Today’s reading: John 11:45-57
While many people celebrate Jesus bringing Lazarus back from the dead, some people–the Pharisees and chief priests–aren’t pleased at all by Jesus’s miracle. In fact, they were downright angered by it. Upon learning of yet another and even more astounding miracle from Jesus, the Jewish leaders are in an uproar.
Despite God’s plan of salvation as foretold in the Scriptures playing out right before their eyes, they seem blind and/or extremely hardened to it, and they want nothing to do with Jesus.
Being in a position of power is a good thing when we choose to use the power we have appropriately. But when we allow the power we possess (and we all possess and have power of some sort) to go to heads, bad things happen. Our judgment slips, our perspective changes, and at some point, the decisions we make become about protecting and maintaining our power, even at the cost of hurting others. That’s the situation I see in our passage for today. The positions of Pharisee and chief priest were important ones to the Jewish people, and the power they possessed had its grips on the hearts and minds of these Jewish leaders.
What’s one thing this passage revealed to you about power? What are some things that help you keep a proper perspective on power and/or position? What’s an example of how you handle or use the power or position you have well (at work, home, church, community)? Tami
Source: Tami’s Blog
