Jesus then said, “I came into the world to bring everything into the clear light of day, making all the distinctions clear, so that those who have never seen will see, and those who have made a great pretense of seeing will be exposed as blind.” John 9:39 (MSG)
Jesus taught that legalistic, works-based religion can blind people spiritually. How?
It uses rules, rituals and guilt to remind people of their continual failure to live up to those same regulations. It keeps them focused on their efforts and shortcomings, blinding them to the awesome freedom found in God’s grace and mercy.
The Pharisees considered themselves the best at following religious laws, yet Jesus called them “blind guides leading the blind” (Matthew 15:14, NLT). Why? They couldn’t see how their self-righteousness blinded them to their need for a Saviour and taught others their same ways.
It’s no surprise that the people whom Jesus irritated the most were the religious ones! His actions ticked them off. For example, when Jesus healed a man with a deformity on the Sabbath, the Pharisees were furious, thinking Jesus committed a “Sabbath infraction” (Luke 6:6-11, MSG).
Did they share the joy of someone set free from a physical handicap? No. Did they marvel at the miracle Jesus performed in front of them? No.
All they could see was the rule they thought Jesus broke, which caused them to flip out and begin plotting how to get even with Jesus. See how blind and toxic legalistic religion is?
If you were raised in works-based religion and struggle to see the freedom found in Jesus, I encourage you to dig into the New Covenant. The better you get to know Jesus, the more clearly you’ll see how genuinely freeing the good news of Christ is!
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