If I had written the script, I probably would have painted Christ’s greatest opposition as unreligious pagans who would have accused him of being narrow, bigoted, and judgmental as he preached God’s truth in an uncompromising way. And yet, his greatest opposition and the primary force pushing for his execution were the religious leaders of his day. Was it just ignorance or a misunderstanding of scripture that created the opposition or was there something else behind the hatred they felt for this young Rabbi?
In John 8, Jesus had presented a stinging indictment of many of the religious leaders of the Jews. He said to them, “I know you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are ready to kill me because you have no room for my word…If God were your Father you would love me…You belong to your father the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire.”
The healing of the man who was born blind (John 9) may give us some additional insight into this violent opposition. In this section, Jesus comes upon a man who was blind from birth. Jesus spit on the ground, made an ointment of mud, rubbed it on the man’s eyes, and told him to go wash in the pool of Siloam. When the man obeyed, his sight was restored.
Apparently, everyone in the neighborhood new this man and so the news of such a miracle traveled at the speed of gossip (a little faster than the speed of light). Soon the Pharisees were investigating the matter. Their first response to the miracle was that Jesus could not be from God because he had healed on the Sabbath.
The first indicator of “religion” (and I think a spirit of religion) rather than relationship is that events are judged first by their form rather than by their fruit. Jesus had not acted in accordance with their rules and their expectations of how God works so that the fruit became irrelevant. Never mind that their forms had never healed a rash much less the eyes of the blind.
Secondly, they denied the miracle. They assumed it was a scam and that this man had never actually been blind. Religion always establishes parameters within which God is permitted to function. Anything that occurs outside of those parameters cannot be authentic or from God.
The next indicator was pressure for everyone to conform to the rules. Even though an undeniable miracle had occurred, the Pharisees continued in their attempts to discredit the claims. When undeniable evidence was produced that this man, who now had sight, was born blind, they focused their attention on discrediting Jesus – the one who had performed the miracle in the name of the God of Israel. I love their logic. If a man does not conform to our rules then he can’t be of God. If he performs an undeniable miracle that could only come from God then it didn’t come from God because he didn’t conform to our rules and our rules don’t produce miracles. Therefore, he must be a sinner. Not only that, but we’re not so sure about the one who received the healing either.
The fourth characteristic is control. The parents of the man who was healed would not give a positive testimony for Jesus for fear of being put out of the synagogue. Clearly, they understood that disagreement with the leaders about how God operates would mean excommunication.
A last ditch effort by the Pharisees in response to other undeniable miracles that operated outside their rules or parameters was to simply claim that a miracle had occurred but that Satan had suddenly gone into the healing business. Many religious folk will paly the “deception card” when confronted with something outside their theological comfort zone.
The response of religion, which is defined here as an organization that operates on the basis of form and ritual rather than relationship with God, was to immediately deny the work of God because it didn’t fit their well crafted definitions nor was it subject to their control. It is not that we should accept a claim that anything and everything done in the name of Jesus is approved by God but neither should we reject out of hand an event or an interpretation of scripture that we have not seen before or heard taught before. It’s great to refer to precedents established by scripture but every precedent began with a “first time.”
With that reasoning we could dismiss out of hand Moses’ experience with a burning bush. God never did it that way before. Ten plagues on Egypt must have been from the devil or meteorological anomalies because God never did it that way before. Don’t pass through that opening in the Red Sea – it can’t be of God. Whoops! No precedent for true prophets walking on water or feeding thousands with a few loaves and fish.
Rather than asking if there is a strict biblical precedent for every way in which God is moving today, we need to look at the fruit of certain ministries. Do they produce righteousness? Are they consistent with the Spirit of Christ and the redemptive heart of God? Do they draw people to Jesus? I think biblical precedent is important and should be looked at but should it be the final word? If it is, then God will do no new things in the earth today even though Jesus said we would do even greater things than he had done. Certainly we are to test the spirits and prophecies, but the question becomes the criteria for testing.
We should be careful of using the same criteria as the Pharisees who had no room for the words of Jesus and whose father was the devil. Paul warned of those who had a form of godliness but who denied the power of godliness. Too many believers today fear and distrust any display of power in the kingdom…healing, deliverance, or miracles of any kind. John warned us that the spirit of anti-Christ had gone out into the word – not the spirit of anti-Jesus but anti-Christ. Christ refers to the anointed one of God. It makes you wonder if that spirit works against God’s anointing for his people because without it there is no power in the church.
It’s easy to think of “all those churches” out there that are just religious but the bigger issue is to look at our own hearts to make sure that a spirit of religion doesn’t settle there. Even those of us who believe in the power of God and the move of the Holy Spirit quickly judge others who do it differently or have experiences beyond our own. Let’s judge righteously but not rush to judgment. What is the fruit? Is it bringing people to Christ? Is it done with love? Does it promote righteousness? Are we wanting to control what God does at some level? These are questions I must ask myself from time to time. Maybe they would be helpful for you as well.
Blessings.
