Jealous
Revised 11/24/2023
What does jealous mean? If you’re jealous of someone, you want what they’ve got. It could be a car or a house, but it also could be an attribute or a quality. We often think of it in a negative context as something that should be avoided. We are often told, “Don’t be jealous.” The critical thing is not the “being jealous” part but “how we act in response to that jealousy.” If we are jealous because someone has a nice car, we could work harder and save our money to buy a nice car; we could steal theirs or, in anger, damage theirs. Our response to being jealous is what is essential.
The Apostle Paul, writing to the Romans, speaks of jealousy. He tells us in Romans 11:11-12.
say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their false step salvation has come to the Gentiles, to provoke Israel to jealousy.
Paul reminds us that we, as Gentiles, were brought to salvation when God’s people stumbled. He desires that we live out our salvation publicly. Paul hopes that when they observe us living out our salvation, the Jews will be moved to jealousy and return to a right relationship with the Lord in response to that jealousy.
We also need to live out our salvation before the world so that they become jealous of what they see and seek it for themselves.
When was the last time that your actions provoked a non-believer to jealousy? Could you look over your life? What would they see in you that would make them jealous? Would they see the new creation you became? Would they identify that your heart has changed? Would they know that you are different and not living as one focused on the things of this world?
Let’s look at some actions that the Gentiles, in general, and the Christians, in particular, have carried out against the Jews over the past two centuries. As you read these, you decide if these actions would “provoke Israel to jealousy.
Crusades – There was a series of military expeditions by European Christians from 1100 to 1350 C.E. to re-capture the Holy Land. In re-capturing the land, the Crusaders killed many Muslims who held the land. They also used the opportunity, even before getting there, to murder Jews and destroy Synagogues all along their route.
Spanish Inquisition – It was a time between 1478 and 1834 when there was a specific effort in Spain to eliminate all non-Christians, especially the Jews.
Pogroms – It was an organized massacre of Jewish people in Russia and Eastern Europe in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Issues are seen closer to our current time.
Not standing with the Jews during the holocaust. Many people, religious and non-religious, outwardly supported Hitler or turned their backs on the Jews.
Treating the Jews as second-class citizens
Making the Jews the objects of our jokes
Calling the Jews Christ-killers.
Participating in antisemitism