Being religious is not the same as being righteous. Theology, based on Scripture, church tradition, reason and experience, teaches us that quite often religion is a camouflage used by the wicked to hide their unrighteousness.

The Jewish leaders were very religious. They knew the rules and they followed all the traditions and rituals. They were steeped in Judaism, but they were not righteous followers of God. They used their priestly positions to abuse their authority and to enrich themselves; they wrapped their unrighteousness in the robes of the priesthood.

They were more concerned with using the rules of the religion, than they were with doing what was right in their relationships with God and others. When Jesus healed the disabled man on the Sabbath, they did not consider the righteousness of His actions, or the goodness of the healing. Rather, they only cared that if they allowed him to break the rules, they risked undermining the very laws that allowed them to control the people. He was a threat to their authority, and as such, he was a threat to the power to enrich themselves.

When Jesus, by his actions, healed the man, he was making a statement that people are more important than laws. Doing what is right is more important than doing what is legal. When Jesus went on to claim that he was doing his Father’s work, he made himself the ultimate target of the unrighteous anger of the Jewish leaders. As the Son of God, His authority was greater than their religious authority. As wicked men hiding in the camouflage of religion, they were forced to confront the truth about themselves; they could repent, or they could seek to destroy the truth. Jesus was the Truth, and they decided he had to die.

The wicked still camouflage themselves within religion, but they are revealed by their actions. Doing wickedness in the name of God doesn’t make it any less wicked. God values right relationships above religion and He does not approve evil, even when done in His name.