July 13
________________________________________ THE PHARISEES’ UNCONTROLLABLE ENVY
30 So they were seeking to seize Him; and no man laid his hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come. 31 But many of the crowd believed in Him; and they were saying, “When the Christ comes, He will not perform more signs than those which this man has, will He?” 32 The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about Him, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to seize Him.– John 7:30-32
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After Jesus told the Pharisees that He is the Son of God and that He was sent by the One true God, they were also confronted about the fact that they do not know God, the leaders jumped in on this statement Jesus made. They have been waiting to catch Jesus in the act of breaking the law. Because they didn’t believe that He was the Messiah, they naturally think that He was blaspheming. Jesus was also a threat to their status and they were so insecure with Jesus’ wisdom. Deep inside, they knew that this man was from God and yet they didn’t listen to that inner voice. Their power-hungry hearts spoke louder than anything. They needed to prove that they are right and Jesus was wrong. Their reputation was so much at stake, so they needed to persecute Him so those among the crowd who were believing Jesus would be proven wrong. They were out to kill Jesus and anyone who would pose a threat to their power and control. We see another character trait of these religious unbelievers in verse 32. They couldn’t confront Jesus but had to send an officer to seize Jesus. What cowards!
This is a lesson for all of us to see how power, envy and self-idolatry can consume us all. When we have unbelief, it is very easy to fall prey on all these sins. The only way we can have victory over the enemy’s tactics is when we come to Jesus and accept Him as our Savior. All of these sins that the Pharisees exhibit are the consequences of the original sin we inherited from Adam and Eve. Without Christ, we will always be possessed by greed and lust. We must only run to Jesus and turn our backs on sin so we can have the eternal life that was promised to those who love the Lord. Uncontrollable envy will open the wide gates to hell. It makes us compare ourselves with others and feel entitled to have more than what others have. It makes us plot to kill or slander others who will get in our way. It will make us insecure and would want to dominate others to compensate for what we lack. It can deceive us from believing our true identity and make us question God’s sovereignty.
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REFLECTION
• How has envy crept in your life? How did you deal with it?