Misguided Loyalty

John 8:1-11
When Jesus is confronted with the prospect of acting apart from the law, thereby justifying the Pharisees' desire to eliminate him, he revealed their misguided loyalty.  The law said to condemn this woman by stoning (vs. 5), but Jesus ends up forgiving her and sending her away (vs. 11).  Jesus, instead of condemning, shows mercy, something the law does not allow for.  The Law was rigid in its statutes and demands and did not allow for exceptions or mercy, but only retribution.  The Pharisees adherence to such law was so devout that it blinded them to all other possible actions, including those of Jesus.  This was their downfall.  Now, the Law, in itself, is good (Romans 7:12).  So, complete adherence to it would have been good, if possible, after all, that is what Jesus did (Matthew 5:17).  But the Law does not save, in reality, in fallen man it arouses and intensifies sin and death (Romans 7:8-11), driving us to look to another source for life.  But the Pharisees refused, instead blindly adhering to Law, and also those who gave the Law: Abraham and Moses for example.  They had pretty much deified these men, claiming their following of them to be evidence of their spirituality.  But these men were fallen, just life us, and in need of a Savior just like us.  They never deserved the place they held in the Pharisees' life, just like the Law did not deserve the place it held.  Both, intended by God to drive us to Jesus, had been perverted and twisted into Jesus-like entities.  It was Moses they referenced as giving them the Law, when in reality this was not entirely true (John 6:32).  It was Abraham they claimed as father and proof of their religious value (Luke 3:8).  Their zeal and loyalty are to be admired, but not repeated, for it was for man and not God that they hungered for and pointed to, which is why they could not see Jesus (John 5:37-42).  So let us bring this into our realm today.  Are we really that different?  What is it exactly that we are patterning our lives after?  Is it our allegiance to Jesus that we cling to and his life that we imitate or is our allegiance to mere men, such as an author or pastor or respected friend?  Some of these men are surely appointed by God to shepherd the flock but not to be imitated in themselves and blindly followed.  Paul warns of this in I Corinthians 4:6, encouraging us to follow only as Christ is followed and it adheres to scripture.  The Church in Corinth was suffering the same allegiances to men that the Pharisees did and Paul knew this could not be present within the Church (I Corinthians 1:12-13).  These were all godly men who desired the Lord and his will, but they were still fallen men, capable of mistake and perversion.  Only Jesus is void of these pitfalls and never leads astray.  We cannot blindly follow any man, no matter how godly, or pledge our undying allegiance to any pastor, deacon, teacher, author, or any man.  Only the Lord is worthy of this and rightly demands it of us.  We follow these men, our authorities ordained by God, only as long as they follow Christ (I Corinthians 11:1), and only as long as their words are scripture.  Our lives belong to God alone, who purchased us (I Corinthians 6:20), not to any church or pastor or anyone else.  For we cannot follow both God and man (Acts 5:29; Galations 1:10).  For if this is the case, we will miss Jesus, just like the Pharisees did.  It is those who abide in Jesus' words that evidence their master, not in the words and opinions of man (John 8:31).  And when we all face judgement, giving an account for what we have done, attributing (blaming) our deeds to the leading of another is not a valid excuse (Genesis 3:12).