Oh, those silly Pharisees. Can you believe them? There they go again, asking one of their unanswerable questions, trying to trap the Son of God and prove Him wrong. Don’t they know Jesus knows what they’re all about? That he has all the answers? Aren’t they so silly?
And aren’t they so sad and pitiful? Here they are, loving their religion so much that they can’t even see Jesus in front of their faces. Clinging to their laws and their power and totally missing out on their relationship with Jesus. Those poor, sad, pitiful Pharisees. I’m sure glad I’m not like them.
Hm. Hey. Wait a second. Know what those Pharisees were really saying? “Look, Jesus. We’ve got a great thing going here. Our religion is awesome and we love it. It’s all about God, really, isn’t it? I mean, we say His name and we attach Him to all of these laws we make and these actions we do. We happen to like the way things are, even if it leaves some of the truth out, it’s a nice religion and it’s partially built on truth. It might be a house of cards, but we really kind of enjoy it, so please, Jesus, don’t you come along and start breathing too hard on us. That just causes a big ol’ mess. ‘K? Thanks.”
I don’t know. Maybe I’m wrong, but that sounds like some of us in the church today, doesn’t it? If we’re honest, it sounds like all of us some of the time, huh? We can get into our little routines with Jesus in certain seasons of our lives, and we forget this is a relationship. The center focus is HIM and our relationship with him, not the things we do. That was the problem with those Pharisees. They forgot exactly who was at the center. They forgot it was God first and not religion first. It’s a fine line, I know, but it’s a line. They’d have liked Jesus just fine if he hadn’t rocked their boats. But Jesus is the premiere boat rocker, isn’t He?
I had to stop the other day and really think. Am I following Jesus? Or am I following my religion?
Hm. Something to think about, huh?
-JB
Jason says
Routines and programs can be the fastest killer of true worship of Christ. Nice post.