David Diga Hernandez - Religious Spirits: Pride

I’m going to take you now to John chapter 8, where we will read a story about the Pharisees, Jesus, and a woman caught in sin. This story, I believe, best demonstrates the religious spirit of pride because the Pharisees were so filled with pride that they were willing to take the life of someone just to prove a point. Let’s go now to John chapter 8; I’m going to begin reading at verse 1. The scripture says Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, but early the next morning, he was back again at the temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. As he was speaking, the teachers of the religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd. «Teacher, ” they said to Jesus, „this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?“ They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, „All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone.“ Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust. When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, „Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?“ „No, Lord, ” she said. And Jesus said, „Neither do I. Go and sin no more.“

Now, I have to ask the question here, and forgive me if this is too crude, but how exactly did the Pharisees catch the woman in the act of adultery? I suspect that they had set a trap for her. And where was the man who was caught in adultery? Also, I suspect he was a part of setting that trap. These religious people were so fixated on proving a point; they were so jealous of what Jesus was accomplishing; they were so closed-minded to the truth that he was teaching that they were willing to sacrifice the life of a woman in order to prove a religious point.

Now we see the wisdom in how Jesus demonstrated both grace and mercy. He says, „Neither do I condemn you“ — that’s mercy — „Go and sin no more“ — that’s grace. He also shows mercy while fulfilling the law. Jesus never said, „Don’t stone her.“ What Jesus instead said was, „Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.“ In other words, go ahead and fulfill the law, but I want you to take responsibility individually if you believe you are sinless and you are the one who should cast judgment. So, it’s perfectly wise what Jesus did in addressing this situation.

When looking at that story, we see a few character traits or signs of the religious spirit because when you look at the Pharisees, at least the ones who interacted negatively with Jesus, you see the religious spirit of pride. Having studied the New Testament interaction between the Pharisees and Jesus, we can see these very clear signs of the religious spirit of pride.

Again, it’s very important that you remain open as you hear this because those who battle with this religious spirit, this religious mindset or paradigm, are rarely aware that they, in fact, are battling with this spirit. The signs are: number one, the religious spirit looks for reasons to argue; number two, it looks for reasons to disconnect; number three, it looks for reasons to condemn; number four, it looks for reasons to show off knowledge; and number five, it looks for reasons to criticize.

So, we see the Pharisees constantly trying to argue with Jesus, trying to disconnect themselves from him, even though they had never really lent their ears to hear the truth he was speaking. They looked for reasons to condemn people; they looked for reasons to show off their knowledge to demonstrate that they, in fact, were the ones with the truth — or so they thought. They looked for reasons to criticize Jesus and condemned people, imposing burdens on individuals that God did not intend for them to bear.

Now, looking at each one of those signs, let’s break them down. Number one, the religious spirit of pride looks for reasons to argue. People who are religious and filled with pride care more about making points than about people, and this is demonstrated perfectly in the story. They wanted to make a point; they wanted to trap Jesus, and in doing so, they were willing to risk the life of a person. They lacked love, empathy, and mercy.

Now, think about that poor woman who came trembling before Jesus; she must have been terrified. They had no thought of that; all they were concerned about was getting their point across, all they cared about was trapping Jesus.

Now, of course, the Word of God is true; of course, we understand that the Bible is clear, and we understand that God has expressed a clear message to us. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that your interpretation of the Word is always accurate. So, in looking to the Word, we must recognize that the Word of God is infallible, but our interpretation is not. We must try to avoid this spirit that causes us to want to argue. We want to be combative. I see it all the time — especially online. People will ask questions, and you can always tell when they’re asking a question out of sincerity and when they’re trying.