Big Idea - Most religion is a way for people to determine their own moral goodness. How well am I keeping the rules? For those who do a respectable job at keeping the rules, there is the reward of feeling that you are a good person. When we fail and are not able to keep the rules, religion gives rituals and practices to make up for it. If we are diligent enough at the rituals and religious practices, it will help us keep the rules, or it will at least help us feel good about ourselves because we can be known as a person who tries hard! Judaism was no different. No matter what God’s intention was the Jewish people had turned into a religion just like any other. But, Jesus came to turn all of that upside down. Jesus did not come to help people be good by keeping the rules, rather He came to save those who were not good, by the mercy and grace of God. And, Jesus does not want us to feel good about ourselves because of our diligence in spiritual disciplines, but rather to experience the joy of life with Him! This does not mean that becoming a truly good person is not important, or that Jesus does not value and even teach the practice of spiritual disciplines. But Jesus is bringing a kingdom and a way that is so radically new and different, that it requires a whole new religious order and paradigm where moral goodness is replaced by mercy, and religious duty is replaced with living joy.
