a husband while we are still waiting in line or gave that work colleague a promotion, when we wanted it for ourselves.

Like the Pharisees, we undermine the miracle that Jesus worked and even try to excuse away the fact that it was he that made the difference in that person’s life, simply because we want the attention or the blessing for ourselves. We don’t like that people are complimenting that friend or family member or sister for her good news, while we remain in our same predicament and so we refuse to acknowledge that what has happened was a praise-worthy work of God.

LADIES, let us not be like the Pharisees. When Jesus works a miracle in the life of another, give him the praise that is due to his name, even if he hasn’t worked on our behalf as yet. Acknowledge that it was him that made the difference. It was him that caused that sister in the Lord to be found by that wonderful God-sent man, to have that lovely Wedding and to even birth a child, despite her age and despite how convinced we had been that nothing was ever going to happen for her. Be happy for her! Jesus did it!

Acknowledge him as Lord because he is and let not the spirit of selfishness reign. Don’t try, like the Pharisees, to destroy that sister, work colleague, neighbour or family member with your tongue or to try to downplay the magnitude of the blessing that Jesus gave, by stating that this was not of God but of the devil.

Do you know, in another situation in the Bible when Jesus worked another miracle, the Pharisees had the gall to state, out of hearts filled with envy, malice and hatred, that he did the miracle by the power of the devil?

If jealousy and envy at someone else’s God-given blessings is an area that you are guilty of, you need to repent. For in your jealousy, you are insulting Jesus the Son of the true and living God because it was he that worked the miracle.

The Pharisees claimed to know God and to be in close walk with him but yet, they hated Jesus, the Son of the true and living God, mainly because of their jealousy and envy. This blinded their eyes to the truth of his identity, as was revealed in his miraculous workings.

Instead of spewing venom and being consumed by your envy and jealousy of that brother or sister, if you say you have the light of the Lord Jesus in your life and are a believer, then demonstrate his love and not the devil’s hate.

1 John 2:10-11 reminds us:

“He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.”

(Written on 27th March, 2019)

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