I want to clarify what I am talking about when I often mention the spirit of religion.
The days leading up to the execution of Jesus offer a great example.
Christ was murdered by a very proud group of men. Their kingdom was threatened by the popularity of Jesus, and the violent were determined to take it back by force.
However, the religious leaders were not the only ones affected by the spirit of religion, but his own disciples as well.
The book of John records that as Jesus was arriving into Jerusalem for his last Passover, people were racing to get into town to see him, even the Greeks were making the journey into Jerusalem during a time that was historically reserved for only the Jewish people.
Jesus was a celebrity. Word had spread that he had raised Lazarus from the dead and people vied to get a glimpse of him. The people were beginning to realize that Christ may be the coming Messiah.
They displayed it by their actions of taking palms and making a pathway for Christ to ride into Jerusalem upon the ass, just like Zechariah had prophesied.
That’s why the disciples, Peter, James, and John, were arguing on their way to Jerusalem about who was greatest among them. They were fighting as to who was going to sit on his right and on his left hand of Christ when he entered his kingdom.
They knew that he was the forever king, the Messiah, and their religion had taught them that the seed of David was going to rule forever.
They believed that they were standing right at the threshold of that glorious moment.
It must have been exhilarating seeing Zechariah’s prophesy unfolding right before their eyes, and the next step was to see Jesus put on the throne by the mighty hand of God.
They were feeling rather proud as they marched into the city, being honored themselves as the chosen disciples of the king.
As they approached Jerusalem, the teachings of Christ were the farthest things from their minds. The teachings, like, only the meek and humble will enter the kingdom of God or the greatest one in the kingdom of God will be the servant of all.
No, those teachings were overshadowed by their competitive plan-making and strong opinions.
They thought they knew exactly what was coming next, because they had been taught everything about the Messiah from religious education during their youth.
They could not see what was about to take place, because they were blinded by the spirit of religion.
John records that the religious leaders watched in disgust as the events unfolded and they commented that the whole world has gone after this man, Jesus.
This story demonstrates the effect of the spirit of religion on two separate groups of people.
The dedicated followers of Christ were deaf. When Christ got the revelation that he was going to be killed, his disciples wouldn’t hear him.
The Christian religion would say that of course Jesus knew that he was going to be killed, because he was supposed to die—and, that is not true.
Isaiah writes about it very clearly in chapter 42 of the Hebrew Bible.
The will of God was for his people to listen to the teachings of Christ, and for Christ not to be bruised or grow dim until he had taken his teachings to the coastlands, which means other nations.
Christ never accomplished that because he never made it out of his own nation.
So, when Christ received the revelation that God’s will would not be fulfilled and that the religious leaders would succeed in their murder plot, he started sharing it with his disciples.
However, the disciples refused to hear because in this situation, they trusted more in their religious teachings than Christ’s prophesy.
The other group affected by the spirit of religion were the religious leaders. They demonstrated their blindness when they refused to acknowledge that Christ was from God even after seeing the miracles that he did.
So, in comparing these two groups, what is the common denominator?
It’s arrogance.
The disciples thought they had it all figured out, and rejected the prophetic words of Christ. They didn’t want to hear because they were confident that they knew what was going to happen.
The religious leaders refused to believe that Christ was from God, because they were confident that anyone who would break the sacred laws of Moses could never be from God.
These two groups were arrogant, but it goes deeper. They all lacked the ability to self-reflect, and it can be a lesson to us all.
Anytime we think we have it all figured out and won’t hear another point of view or hold tightly to our own opinions, refusing to see another perspective. Stop and reflect.
The spirit of religion can manifest itself through many different types of fountains.
It occurs when anything rises up against the omniscient spirit of God, a presence that can only be entertained in a meek and humble heart.