Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law? Why do you seek to kill Me? John 7:19
Jesus public ministry was marked by several run-ins with the religious leadership of the day. In chapter 7, Jesus arrived in Jerusalem for the Passover and went to the temple to teach, showing a mastery of Scripture and an authority unseen in the other teachers. They began to question Him about His doctrine. Jesus answers, "Why are you so worried about doctrine when none of you DO the things you claim to believe in? Otherwise, why would you want to kill Me?"
For instance, it's one thing to SAY we have no other gods but the Lord, but when our actions prove that we value self or system above the Living God, we align ourselves on the wrong side of the battle.
We esteem God's word. We hold to our traditions. But do our actions (and our heart's motivation) show we discount or disregard what God calls us to obey? Are we like those in Luke's story of the Good Samaritan, seeking to weasel our way out of a commandment through a technicality? (Who, exactly, is our neighbor?)
'You call yourself God's people, but you don't carry out His commands and you seek to undermine Christ's work.'
God help us have hearts and minds that hunger after You, and not merely our preconceptions of You…