Am I Envious?
March 16th, 2007
Brett Gilchrist
I want to thank Michael Shores for his journal entry, I hope you are all enjoying your reading and taking the time to journal. Keep up the good work! Brett
Mark 15:1-4 Early in the morning the chief priests with the elders and scribes and the whole Council, immediately held a consultation; and binding Jesus, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pilate. Pilate questioned Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And He answered him, “It is as you say.” The chief priests began to accuse Him harshly. Then Pilate questioned Him again, saying, “Do You not answer? See how many charges they bring against You!”
Mark 15-10 For he was aware that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy.
Mark 15:13-14 They shouted back, “Crucify Him!” But Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify Him!”
As I read Mark 15 this morning, once again I am reminded of the depth of fallenness of the world in which we live, and, on a very personal level, my own natural fallen sinful condition. It is very easy for me to read through this passage in Mark and picture it in my mind as “just another part of the Easter story”. It is very easy for me to read these verses in scripture as just a “documentation of events”. The fact that I naturally seem to react in such a way serves as a warning to me. It is a warning to me that, while I desire in my heart and mind to live a life serving Jesus, I am afflicted by a fallenness that, had I been there, would likely have caused me to stand by silently watching with the rest of the crowd. That is very sad for me to think about. It shocks me and scares me when I realize how little reaction I usually experience when I read of the pain inflicted on Jesus. It should break my heart… but it most often sadly doesn’t cause much of a reaction at all. My lack of reaction is just a sad indication to me of how much I have really, deeply, been affected by our world’s fall into sin.
Envy. Am I envious? Envious of who? Why? How? I need to ask myself about envy and ask the Lord to shine His light on wherever envy might be lurking inside of me. It is easy for me to look at envy as “not such a negative thing”, but it was envy that caused the chief priests to hand Jesus over to Pilate. I need to be ever watchful that envy does not cause me to react in similar ways.
Dear Lord. I know the account, as written in Mark. I’ve heard it and read it many times. And I also know the victory, won by You. Help me to learn from my reading this morning. Help me to grow. Help me to not fall into the same trap of envy that the chief priests and others fell into. Show me wherever I am envious of others and help me to stop its negative consequences. Thank You for Your sacrifice. Thank You for all that You’ve done for us. Thank You for saving us and redeeming us and drawing us to Yourself. Thank You for Your love for us when we were most unloveable. In Your name I pray. Amen.