One of the most polarizing issues in our world today is religion. Religion can bring people together from all walks of life when common beliefs are shared and it can drive countries to war when ideologies are attacked. There are more religions and religious sects in this world than we can easily count and even the major religions like Christianity and Islam are divided into denominations and sub-sects that often don’t get along. The irreligious are a minority, but most of them are “religious” in their anti-religious positions.
What did Jesus think about religion? After all, He is the central figure in the world’s largest religion, Christianity, a significant prophet in the second largest religion of Islam and he was born into Judaism. From the gospels, we can see that Jesus visited the Temple in Jerusalem, taught in the local synagogues and participated in the Jewish feasts. However, if we take a close look at His teachings, we’ll quickly see that Jesus was not a fan of what Judaism had become. In Matthew 23, Jesus had some harsh words for the religious leaders.
Matthew 23:2–4 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy loads and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
Matthew 23:27–28 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
Matthew 23:23 You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.
We see in another place (Mark 11:15-17, John 2:13-17) where Jesus goes into the temple and overturns the tables of the money changers and those selling animals for the offerings. This was a direct attack on the practices of the religious establishment of that day. Jesus was furious that those working in the temple had turned the practice of giving offerings into a business where only certain animals and coins were acceptable.
Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount explains how people miss the heart of the laws. Most people don’t murder, yet Jesus said if you are angry with someone, it is as bad as murder (Matthew 5:21-22). You may not be an adulterer, but if you look lustfully at another woman you’re committing adultery in your heart (Matthew 5:27-28). He taught that prayer and fasting for others to see is prideful and that God rewards those who do it in secret (Matthew 6:5-6).
On one of the many occasions when the Pharisees chastised Jesus and His disciples for breaking the Sabbath, Jesus quoted Hosea 6:6 and said, “If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.”
(Matthew 12:7) The religious legalism of the Pharisees had caused them to miss what was more important — mercy, justice, faithfulness and love.
Then what was the point of the Law? Why all the rules and sacrifices? I’m not going to quote it all here, but the writer of Hebrews does an incredible job of explaining the Old Testament and how everything was simply a shadow of things to come and the sacrifices were an annual reminder of sin to show that we could not be perfect on our own. Specifically, Hebrews 10:1-18 explains how Jesus came to set aside the old sacrifices and now we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all (Hebrews 10:10).
Jesus led a sinless life, paid a ransom price for our sins in His death, conquered death in His resurrection and called us to follow Him. He didn’t lay down a big list of rules and rituals. He wants us to believe He is who He says He is (God in the flesh – John 1:1-5) and live like He lived – sacrificially, unselfishly, as a servant, loving God, loving others, making disciples, healing the sick, taking care of widows and orphans, hanging out with “sinners” and outcasts, baptizing new believers. We must ask ourselves, “Am I following Jesus or am I following rules?” The abundant life comes in following Jesus. It is freedom from a bunch of rules that constrain. Not freedom to be wild, but freedom to love others and meet peoples needs where they are and make a difference in this world. Don’t rattle off a list of the things you don’t do because you’re religious, but rattle off a list of things that you do because you love Jesus. That is what Jesus really wants from us.
James 1:26–27 If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
