Jealously

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

JEALOUSLY

Acts 17:1-9

17:1 When they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2 As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. "This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ," he said. 4 Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women. 5 But the Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason's house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd.   6 But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other brothers before the city officials, shouting: "These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here, 7 and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar's decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus." 8 When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil. 9 Then they made Jason and the others post bond and let them go.

NIV

Jealousy is not acceptable unless it is God's jealousy for his people. What we do not understand is why some Jews would be jealous of Paul and Silas because they were proving from the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ, or the Messiah. Were those jealous Jews ones who thought they had the power in the synagogue? Were they stirred up because Paul and Silas gained favor and their reasoning about Jesus turned Jews to join them, accepting Jesus as the Messiah? The worst of this whole narrative of the actions of the Jews in Thessalonica was that they were giving their allegiance to Caesar, or at least looked as if they were, to gain allies in their argument against Paul and Silas. However, their jealousy also made them liars. If we learn anything from this narrative, we should learn two truths. First, never allow ourselves to be silenced about speaking about Jesus to everyone we meet; in fact, we should be talking about Jesus first in the church, then in the marketplace. What we don't understand is that believers seem to want to talk about everything except Jesus. Secondly, we have no reason to be jealous of others, for we will all receive the same reward: eternal life. However, it is in this material and positional life where jealousy can rear its ugly head. Some have more possessions than others, and some are in a more powerful position, or seem to be, than others. It may appear that some are more liked, or that people form little cliques, which could cause jealousy among those left out. What it all comes down to is that jealousy is self-centeredness, and that causes conflict.  Let us always want to talk about Jesus; after all, we profess that we follow Jesus, rather than false gods. Let us rid ourselves of any or all jealousy, for we are all the same in the eyes of our Lord.